AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-1
I. What is agriculture?
II. What is the importance of agriculture?
III. The Farming System
Farming works as a system with inputs and outputs (Figure in Information Sheet). Inputs
are all factors, which affects plant and animals growth. These include physical, cultural,
economic and behavioural factors. They affect the decision-making processes by farmers.
The two major decisions made by farmers are crops and/or livestock selection and
production.
The outputs are the crop and animal products of the farming system. They are controlled
by the farming pattern. In fact, farming patterns may be viewed as the sum total of
millions of individual decisions taken by farmers about the way they will use the land. It
is the variations in inputs, which are responsible for the different types and patterns of
farming.
Adopted from Mr. William KW Ip
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-2
IV. Types of farming
1. Arable, pastoral and mixed
Type
Outputs
Arable farming
Pastoral farming
Mixed farming
2. Subsistence and commercial
Type
Destination of Outputs
Subsistence farming
Commercial farming
3. Shifting and sedentary
Type
Farm location
Shifting farming
Sedentary farming
4. Extensive and intensive
Type
Input : land ratio
Labour extensive farming
Capital extensive farming
Labour intensive farming
Capital intensive farming
V. Two approaches to an agricultural system
When farming is regarded as a system, we study the interactions amongst elements within
the system. Farms can be seen either as ecosystems in which inputs or solar energy and
precipitation produce biological outputs in the form of crops and animal products, or as
economic systems in which inputs of capital result in financial gain. The first involves
flows of energy and the second flows of money.
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-3
A. Farming as an ecological system / agroecosystem
1.
What is an ecosystem?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2.
Describe the structure of an ecosystem.
Biotic components
Abiotic components
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-4
3.
Describe the functional characteristics of an ecosystem.
Energy Flow
Nutrient cycling
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-5
4.
Taking rice farming in South China as an example of an agroecosystem, describe its
structural and functional characteristics.
Structural Characteristics
Biotic Components
Abiotic Components
Producers:
Consumers:
Decomposers:
Functional
Energy flow:
Nutrient
cycling:
Characteristics
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-6
5.
Taking shifting cultivation in Southeast Asia as an example of an agroecosystem,
describe its structural and functional characteristics.
Structural Characteristics
Biotic Components
Abiotic Components
Producers:
Consumers:
Decomposers:
Functional
Energy flow:
Nutrient
cycling:
Characteristics
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-7
6.
Complete the table below.
Comparison of agroecosystems and natural ecosystem
Items for
comparison
Role of man
Inputs
Energy flow
Nutrient cycling
Biomass
Diversity of
organisms
Stability
Un-manipulated ecosystem
(natural ecosystem)
Agroecosystem
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-8
Farm A Cultural Input
Labour
Other
Farm B Cultural Input
: 340
:6
Labour
: 19
Other
: 7,608
Processing : 6,100
Total : 346
Total : 13,727
Total farm area : 4 ha
Total farm area : 44 ha
Output : 6,220
(a)
Output : 34,958
Find the energy ratio of the two different farming systems shown in the above
figure.
Total energy produced
Energy ratio 
Total cultural energy energy input
Farm A
Farm B
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-9
(b) Account for the difference between the two farming system in terms of
efficiency of energy production.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
The following figure shows the energy efficiency of different farming systems.
(a)
What does an Energy Ratio(Er) of 10 mean?
_____________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-10
(b)
For each type of farming system, suggest an example.
Pre-industrial crops
: ___________________________
Semi-industrial crops
: ___________________________
Full-industrial crops
: ___________________________
Full-industrial livestock : ___________________________
(c)
Which type of farming system has the highest energy output?
____________________________________
(d)
Which type of farming system has the highest energy efficiency?
____________________________________
(e)
Account for the difference between full-industrial crops and full-industrial livestock
in terms of energy efficiency.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-11
B. Farming as an economic system
1.
What is the main concern of farmers when a farm is operated as an economic system?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2.
What decision farmers have to make in a farming economic system?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3.
What influence farmers’ decision-making processes?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4.
Using examples, explain why agricultural patterns vary in different areas.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-12
5.
Describe how vegetable farming/ market gardening in Hong Kong works as an economic
system.
Economic decisions
Marketing gardening in Hong Kong
What to produce?
