AGRICULTURE
The Future of Food
The Beginning
O Neolithic Revolution
O Changes to life include:
O Reliable food supplies, Increase in total human
population, Job Specialization, Patriarchy
O Vegetative Planting-cloning existing plants
(stems and roots)
O Southeast Asia
O Seed Agriculture-planting with seeds (typical
now)
O Ethiopia, Western India
Columbian Exchange
O Remember what happened?
O Trade diffused crops but topography and
climate determined success of transplants
O Food in the Western Hemisphere was
completely different from Eastern
Hemisphere until the Exchange
O Potatoes from Andes of South America to
Ireland
O Rice still more common in Asia, Beans, Squash,
Corn in the Americas
Second Agricultural
Revolution
O Pre-Industrialization in England and Western
Europe
O Use of fertilizers, improved collars for plow
animals, crop rotation, bred better livestock,
Seed Drill
O Enclosure-blocking off, fencing in land
Different Agriculture
O Commercial Agriculture: production of food
surplus, most crops destined for sale to
people outside farmer’s family. Practiced
mostly in MDC’s-farmers rarely sell directly
to consumer but sell to food processing
companies-called AGRIBUSINESS
O Subsistence Agriculture: production of only
enough food to feed the farmer’s family, with
little or no surplus to sell. Practiced mostly in
LDC’s.
Compare
Subsistence to Commercial
O Percentage of Farmers in the
Labor Force
O Use of Machinery
O Farm Size
Subsistence Farming
O Intensive Subsistence: Yields a large output
per acre but still only subsistence.
O Almost half the world’s population engaged
in this type of farming.
O Most prevalent in East and South Asia in wet
or lowlands producing rice, wheat (China),
maize, millet, peas and beans.
O Labor intensive type of Agriculture-lot of
people, little capital, work by hand
Subsistence Farming
O Shifting Cultivation (Slash and Burn):
Destroys environment, farmers continually
moving to slash/burn new land . Burned
land is fertile at first but then rapidly
depletes.
O Practiced in rain forest zones of Central and
South America, West Africa by people of
small villages who are guided by a village
chief or council
O Farming all done by hand
Subsistence Farming
O Pastoral Nomadism: Follows a herd, not
sedentary.
O Herds are domesticated sheep, goats, cows,
reindeer, cows, camels, and horses
O Nomadism is dictated by herds need for
pasture (food)
O Found in Central Eurasia, desert areas of
Arabian Peninsula
O Animals provide primary subsistence
Subsistence Agriculture-More!
O Extensive Subsistence Agriculture: large
areas of land, minimal labor per land unit
O Pastoral Nomadism and Slash and Burn
O Intensive Subsistence Agriculture: cultivation
of small land plots, lots of labor, yields per
unit and population densities high
Commercial AgricultureFinally!
O Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming: most
common form of agriculture in the US-farmers
grow crops and raise livestock and feed crops to
animals (beef, milk, eggs)
O Practice Crop Rotation (cycles-cereal grains, to
corn, to soybeans)
O Dairy Farming: close to urban areas (have to be
close-called the milkshed) sell to wholesalers
not directly to consumers
O Labor intensive farming-feeding and milking cows
Commercial Agriculture-More!
O Grain Farming: 3 most important regions in
USA- “World’s Breadbasket”
O Winter wheat areas of Kansas, Colorado,
Oklahoma
O Spring wheat areas of N.& S.Dakota,
Montana
O Palouse region Washington State
O Other grain countries-Canada, Australia,
Argentina, France, UK
O Grown on large farms, machines employed
Commercial Agriculture
O Livestock Ranching: commercial grazing of
livestock over a large area (practiced where crop
growing is difficult) South American pampas
(prairie)
O Mediterranean Agriculture: not just
Mediterranean (California, Chile) olives, grapes,
fruits, vegetables.
O Commercial gardening/fruit farming: southeast
US-long growing seasons, called “truck” farmingapples, cherries, lettuce, tomatoes
Commercial Agriculturelast one!
O Plantation Farming: large farm that
specializes in 1 or 2 crops
O Found in Latin America, Africa, Asia
O Cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, tobacco
O Mostly import wokers
O Corporate units
Von Thunen’s Model
Von Thunen’s Model