AGRICULTURAL LAND USE Agriculture – the deliberate tending of crops and livestock in order to produce food and fiber Less than 2% of Americans are farmers >Agricultural production is at an all- time high >Mechanization and farm consolidation has forced small farmers off the land

Culture dictates how land is divided and for what purposes –Islam and Judaism avoid pork –Hindus do not consume beef Most food humans eat comes directly or indirectly from the soil –Farming has been the basis of existence all over the world

*The key contribution of agriculture Allowed people to settle permanently in one location with the assurance that food would be available

EARLY ‘FARMING’ HUNTERS & GATHERERS Only about 250,000 people throughout the world San in Southern Africa, Aboriginial people of Australia, Native Americans of Brazil Hunting is done with poisoned spears, bows & arrows, clubs, and sticks; may even poison a water supply and track the animals

H/Gers must overcome great odds everyday for survival –Drought is the worst enemy –Must have a working knowledge of every berry, nut, root, seed, and beetle Tools – from clubs to spears to axes, the controlled use of fire, baskets for collecting berries, primitive rafts for the fishermen, metal working – early evidence of copper, gold, and iron being hammered into arrowheads

FIRST AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION – Plants/Seeds A. 10,000-12,000 years ago, closely aligned with the declining Ice Age, accompanied by a modest population explosion B. Hearths or source region of plant domestication and specific products – SEE CHAPTER 10! –

ANIMAL DOMESTICATION No firm date as to when domestication occurred Goats, pigs, and sheep rapidly incorporated into captivity SEAsia – pigs, water buffalo, chickens SAsia – cattle, elephant SWAsia – goat, sheep, camel Inner Asia – yak, horse, goat, sheep, reindeer Mesoamerica – llama, alpaca, pig, turkey ***Different species in different areas***

B. DIFFUSION OF AGRICULTURE Blurred the original spatial patterns Great emphasis on inhabited areas of Eurasia Less on Americas- Australia-Africa *Areas that had agriculture and domesticated animals developed quicker’

C. SECOND AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION 1. Agriculture underwent significant change during the 17th and 18th centuries tools & equipment, soil preparation, fertilization, crop care, techniques in harvesting improved, food storage 2. Productivity increased to meet demand Machines/tractors doing the work instead of humans *von Thunen ( ) Spatial Model of Farming (p 399)

1. Laboratories and plant nurseries –biotechnology and genetic engineering –higher yielding strains of grain 2. First experimented with in the Philippines –Scientists crossed a dwarf Chinese variety of rice with an Indonesian variety and got IT8 –Bigger “head” of rice –Stronger stem – would not break –Better yields 3. Other crops –Wheat, corn, tomatoes, bananas have benefited – Methods for fattening livestock faster 4. Consequently…famines have been abated 5. But genetic products require more fertilization and pesticides –Reduces the organic matter in the soil and leads to groundwater pollution –Some farmers do not have access or money for genetic seeds and so they are at a competitive disadvantage D. THIRD AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION: Also known as the “Green Revolution”

SUBSISTENCE FARMING – growing only enough to survive –Shifting cultivation interpreted as slash- and-burn > Seems less efficient But is less damaging to soil, Uses substantially less energy

Alternatives – European powers sometimes in their zeal to help…. forced subsistence farmers to sell excess thereby increasing cash reserves devote some land for cash crops (Ethiopian cotton, Brazilian coffee, Colombian tobacco, Australian wool, Argentinean beef) Conducted soil surveys, built irrigation systems, lent money for start up costs

Alternatives – European powers sometimes in their zeal to help…. –Resulting in… severe famine changing of the entire economic system to a more intensive farming and cash cropping inequitable resource/land distribution system leading to a very wealthy, elite class and poor people being left behind