(Output combination)
How to produce?
(Input combination &
farming processes)
Where and how to
sell?
6.
Describe how sheep-wheat farming in Australia works as an economic system.
Economic decisions
What to produce?
(Output combination)
How to produce?
(Input combination &
farming processes)
Where and how to
sell?
Sheep-wheat farming in Australia
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-13
7.
Describe how farmers select their crops and/or livestock and production methods in
rice cultivation in South China.
Decision
Selection of crops
and/or livestock
Selection of
production
Methods
Ecological consideration
Economic consideration
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-14
8.
Describe how farmers select their crops and/or livestock and production methods in
shifting cultivation in Southeast Asia.
Decision
Selection of crops
and/or livestock
Selection of
production
Methods
Ecological consideration
Economic consideration
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-15
9.
Describe how farmers select their crops and/or livestock and production methods in
vegetable farming /market gardening in Hong Kong.
Decision
Selection of crops
and/or livestock
Selection of
production
Methods
Ecological consideration
Economic consideration
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-16
10. Describe how farmers select their crops and/or livestock and production methods in
sheep-wheat farming in Australia.
Decision
Selection of crops
and/or livestock
Selection of
production
Methods
Ecological consideration
Economic consideration
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-17
Von Thunen Model
Worksheet 1
1.
What is locational rent?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2.
‘Locational rent shows a distance-decay relationship.’
Explain the statement.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3.
Give examples of other things which also show distance-decay relationship.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-18
II. Farming as an economic system in Von Thunen Landscape
Regarding the
Von Thunen’s Assumption
Economy
Urban-rural setting
Physical environment
Farmer’s behaviour
Movement over space
Worksheet 2
1.
Why did Von Thunen establish so many assumptions?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2.
Describe the market situation in Von Thunen’s agricultural landscape.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3.
Is Von Thunen’s uniform
surface?
plain assumption the same as Christaller’s isotropic
_____________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-19
Worksheet 3
Type of farming
Distance from market (km)
Yields (tonnes / ha)
Production cost ($)
d
Y
c
Total production Cost ($)
Yc
Transport cost ($)
Ytd
Total Revenue ($)
Yp
Intensive
1
30
80
80
25
25
Extensive
1
30
50
50
20
20
Locational rent / profit ($)
(market price = $55/tonne;
transport cost = $1 / tonne / km)
On the graph below, plot two curves to show how locational rent varies with distance for
both intensive (RED) and extensive farming (BLUE).
Refer to the graph.
Identify the margin of transference from intensive to extensive farming.
_______________________________
What conclusion can you draw from the graph?
_______________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-20
Worksheet 4
Type of farming
Distance from market (km)
Yields (tonnes / ha)
Production cost ($)
Market Price ($/tonne)
d
Y
c
p
Total production Cost ($)
Yc
Transport cost ($)
Ytd
Total Revenue ($)
Yp
Vegetable
1
30
50
50
25
25
80
80
Wheat
1
70
20
70
Potato
30
70
20
70
1
90
15
60
30
90
15
60
Locational rent / profit ($)
(transport cost = $1.5 / tonne / km)
On the graph below, plot three curves to show how locational rent varies with distance for
potato(RED), wheat(BLACK) and vegetable(BLUE).
Refer to the graph.
Identify the margin of transference from potato to wheat.
_______________________________
Identify the margin of transference from wheat to vegetable.
_______________________________
What conclusion can you draw from the graph?
_______________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-21
Von Thunen’s Model : Land Use Pattern
Von Thunen combined the two principles and suggested six types of land use. Six rings were formed
around the market.
Ring
Land use
1 Market gardening
(horticulture)
2
3
4
5
6
Selection of crops and/or livestock and production
Market gardening (horticulture) and dairying were practised nearest to
the city, due to the perishability of the produce. Cattle were kept
indoors for most of the year and provided manure for the fields.
Wood (Forestry)
Wood was a bulky product much in demand as a source of fuel and as
a building material within the town. It was also expensive to
transport.
6-year crop rotation
An area with a 6-year crop rotation based on the intensive cultivation
(intensive grain farming) of crops (rye, potatoes, clover, rye, barley and vetch) and with no
fallow period.
