Agriculture
The deliberate modification of earth’s
surface through cultivation of plants and
rearing of animals to obtain sustenance
and economic gain.
Hunting and
Gathering
Hunting
Fishing
Gathering plants, nuts, or
berries
Small groups <50
Nomadic
Gender division of labor
Men hunt
Women gather
Still ¼ million hunters and gatherers in
isolated locations worldwide!
Invention of Agriculture
• Observation of seeds growing, effects of water
and natural fertilizer
• Accidental or deliberate experiment?
• Women were gatherers – role in
domestication?
• Domesticated animals for protection, pets,
and food
• Prehistoric (before recorded history)
Multiple Origins Theory
• Hearths – places of origin
• Multiple independent hearths
– Food produced in distinctive ways in different
regions
– Based on local wild plants and animals, climatic
conditions, and cultural preferences
• Diffusion to other areas through contact
– Dependent on where particular plants and
animals thrive
Vegetative Planting and Seed Agriculture
Carl Sauer’s Theory
Vegetative Planting
• Cutting stems and dividing
roots
• Southeast Asia
• Taro, yam, banana, palm
• Fishing was main food
source, so more sedentary
Seed Agriculture
• Annual planting of seeds
• Practiced by most farmers
today
• Eastern Hemisphere
– Southwest Asia: wheat, barley
• Raised cattle, sheep, goats
that were also used to plow
– China: soybean
– Africa: coffee, cotton
• Western Hemisphere
– Mexico: maize, beans, squash
– Peru: potato
Agriculture Today
• Subsistence Agriculture: production of food
primarily for consumption by the farmer’s
family or village
– LDCs
• Commercial Agriculture: production of food
primarily for sale off the farm
– MDCs
Agricultural Regions
Subsistence Agriculture
• Shifting cultivation
• Pastoral Nomadism
• Intensive Subsistence, Rice
Dominant
• Intensive Subsistence, other
than rice dominant
• Plantation
Commercial Agriculture
• Mixed Crop and Livestock
• Dairying
• Grain
• Ranching
• Mediterranean
• Commercial Gardening
Agricultural Regions
Note the locations of each type of agriculture
Climate Influences on Agriculture
•Pastoral Nomadism: dry climates
•Shifting Cultivation: tropical wet climates
•Crops take more water than grazing
•Some crops take less water, like wheat
•Some crops need a long growing season, like cotton
Rural Settlements
• Clustered: agricultural community with
families and public building together and
fields surrounding the settlement
– New England – irregular shaped fields
– Linear – French Long Lots
– Circular – Masai, early Europe
• Dispersed: farmers live on individual farms
isolated from neighbors
– Modern North America
Masai Kraal – animal “corral” in center,
houses surrounding it with gardens, grazing
area or fields outside
Comparing Subsistence and
Commercial Agriculture
Subsistence
• High percentage of farmers
– 50% or more in LDCs
• Small farms
– LDCs average size 1,7 acres
• Few machines
– LDCs have abundant labor
force
– Machinery too expensive
Commercial
• Low percentage of farmers
– Less than 10%, U.S. only 2%
• Large farms
– U.S. average size 444 acres
• Many machines
– High capital investment
– Tractors, combines, milking
machines
– Refrigeration, transportation
– Fertilizers, pesticides
Labor Force Engaged in Agriculture
Tractors per 1000 Hectares of Cropland
Subsistence Agriculture Regions
• LDCs
• Type of agriculture dependent on climate
– Shifting Agriculture in wet lands
– Pastoral Nomadism in dry lands
• Asia’s large population clusters practice
intensive subsistence agriculture
– Areas of abundant rainfall
Shifting Cultivation
• Also called “slash-and-burn” or “swidden”
• Tropical rainforest areas –warm, wet
– South America, Southeast Asia
• Burning releases natural fertilizer in the ash
• Only good for about 3 years
– Rains leach out nutrients, no new decaying plants
– Villagers move to another location
Brazil
Pastoral Nomadism
• Herding of domesticated animals
– Transhumance: moving with the seasons
• Dry regions (arid and semiarid)
– Africa, Middle East, Central Asia
– Bedouins: camels, Masai: cattle
• Meat, milk, hides from animals
– Grain consumed as well, products from trade
– Number of animals is measure of wealth
• 15 million people today , 20% of earth’s land
Masai
Intensive Subsistence
• Areas of high agricultural density
– Ratio of farmers to arable land is high
– Small farms must feed a lot of people
– East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia
• Work by hand or with animals
• Wet rice: seedling started in nursery, later moved
to flooded fields by hand
– Flat “paddies” or terraced hillsides
• Other crops and animals raised besides
