Transcript Agriculture

Agriculture
Ch. 10
Origins of Agriculture
• Agriculture: deliberate modification of
Earth’s surface thru the cultivation of
plants and rearing animals to obtain
sustenance or economic gain
–Crop: any plant cultivated by ppl
• No documentation of origin point, only
logical sequencing
Origins of Agriculture
• Hunters & Gatherers
–Still 250,000 H&Gs today
• Arctic, Africa, Australia, South America
• 1st Agric. Revolution
–Combo of accident and deliberate
experimentation
–Animals used 1st for non-econ purposes
Origin of Agriculture
• Vegetative planting:
–Cut plants, divided roots (direct cloning)
–Carl Sauer believes started in SE Asia
• Already sedentary b/c of fishing
• Prob started w/ root vegetables
• Dog, pig, & chicken
Origin of Agriculture
• Seed Planting:
– the reproduction of plants thru annual planting
of seeds that result from sexual fertilization
• Still most common
– Sauer identified 3 hearths: W India, N China, &
Ethiopia*
• Began w/ wheat & barley
• Cattle, sheep, & goats
– Also S Mexico & N Peru
• w/ squash, maize, beans, cotton
• Llamas, alpacas, & turkey
Agricultural Regions
• Dependent on 2 things: culture &
environment
–No hogs in Muslim countries; little wine
in Africa & Asia
–Climate; soil type
• Further differences lie in level of
development…
Agricultural Regions
• Subsistence vs. Commercial Agric.
–Purpose of farming
–% of farmers in labor force
–Use of machinery/technology
–Farm size
–Relationship of farming to other
businesses
*First categorization to apply*
Crete & Iran
Agricultural Regions
• Whittlesey (1936)
–11 Regions (5 LDC, 6 MDC)
–Climate is key factor what crop, or
animal instead of crop
–Explains trend of pastoral nomadism
–Explains trend of slash-and-burn
(shifting cultivation)
Compare to a Climate Map
Agriculture in LDCs
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Shifting cultivation
Pastoral nomadism
Intensive subsistence agriculture
Plantation farming*
(Ch 10.2)
Shifting Cultivation
• Mostly in tropics; 250 mil ppl
• No major tools, no sophisticated
modification
• Two major characteristics:
– Slash-and-burn, cleared land = swidden
– Stay a few years, then leave it fallow to recover
(return 6-20 yrs later)
• Variety of crops work…let’s read in book!
– (p 342)
Shifting Cultivation
• Being replaced by logging, ranching,
cash crops more economical
• Critics: inefficient way to get food;
should be replaced w/ higher
yielding method
• Proponents: environmentally sound;
nothing artificial; cultural diversity
Pastoral Nomadism
• Mostly in dry climates; 15 mil ppl
• Planting crops impossible herding
– Milk, skins/hair, only consume dead
– Size of herd reps power/prestige
– Some alternate w/ farming depending on
rainfall; some prac. transhumance
• Bedouins (Saudi, N Africa), Masai (E Africa)
• Territories do exist for grps
Pastoral Nomadism
• Declining w/ technology
–No longer needed as messengers
• Govn’ts want to resettle nomads
–China, Kazakhstan, ME
–Put in cooperatives so can modernize dry
land (irrigation, mining, oil, etc)
–Try to encourage sedentary agric.
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
• Mostly in E, S, and SE Asia; ¾ of world’s
pop.
• Fragmented plots (generational)
– High agricultural density (wk more to
produce enough on sm plots)
• Abundant labor, no funds for machines
• Cannot waste ANY arable land
• Double cropping: alt b/w wet rice and dry
crops
Wet Rice Production
1. Plow & animal preps field
2. Dikes & canals repaired (for #3)
3. Land is flooded (delicate balance)=
sawah…not paddy
4. Seedling grown on dry land
5. Transplant seedlings to sawah
6. Harvested by hand
7. Threshed, winnowed, polished
Farming in China
• Communist Rev. 1949
– Gov’t org. land into communes (sev. hundred
ppl)
• Hoped for efficiency w/ equipment & animals, &
improvement projects would be easier
• Instead ppl worked less…
• No more communes, but no legal ownership
(except for contracts)
• Hard to separate now b/c of shared
infrastructure
• Production greatly improved
Plantation Farming
• Found in tropics, subtropics (LA, Africa,
and Asia) in LDCs but owned by
Euro/NA for sell in MDCs
• Specializes in 1 or 2 crops
• Located in sparse areas import
workers (manage time efficiently)
• Can be processed @ plantation =cheaper
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