7-year arable
Cereal farming was less intensive as the 7-year rotation system relied
(arable with fallow and increasingly on animal grazing (pasture, rye, pasture, barley,
pasture)
pasture, oats and fallow).
Three-field system
Extensive farming based on 3-field crop rotation (rye, pasture and
fallow). Products were less bulky and perishable to transport and
could bear the high transport costs.
Stock farming
Ranching with some rye for on-farm consumption. This zone
extended to the margins of cultivation, beyond which was wasteland.
How did Von Thunen modify his model later?
1. Illustrate how the inclusion of a navigable
river modify von Thunen Model.
2.
Illustrate how the inclusion of a minor urban market
modify von Thunen Model.
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-22
Von Thunen’s Model : Merits and Weaknesses
1.
Which of von Thunen's principles is/are still applicable today?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2.
Which of von Thunen's assumptions is/are unrealistic?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3.
State some important changes in farming production since von Thunen's time.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4.
State two factors that von Thunen had neglected but are very important in accounting
present rural land use of the world.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-23
Sinclair's Model
I. Introduction
In explaining agricultural patterns near urban centres, Von Thunen’s theory is
generally applicable where the primary force determining the pattern is the transport
cost to the market. When this is the case, the pattern of agricultural land use is one
of decreasing intensity with distance from the city.
Von Thunen’s models still apply in some developing areas of the world, but today
his basic premise has been outdated in the more developed areas by changes in
transport technology, human organization and living habits.
The Sinclair’s model is developed to explain the agricultural patterns near urban
areas.
II. BASIC FEATURES OF THE MODEL
‘Given the stated assumptions of a uniform farming region, flexible farmers,
and an orderly influence of expanding city’s price mechanism, the agricultural
land use pattern would show zones of gradually increasing intensity from the
built-up edges of the metropolitan area to where the city has no direct
influence upon agricultural practices.’ (Sinclair, 1967)
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-24
Classwork I
Underlying
force
Transport
technology
Human
organization
Living habits
complete the following table.
Characteristics in Sinclair’s time
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-25
A. The Value of Agriculture around a Metropolitan Area
Classwork II
With reference to the figure below, answer the questions that
follow.
Value of Agriculture
Crop X
Distance from cityO
P
Q
R
1. Describe the value of agriculture for crop X in regions O-P, P-Q and Q-R.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. Explain the change of value of agriculture with distance from city centre.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-26
3. How does such pattern of agricultural value affect farming intensity?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. Complete the following table.
Region Agricultural Farming
value
intensity
O-P
P-Q
Q-R
Reasons
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-27
B. Locational rents and Land Use Pattern around a Metropolitan Area
Classwork III
Refer to the 5 landuses listed on the next page.
Agricultural value
(5)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(1)
Distance from City (km)
1. What are the land use types marked (1) to (5)?
(1) ---__________________________________________________________
(2) ---__________________________________________________________
(3) ---__________________________________________________________
(4) ---__________________________________________________________
(5) ---__________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-28
III..
SINCLAIR’S MODEL : LAND USE PATTERN
With reference to a large agricultural region of specialized feed-grain livestock economy
in the U.S. Midwest, Sinclair described the land use patterns around the metropolitan
edges.
Ring
Land use
1 Urban farming
2
Vacant and
grazing
3
Field crop and
grazing
4
Dairying and
field crop
5
Specialized feed
grain livestock
Reasons for selection of crops and/or livestock and production
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-29
IV. MODIFICATION & APPLICABILITY OF THE MODEL
Classwork IV
1. Discuss how Sinclair’s model differs from the real world situation.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-30
2. Complete the following table on the agricultural land use patterns in Hong Kong with
those of the von Thunen’s and Sinclair’s models.
Von Thunen's
Model
Time
Transport
Market
Other
conditions
Shape of land
use zones
Types of land
use
Intensity of
land use
Land use pattern in Sinclair's Model
Hong Kong
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-31
3. Discuss the applicability of von Thunen’s and Sinclair’s models in explaining the
agricultural land use patterns in Hong Kong.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(adopted from Mr. IP K W, William)
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-32
I.
Rural-urban Linkage
The following diagram shows interactions of cities, rural areas and foreign lands of
developed countries.
