Agricultural History

Why are we studying agriculture? Over 1/3 of total global land use is for agriculture. 47% of the world’s population lives in rural areas, and most of those people practice agriculture This is how we survive!

Before Agriculture—Hunting and Gathering Happened before farming was invented Involved hunting animals and gathering fruit and nuts around your area Did not allow large societies to develop because couldn’t support large populations

First Agricultural Revolution—Neolithic Revolution Happened about 12,000 years ago Involved humans domesticating plants and animals (1st farming) Led to a sedentary lifestyle (staying in one place) Allowed societies increase their carrying capacity

Husbandry and Domestication To domesticate animals, you select animals that have traits you want, and breed them Example: If you have a male and a female dog that both don’t bite, you use them to make puppies Same concept with crops

Independent Plant Domestication “Fertile Crescent”—Iraq, Syria, and Turkey--Wheat Peru--Potatoes Central Mexico--Corn East Africa—Rice and sorghum “Indus River Valley”—India—Wheat and barley China--Rice

So… Small scale, subsistence agriculture developed (growing only enough to feed your family) Labor intensive agriculture—Required high number of hours per acre of harvested crop Today—small scale market gardening

Carl Sauer Claimed humans developed a sedentary lifestyle through vegetative planting Thought it started in SE Asia SE Asia had diverse climates that helped grow multiple crops Then, vegetative planting diffused to other parts of the world Was he right?

Role of technology in early farming Several things made farming possible: Irrigation—Using structures to provide water where farmers needed it Plow—Allowed easier planting Terracing—Allowed farming on mountainous terrain

2nd Agricultural Revolution Industrial Revolution allowed the mechanization of agriculture in the 1700’s-1800’s Tractors, reapers, threshers, cotton gin, etc Also, new hybrid crops, fertilizers, and pesticides developed Capital intensive agriculture —Use machines to grow things, so less human labor

Large Scale, Commercialized Agriculture Making crops to sell, not just to survive Plantation agriculture—Huge farms worked by low wage laborers for export Cash crops—Crops that are made for selling, not for eating, like tobacco or cotton

3rd Agricultural Revolution—Green Revolution Green Revolution--20TH Century Putting new antibiotics and growth hormones in food to make it grow faster and bigger Genetically Modified Food—Changing the genetic makeup of plants and animals

3rd Agricultural Revolution—Green Revolution In 1965, LDC’s, including India, began planting high yield grains (land intensive, like wheat and rice) High yield per acre Also used new fertilizer and irrigation Educated farmers on new, better techniques Allowed India to feed its population, has not had a major famine since

Effects of the Green Revolution

Green Revolution problems Soil depletion due to new, bigger crops devastated some rural farmers Ecologically, a lack of biodiversity of crops (only grew one crop where they used to grow several) Pesticides—Contaminate the soil AND WATER SUPPLY

Global Degraded Soils

Today’s Global Pattern of Agriculture influenced by past colonialism Today, many LDCs still survive by producing cash crops for export to MDCs that were once their masters. Colombia – coffee, Guatemala -- bananas, Egypt – cotton, Caribbean and Brazil – sugar, flowers Main place produce comes from in winter—Chile Refrigerated trucks! Made it possible to globalize agriculture

Organic Agriculture Food grown without lots of pesticides or genetic engineering 2 main reasons the industry is expanding: Higher demand (people care more about what they eat, people have more $$$) People want to take better care of land after Green Revolution

Graphic Timeline! If you have a textbook quiz to make up or want to redo the FRQ on urban geography I just passed out (or if you never did it), you can do that now. If you do not need to do either of those, you will do a graphic timeline of agricultural history. If you do a good job, you get a free 100 as a classwork grade for kicking butt on all your other assignments. Your graphic timeline should include: At least four events For each event: approximate dates, brief description, and pictures