10.2
 Purpose of farming
 Percentage of farmers in the labor force
 Use of machinery
 Farm size
 Relationship of farming to other businesses
 Shifting Cultivation
 Pastoral Nomadism
 Two features:
 land is cleared by slashing and burning debris
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Slash and burn
Axes
Cut down most of the trees
Swidden= the cleared area
 Farm crops on a cleared field for a couple of
years and then leave it for many years so the
soil can recover
 Why move locations?
 Types of crops: vary by region
 Rice= SE Asia
 Corn (maize)=Americas
 Millet= Africa
 Brazilian shift farming order:
 Concentric rings
 Inner rings: sweet potatoes and yams
 Next: corn and rice, manioc, more yams
 Outter: Papaya, banana, pineapple, mango, cotton,
beans
 LDCs: “farm field” is much more chaotic than in
MDCs
 Land owned by the village
 Whole > individual
 ¼ of the world’s land
 5% of the worlds population
 Not surprising…why not?
 Declining in tropics
 Can only support a small population in an area without causing
environmental damage
 Deforestation of rain forests , esp. in Latin America
• Large number of trees cut, burning and decay can
release large volumes of…
• Carbon dioxide
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDOq7QZXTdI
 Pastoral nomadism = herding domesticated
animals
 found primarily in arid and semiarid B-type climates
 animals are seldom eaten
 the size of the herd indicates power and prestige
 type of animal depends on the region
 Camels= N. Africa & SW Asia,
 Horse=Central Asia
 transhumance, or seasonal migration, practiced use of
pastures, or areas on which animals feed
 often use similar patterns of migration, not random
 no longer seen as stage of agriculture, but type of agric.
 adaptation to environment
 declining in numbers worldwide
 Identify two features of shifting cultivation
 Pastoral nomads depend on animals rather than
crops
 i.e. animals provide milk, skin/hair.
 Mostly consume grains rather than meats
 Animals usually not slaughtered, but once dead
may be eaten
 Animals:
 Camels= long periods without water, carry heavy
bags, move quickly
 Goats= tough and agile and can survive on almost
any vegetation
 Today it is declining partly because of
modern technology.
 Why??
 ¾ of the world’s people live in LDCs and the form of
agriculture that feeds them= Intensive Subsistence
Agriculture
 East, South, Southeast Asia
 Most of the work done by hand or with animals b/c of the
lack of funds
 Virtually no land wasted
 I.e.:
 Wet-rice farming (Review textbook for the specifics)
 Dry lands farming various grains using crop rotation
 Rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to
avoid exhausting the soil
 Commercial agriculture in tropics and subtropics esp.
Latin America, Africa, Asia
 Found in LDCs, owned by MDCs and sold to MDCs
 Plantation= large farm that specializes in one or more
crops
 Sugarcane, cotton, coffee, rubber, tobacco, cocoa,
bananas, tea, coconuts.
 Must import workers and provide housing, food because
plantations are isolated
 USA history with plantations= in the south with cotton,
declined after the…