New town
RURAL
AREA
CITY
Foreign
Lands
(a) Types of flows and linkages between rural and urban areas
Identify the various types of flows as shown in the diagram.
1.
__________________________________________________________
2.
__________________________________________________________
3.
__________________________________________________________
(b) Urban area as supply area
Movements and flows are not in one direction and hence the urban areas can be
treated as supply area as well as market area
Identify three main items that urban areas supply to rural areas.
1.
__________________________________________________________
2.
__________________________________________________________
3.
__________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-33
(c) Urban areas as market areas
Within rural areas are resources vital of urban society. Identify four important
resources that urban areas take from rural areas.
1.
_________________________________________________________
2.
_________________________________________________________
3.
_________________________________________________________
4.
_________________________________________________________
(d) Urban hierarchy
In a country or a region, urban areas are arranged into different sizes or orders
(level)
because
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(e) Flow of population between rural and urban
In the 19th Century, the direction of population flow is from ______________ to
______________ because _______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
In the 20th Century, the direction of population flow is from _____________ to
_____________ because _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-34
II. Population Re-distribution and Impact on Agricultural Landscapes
(a) Differential migration (Selectivity of migration)
From the following statements, choose one of the two words from within the
brackets and give explanations for your choice:
(1) Most migration groups consist of ( younger / older ) people because
________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
(2) It is usual to find the ( better / poorer ) educated people leaving the rural
areas because _______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
(3) (
Men
/
Women
)
are
more
migratory
because
________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
(4) ( Single / married ) people are more likely to migrate because ____________
__________________________________________________________
(5) Attempts to improve the provision of social facilities in rural areas would
result in ( fewer / more ) out-migration from rural area because __________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
(6) From any one origin, the number of out-migrants to a specific destination
shows a ( low / high ) correlation with distance between the origin and the
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-35
destinations because __________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
(b) Farming structure in regions of declining agricultural labour force
In the developed world, the declining agricultural labour force has led to
(1) change in farm size
In the MDCs, the death rate and birth rate are ________, therefore, the
natural increase is actually very _________. The rural-urban migration will
lead to the ____________ of population in rural area. It means that the
man-land ratio in rural area becomes ( higher / lower ) and the amount of land
per farmer has
_________________ .
When some farmers give up
farming and migrate to urban, they will sell their farm to their neighbours.
 the average farm size become ____________
 the number of farms has ______________
 the farms will be ________ fragmented
 the number of large farms will be ______________
(2) changes in farming methods
The large area of farm, shortage of labour and high labour cost in the
advanced countries will influence the farmers' choice of farming methods
 More ( intensive / extensive ) farming methods are adopted
 They try to maximize outputs per ( capita / unit area ) and lower return
per ( capita / hectare )
 They will spend ( more / less ) on labour-saving machinery
 More ( labour / capital ) intensive farming will be practiced
(3) Re-organization of service centres
Rural depopulation will make the market threshold ___________ over rural
areas and the improvement in transportation will make range of goods
__________. Then, the number of service centres over rural area will
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-36
become _____________. Usually, ( smaller / larger ) centres will most
probably decline.
(c) Population Cycle of Rural Area in MDCs
Population
2
4
3
1
Time
1 - population growth because of _____________________
2 - stability in population because of __________________________
3 - rural depopulation because of ________________________
4 - increase in population due to _______________________
(d) Difference between More Developed Countries and Less developed Countries
New town
RURAL
AREA
CITY
Foreign
Lands
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-37
Refer to the diagram on the last page and information on information sheet, compare the
difference between more developed countries (MDCs) and less developed countries (LDCs).
MDCs
LDCs
Major cause
of
urbanization
Population
change
in
rural area
Economic
development
in
urban
area
Changes in
farming size
Changes in
farming
Methods
Economic
impact
Social
impact
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-38
Hong Kong Case : Impact of Urbanization & Industrialization on Agricultural Landscapes
The figure shows model
of agricultural land use
zones in the New
territories, Hong Kong
in the 1960s.
From the diagram, we
can find that the
farming intensity
______________
distance
market
from
road
as
urban
increases.
