Ch.10 Agriculture
Where did agriculture
originate?
Geography of Agriculture
Why study agriculture?
Why study agriculture?
Covers over 40% of Earth’s land
surface
Why study agriculture?
More than ½ of all families in LDC’s
earn living through agriculture
What is agriculture?
Agriculture
What % of the people in this world are
farmers?
 Principle primary-sector economic activity
 Definition: Deliberate modification of
Earth’s surface through cultivation of
plants and rearing of animals to obtain
sustenance or economic gain
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Origins of Agriculture
Cannot be documented w/ certainty,
before recorded history
Hunters & Gatherers:
- Lived in small groups (>50)
- Gender roles (men-hunt; women-gather)
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Frequent travel, seasons, movement of game
-
250,000 ppl today (.005%); isolation
Humanity’s only “economic” activity for at
least 90% of our existence.
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Hunters and Gatherers - Contemporary
Australia
Arctic - Inuit
South America (Paraguay)Ache’ Hunters
Africa - Kalahari Bushmen
Invention of Agriculture

Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic
Revolution) – 8,000 BCE
 The
time when humans first domesticated
plants and animals and no longer relied
entirely on hunting and gathering was known
as the agricultural revolution.

Agriculture originated in multiple hearths
around the world
First Agricultural Revolution - Where?
Agricultural Revolution
Primary effects:
Urbanization
 Social Stratification
 Occupational Specialization
 Increased population densities
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Secondary effects:
 Endemic diseases
 Famine
 Expansionism
Second Agricultural Revolution
Technology allows much greater production
(surplus) with less human labour, but has
high social and environmental costs. Less
farmers (push/pull).
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Metal plows, Reapers, Cotton Gin, Seed Drill
Tractors (Internal Combustion Engine)
New Crops – Potatoes and Corn
Combines
Chemical Pesticides/Fertilizers
Hybrid and genetically modified crops
**Coincides with 2nd stage of DTM
Differences Between Subsistence
& Commercial Agriculture
Purpose of Farming
 LDCs – subsistance farming, for purpose of own
consumption
 Some surplus may be sold, but not purpose and
may not be any surplus some yrs
 MDCs – Commercial farming, for purpose of
sale off the farm to food-processing companies
- General Mills, Kraft etc.
1)
2) % of Farmers in the Labour Force
 MDCs; less than 5% directly involved
(Canada & US only 2%)
 LDCs; 55%
 # of farmers declined drastically in MDCs
during 20th century
 Push & Pull factors
3) Use of Machinery
 vs. use of people/animals
 Small # of farmers in MDC’s can feed
many people
 Farm machinery 1st produced in 18th
century (2nd agricultural revolution)
 Transportation improvements move things
farther & faster (railroads, highways)
 Scientific advances (research)
 Electronics & GPS
4) Farm Size
 Commercial- large (US/Canada), although
family owned & operated (98%)
 Dominated by a handful of large farms (top
4%, 50%+ total output)
 ½ of US farms generate >$10,000/yr
 Huge impact of mechanization
 Fewer farms/farmers, more land devoted
to agriculture (13% more than 1900 – peak
in 1960)
 Urban sprawl
5) Relationship of farming to other business
 Commercial farming: Agribusiness
 More than 20% of US labour works in field
related to agribusiness
 Machinery manufacturing, fertilizer
production, retailing etc.)
 Many aspects of agribusiness are
controlled by large corporations
Mapping Agricultural Regions
Derwent Whittersey – map
 11 main agricultural regions + area where
non-existent (5 LDCs, 6 MDCs)
 Climate main influence
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