1. The Geography of Agriculture
agriculture: deliberate growing of crops or raising of animals
Why study agriculture?
Much of earth’s dedicated to farming
Only 2% in U.S. engaged in farming
Half of people in LDC’s depend on farming
Huge impact on the environment
Our entire way of urban-industrial life based upon commercial farming

2. A. First Agricultural Revolution
Transition away from hunting & gathering
Domestication of plants & animals
Fertile Crescent (S.W. Asia) about 12,000 years ago
Wheat, barley, sheep & goats along Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

3. Domestication of plants & animals probably emerged as an extension of food gathering activities of hunting & gathering societies.

4. CORN
RICE
WHEAT
POTATO
MILLET

8. B. Intensive vs. Extensive
1. intensive agriculture: uses large inputs of labor & capital on smaller areas of land
- high yield per unit area of land
- fertilizers
- water management
- activity of half the world’s population…
- rice alone feeds 2.8 billion Asians every day

9. 2. extensive agriculture: large areas of land & less labor input
- yield per unit area is low & populations are low
Systems of production:
- subsistence (for survival)
- commercial (for sale)

10. C. Types of Subsistence Agriculture
Shifting cultivation (swidden agriculture): a type of subsistence farming found in tropical rain forest areas
also called slash-and-burn or milpa
cutting, burning (fertilizes & clears pests), then planting
5% of world (Amazon, Congo, Indonesia)

11. Nomadic Pastoralism: a form of extensive subsistence agriculture
animal herds are moved from one forage area to another in patterns of migration
mostly in arid grasslands
milk, cheese, meat, wool, skins
Wodaabe of The Sahara
Tibetan herdsmen
Tunisian goat herder

12. transhumance: a form of pastoral nomadism where stock is moved to the lowlands in the winter & highlands in the summer

13. What type of agricultural activity is depicted in each of the slides?

14. Cattle Grazing Labor intensive or capital intensive?
Intensive or extensive land use?
Commercial or subsistence?
Sedentary or nomadic?

15. Wheat Labor intensive or capital intensive?
Intensive or extensive land use?
Commercial or subsistence?
Sedentary or nomadic?

16. Rice Labor intensive vs. capital intensive?
Intensive vs extensive land use?
Commercial vs. subsistence?
Sedentary vs. nomadic?

17. Bananas Labor intensive vs. capital intensive?
Intensive banana farming
Intensive Banana Farming is an agricultural technique which requires clearing most if not all native vegetation from tracts of land, then densely planting and fertilizing the crop. It produces the highest yield of fruit per acre, and is viewed by environmental scientists as a technique which involves a history of high risk for damage to the local environment [6] and health risk to the agricultural workers
Labor intensive vs. capital intensive?
Intensive vs extensive land use?
Commercial vs. subsistence?
Sedentary vs. nomadic?

19. Vegetables Labor intensive or capital intensive?
Intensive or extensive land use?
Commercial or subsistence?
Sedentary or nomadic?

20. Fishing Labor intensive or capital intensive?
Intensive or extensive land use?
Commercial or subsistence?
Sedentary or nomadic??

21. Pigs Feed Lots & Poultry Production
Labor intensive or capital intensive?
Intensive or extensive land use?
Commercial or subsistence?
Sedentary or nomadic?

22. D. Second Agricultural Revolution
from late Middle Ages into Industrial Age
open fields enclosed by fences
use of crop rotation
seeds & breeding stock improved
tools improved: use of the “heavy” plow
horses replaced oxen for plowing