Market gardening was
found
near
the
Abandoned
land
_________________
and along both side of
the _________ because ________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Urbanization will bid up the land value around the urban fringe and because of the
competition of industrialization, the labour cost is also _________. It means that the
production cost under urbanization and industrialization becomes _______ and ______.
Therefore, the following farming characteristics can be found near to urban:
 Percentage of total area in farmland is __________
 Percentage of land in crops is ___________
 Percentage of land in fallow is _________
 Percentage of land in multiple cropping is __________
 Percentage of all farms that are horticulture is
___________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-39
 Percentage of all farms that are dairying is _________
 Percentage of all farms that are pigs and poultry is __________
 Labour input per hectare is _________
 Capital input per hectare is _________
 Wage rate is ________
 Total input per hectare is __________
 Price of agricultural products are ___________
 Net income per hectare is __________
 Percentage of small farms is
____________
 Percentage of farms that are tenanted is _________
 Percentage of part-time farms is __________
 Percentage of farms that are fragmented is ____________
The figure on the left
shows the land use zone
highway
in 1982.
Compare
diagram
with
on
the
the
last
page and describe the
changes.
Abandoned
land
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-40
Abandoned
land
was
found
near
to
market
town
and
highway
because
_________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
New Hopes for New Life
(a) Who are these people in the picture?
_______________________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-41
(b) What are they doing?
_______________________________________________________________________________
(c) Where do they come from?
_______________________________________________________________________________
(d) What might be their reasons of leaving home?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
(e) Where do they usually go? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
(f)
What kind of problems will the migrant workers bring?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
(g) Will China’s entry into WTO intensify the trend of migrant workers? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-42
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Debate : Migrants workers do more good than harm to the country’s social and economic
development.
Summing Up
In Hong Kong, we can find both intensive horticulture and abandoned land (or illegal open
storage and old car dumping) within a village. The contradictory landscape shows that
positive impact and negative impact of industrialization and urbanization influence rural
land use simultaneously. Sum up the impact of urbanization and industrialization with a
table.
Positive Impact
Negative Impact
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-43
The following table shows the variation in rainfall in Singapore and Edmonton.
Year
Singapore
Edmonton
1981
2400
440
1982
2200
380
1983
2500
500
1984
2150
260
1985
2300
460
1986
2150
480
1987
2350
360
1988
2400
280
1989 1990
2050 2450
540
320
Rainfall in mm.
(a) Calculate the variance of rainfall in Singapore and Edmonton.
Variance 
Standard Deviation
 100
Mean
Variance in rainfall in Singapore
Variance in rainfall in Edmonton
Which place
____________
The following dispersion diagram showing year to year
variation in rainfall in an area for the month of July.
Each dot represents total July rainfall for one
particular year.
(a) Describe the general pattern of July rainfall in
this area.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-44
(b) State, giving reasons, whether 'average precipitation' or 'median precipitation' is the
best summary measure of July rainfall in this area.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(c) Assume that all the crops grown in this area require wet conditions (rainfall above 30
mm/month) during the sowing season and dry conditions (rainfall below 30 mm/month)
during harvest season. What will be the effects of the rainfall pattern on
(i) farms where crops are sown in July?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(ii) farm where crops are harvested in July?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(d) What environmental hazards may be associated with this rainfall pattern?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-45
The following figure shows the discharge of a river in a semi-arid environment of a
developing country. The other figure shows the landscape of the river basin.
(a) Describe variations in the pattern of discharge in this river basin.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(b) Explain how variations in the pattern of discharge may have influence the area .
Focus your answer on the following three aspects:
(i) irrigation methods,
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-46
(ii) cropping patterns, and
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(iii) spatial distribution of fields and settlements.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(c) (i) Name two natural hazards which can be implied from the figures.
_____________________________________________________________
(iii) Suggest preventive measures which usually adopted to reduce the probable
damage from such hazards.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Other than climatic fluctuation, human activities are also responsible for the rise of flood
and drought. Describe the role of human activities in the cause of hazards.
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-47
The photographs shows the construction of the Three Gorge Dam.
(a) Describe the changes in farming landscapes
caused by the introduction of water scheme.
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(b) Describe the socio-economic constrains of large scale water scheme.
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-48
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(c) Describe the ecological impact of large water scheme.
