+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. T3/20/12 The Origins of Agriculture (Ch. 10.1)

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. I. Origins of Agriculture Agriculture = deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and/or rearing of animals Cultivate = “to care for” Crop = any plant cultivated by people

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. I. Origins of Agriculture (cont.) A. Hunter-gatherers Before farming humans obtained food through hunting, fishing, or gathering plants, berries, nuts, fruits, roots. earliest groups of people small nomadic tribes (~50 ppl.) division of labor by gender Men= hunters and fishers Women= collectors of berries, nuts, and roots Could take hours, could take days Perhaps 250,000 remaining today (less than 0.005%) Spinifex (Pila Nguru) - Great Victorian Desert in Australia Sentinelese - Andaman Islands in India Bushmen - Kalihari Desert in Botswana & Namibia

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. I. Origins of Agriculture (cont.) B. Invention of agriculture earliest roots are unclear; diffused from many hearths (map 10-2) Southwest Asia= barley, wheat ~ 10,000 years ago Lentils and olives Central Asia= rice ~ 10,000 years ago along Yangtze River Sub-Saharan Africa= Millet and Rice independent of Asia Mexico= beans, corn and cotton ~4,000-5,000 years ago Peru= Potato, corn ~4,000-5,000 years ago Southeast USA= squashes, corn domestication of animals (map 10-3) also differs by place & region Southwest Asia= cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, and dogs b/w 8,000 and 9,000 years ago Central Asia= horses Integrating the cultivation of crops with domestication of herd animals Southwest Asia= animals used to prepare the land before planting

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Crop Hearths Figure 10-2

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Animal Hearths Figure 10-3

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. II. Subsistence & Commercial Agriculture Subsistence = produced mainly for the farm family’s survival Most common in LDCs Commercial = produced mainly for sale off the farm Most common in MDCs Derwent Whittlesley research in regions climate vs. culture careful to avoid environmental determinism culture plays strong role (i.e., pork in Middle East)

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Agriculture and Climate

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+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. II. Subsistence & Commercial Agriculture Five characteristics distinguish commercial from subsistence agriculture A. Purpose of farming personal vs. mass consumption B. Percentage of farmers in the labor force usually higher in LDC’s, but more land in MDC’s MDC= 5% of workers directly engaged LDC= 50% of workers directly engaged C. Use of machinery begins in late 18th C. Machinery used to be all wood, not all-iron Tractors, combines, corn pickers, planters, replace manual/animal labor continues to have impact on efficiency Science and farming

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. II. Subsistence & Commercial Agriculture Five characteristics (cont.) D. Farm size average farms are large in MDC’s 5% of farms make up 75% of U.S. production still 98% of commercial farms are family owned & operated steady loss of prime agricultural land due to urban sprawl E. Relationship of farming to other businesses development of agribusiness farmers only 2% of workers in U.S., but 20% of labor force works in food production

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Agricultural Workers Figure 10-5

+ © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Area of Farmland Per Tractor Figure 10-6