– “Chinese system” – carp, ducks, pigs, vegetables, fruit
Rice Production
Plantation
• Large farm specializing in one or two crops
– Cotton, sugar cane, coffee, rubber, tobacco
• Tropics or Sub-Tropics
– Warm, wet climate
– Latin America, Africa, Asia
– U.S. South prior to Civil War with slave labor
• Located in LDCs, but owned by MDCs
– Crops grown for sale in MDCs
– Often low pay for workers
– Actually commercial agriculture in regions of
subsistence agriculture
Malaysian Tea Plantation
Commercial Agriculture Regions
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Six main types
Found in MDCs
Influenced by physical geography (climate)
Large farms/ranches
Low percentage of farmers in population
High usage of machinery
For sale in the market in MDCs
Mixed Crop and Livestock
• Corn most common crop, then soybeans
– Fed to livestock
– Crop rotation
Corn Production
Dairy Farming
• Located near urban areas in MDCs
– For rapid transport to market
• Highly mechanized and controlled
– Use of milking machines
– Use of growth hormones
• Milk production in LDCs is growing
– Higher standard of living can buy more milk
Milk Production
World Milk
Production
Grain Farming
• Sometimes called cereal crops
• Usually located in areas too dry for mixed crop
and livestock
• Plains states in the U.S . – large farms
• Grown primarily for consumption by humans
• Wheat is the most important in U.S.
– Can grow in dry areas, can be “double-cropped”
– Completely mechanized from plowing to harvesting
• Grain is the least labor-intensive type of farming
Wheat Production
Livestock Ranching
• Ranching: the commercial grazing of livestock
over an extensive area
– MDCs have very large herds on enormous ranches
• U.S. , Argentina, and Brazil – cattle
• Australia, British Isles – sheep
• Arid or semi-arid land where soil is too poor or
water too scarce to support crops
• Now part of the meat processing industry
– Not the romantic days of the cowboys driving the
Texas herds up north to market!
Meat Production
Commercial Gardening and
Fruit Farming
• U.S. southeast, warm and wet
• “Truck farming”
– from old English word for barter
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Vegetables
Fruits, nuts, citrus orchards
High value, small quantities
Small farms
Peanut Crop
Mediterranean
• Like California! Or Italy . . .
• Mediterranean Climate
– Hot dry summers, cool wet winters
– Only 5 places in the world have this climate
• Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Southern Australia, and
Capetown, South Africa
– All are wine producers, so look at Trader Joes
• Hilly land
• Grapes and olives, wine
– Many other crops if water is available
– Bread and Wine culture – wheat in hot/dry climate
Vineyard
Olive Groves
Subsistence Agriculture and
Population Growth
Four strategies to increase food production
1. Expand agriculture
Only 11% of earth’s land now cultivated
2. Increase productivity
Green Revolution: miracle crops (high yield), expand
use of fertilizer and pesticides
3. Identify new food sources
Acceptance, cultural preferences, hybrids
4. Expand exports
MDCs exporting more to LDCs
Africa is facing strong challenges to produce enough food for its growing population
World Agricultural Land
Grain Imports and Exports
Daily Calories
Consumed per Person
Africa’s
Food
Supply
Crisis
Overuse of land
has led to
desertification,
the permanent
destruction of
arable land as it
is overtaken by
the desert.
At the same
time, the
population is
growing rapidly,
leading to
famine.
VON THÜNEN’s MODEL
Commercial Agriculture and Market
Forces
• Agribusiness – commercial farming in MDCs
– Includes tractor mfg, fertilizer prod, seed dist
– Controlled by large corporations
• Food production has increased in MDCs but demand has
remained the same
– Leads to low prices, market saturation
• Government subsidies
– Paid to leave fields fallow (not planted)
– Paid if prices are too low
– Donated to foreign government or given to low-income
Americans
– Agricultural Dumping – negative result of subsidized agriculture
in MDCs, puts poor farmers out of business in LDCs
Agribusiness: Dairy Farming
Fewer cows
now in U.S.,
but milk
production is
higher.
Yield per
cow tripled
since 1960s.
Good
or
bad?
Sustainable Agriculture
• Sensitive land management
– Ridge tillage to reduce erosion
• Limited use of chemicals
– Mechanical weed control instead of pesticides
• Integrated crop and livestock
– Animals consume crops grown on the farm reducing
transportation expense and leaving animals to graze
naturally, fewer crowded pens
• Organic farming – how to define and identify
– Sustainable agriculture at its best!