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-49
The graph shows the changing yields of wheat
in relation in the amount of applied water.
(a) What is the difference in wheat yield
between 200 mm and 300 mm of applied
water?
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_______________________________
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(b) At what water amount does the
application of water produce a less than
proportaional increase in wheat yield?
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(c) What problem can application of water cause for the growth of wheat?
The following table shows the irrigation and food production in selected countries.
India
30
Total food
production from
irrigated land (%)
50
Pakistan
65
80
China
50
70
Indonesia
40
60
Chile
36
55
Peru
35
56
Mexico
25
40
Country
Cultivated land
under irrigation (%)
Rank
(X)
Rank
(Y)
Deviation
(X-Y)
(X-Y)2
(a) Calculate the Spearman's rank correlation between the percentage of cultivated
land under irrigation and the percentages of total food production from irrigatied
land.
Spearman's rank corelation  1 
6   ( X  Y )2
n(n 2  1)
According to the data in the table, the rank correlation is ____________. It
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-50
means that ___________________________________________________
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For each country, the irrigated land produces a more than proportional amount of
each country's food in comparison to its area. Explain why this is so.
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Other than provision of irrigated water, suggest ways that can help increase the farming
productivity
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State the effectiveness and constrains of the following methods in increasing farming
productivity.
Method
Effectiveness
Constrains
Mechanization
Application of
chemical
fertilizers
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-51
Method
Application of
pesticides
Introduction of
high-yielding
varieties
Land reform
Provision
credit
of
Improvement
of transport
facilities
Effectiveness
Constrains
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-52
Biochemical
Type of change
Innovation
Consequence
Hybrid
seed
selection
Increase
in yields
of crops
Mechanical
fertilizer
pesticide
Irrigation
by pumps
Increase
in yield
Control
of weeds
and pest
Control
in water
supply
Farm
mechani
-sation
Less
labour
more land
Social
Improve
trans-por
tation
Land
reforms
Quicker
to
market
Higher
incent-iv
es
Credit
system
More
capital
Distribution
system
Higher
incent-iv
es
With reference to the materials in Information Sheet 7, describe the possible
consequence of the introduction of Green Revolution progarmme in developing countries.
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What can governments of developing countries do to promote the success of Green
Revolution. ___________________________________________________________
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-53
A. Type of Settlement Pattern
Identify the following types of settlement patterns.
a) - ________________ pattern
b)
________________
pattern
c) - ________________ pattern
d)
________________
pattern
B. Factors Affecting Settlement
Pattern
State the factors
nucleated pattern.
favouring
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State the factors favouring disperse pattern.
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-54
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C. Nearest Neighbour Analysis
Mark ten points(1-10) in the box in the right.
Find the nearest neighbour of each point. Measure the distance between every point
to its nearest neigbour and put the data in the table below.
Nearest
Point
Distance
neighbour
(x)
(x-y)
(y)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Average Distance
D(obs)
d 
n
The nearest neighbour formula:
Rn 
Rn 
Maximum
clustering
1
Completely
random
2.15
Complete
regularity
Rn is the nearest neighbour value
D(obs) is the average of all the distance between the settlements
(points) and the nearest settlement (neighbour) to these
settlements (points)
A is the area under study (km2)
N is the total number of settlements (points)
D(obs)
a
0.5
n

0.5
0
AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-55
The extract is a Chinese official’s comment on China’s agriculture in relation to China;s entry into the
World Trade Organization.
Takungpao Daily
21 st January, 2002.
Agriculture is the sector facing the biggest impact after China’s entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO). There are opportunities as well as challenges for agriculture in China.
Regarding opportunities, entry into the WTO helps China’s agriculture integrate rapidly and
smoothly into the global economy. It also promotes in agriculture and villages. … Regarding
challenges, the import tariff for agricultural products will surely be adjusted. This means that
China’s agriculture will face keener international competition. …
(a)
What challenges do China’s entry into WTO bring to the small farmers in China?
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(b) How can the Chinese Government help Chinese peasant adapt to the global economy?
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AL/GEOG/Agricultural/WS-56
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(c) The officers of WTO always claim that free trade can help improve the economy and
well being of the people of the less developed countries. Do you agree? Why?
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