1. Vocabulary
Cash Crops – crops grown for money; more specifically refers to more specialized crops located mainly in or near the tropics (e.g., sugar, cotton, rubber, bananas, oranges, ...)
Agribusiness – A company which specializes in the integration of all steps of the food process industry
Ridge Tillage – System of planting crops on ridge tops, in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation.
Thresh – To beat out grain from stalks by trampling it.
Chaff – husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing

2. Vocabulary
Commercial Agriculture – agriculture specializing in the sale of cash crops
Subsistence Agriculture – The practice of growing enough to survive (LDCs)
Sustainable Agriculture – agricultural practices that can be maintained
Intensive Sustainable Agriculture - A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.
Extensive Agriculture - yields a large amount of output per acre through less intensive farming (uses a large amount of land)

3. Agriculture
In LDCs – farm products are consumed on or near the farm that they are produced
In MDCs – farmers sell what they produce
Elements of agriculture – climate, soil, topography, culture

4. Where did Agriculture Originate?
Origins of Agriculture
Location of agricultural hearths
Classifying agricultural regions

5. First Agricultural Revolution
1st crop and animal domestication (S.W. Asia)
Developed the 1st permanent settlements

6. Origins of Agriculture
Agriculture – deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain
Hunters and Gatherers
Groups of <50 people
Contemporary H&G
250,000 people today are hunters and gatherers
Arctic, Australia, South America and Africa

7. Invention of Agriculture
2 types of cultivation
Vegetative planting – the reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants
Seed Agriculture – reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization

8. Location of Agricultural Hearths
Vegetative planting
Southeast Asia
Fishing people and therefore more sedentary
1st were roots (yams, bananas, palm)
Diffused northward and eastward to China and Japan and Westward through India and SW Asia, Africa, Mediterranean
Livestock – dog, pig, chicken
Other hearths were S. America and West Africa
Hearths = West Africa, Northwest South America, S.E. Asia - India

9. Location of Agriculture
Seed Agriculture
Eastern Hemisphere
Western India, northern China, Ethiopia
SW Asia (S.E. Turkey); domesticated wheat and barley, cattle, sheep, and goats (used for labor, milk, skins, meat)
Diffusion of seed agriculture
Southwest Asia across Europe and through N. Africa
Greece, Crete, Cyprus show early evidence
Diffuse north through the Danube River basin to Baltic and North Seas
Eastward from SW Asia to NW India and Indus River plain
Northern China millet to S. Asia and SE Asia
Western Hemisphere
Southern Mexico and Northern Peru
S. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras; Squash and Maize (corn)
Hearths = Southern Mexico, N.E. Africa, N. China, N.E. India

10. 2nd Agricultural Revolution
Increase technology, crop rotation
Population increase and migration to cities
Development of commercial agriculture

11. Classifying Agricultural Regions
LDC – subsistence farming
Production of food primarily for the family
MDC – commercial agriculture
Production of food primarily for the sale from the farm
5 ways to distinguish between the 2
Purpose of farming
Percentage of farmers in the labor force
Use of machinery
Farm size
Relationship of farming to other businesses

12. Purpose of Farming Subsistence – produce for their own consumption
Commercial – grow crops and raise animals for sale off the farm
Agricultural products are sold to food-processing companies
% in MDCs is very low
Majority of population is involved in subsistence farming

13. Use of Machinery % farm size
Benefits of machinery
Transportation
Scientific developments
Electronics – GPS
Farm Size
Large for commercial agriculture
Most are family owned
Very expensive business

14. Relationship of Farming to Other Businesses
Commercial farming = agribusiness
Integrated into a large food production industry
Farmers – 2% of labor force, 20% of labor force works in food production
Manufacturing, production, distribution of all types of materials

15. Mapping Agricultural Regions
Derwent Whittlesey – 11 regions; 5 LDC 6 MDC
Separated by climate; drylands and tropics

17. 3rd Agricultural Revolution
The Green Revolution
Use of genetically modified crops, chemical fertilizers
Intensive mechanization in MDCs
Agriculture becomes a combination of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector activity

18. Vocabulary
Green Revolution – diffusion and use of new agricultural practices, especially biotechnology
Horticulture – the growing of fruits, vegetables and flowers
Plantation – a large farm specializing in one or two cash crops for trade with MDCs
Paddy –a Malay (from Malaysia) word used to describe flooded fields where rice grows
Pasture – land used for grazing

19. Vocabulary
Sawah – an Austronesian word used to describe flooded fields where rice grows
Desertification – The process of turning arable land into arid land
Shifting Cultivation – the practice of farming on one plot of land then relocating to another as the soil becomes depleted
Pastoral Nomadism – a form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals (sheep, goats, cows, etc)
Land Rent Theory – the concept that states the greater the area available, the less the land will cost

20. Where are agricultural regions in LDC’s located?
Shifting Cultivation
Pastoral nomadism
Intensive subsistence agriculture
Plantation farming

21. Ester Boserup’s Rural Land Use Theory
As the population increases, more food must be grown, and farms will achieve a very intensive use of farmland
Population growth influences the types of subsistence farming.
Bigger population = new farming methods
Late 20th century LDCs population grew and people in cities grew = need to produce more food.
Increase supply of food in 2 ways
New farming methods
Land is left fallow for shorter periods

22. New Farming Methods Increase technology Increase production
Plows replace axes
Increase production
More weeding, more manure, more terraces, more irrigation
Use labor that came from population growth

23. Land is left fallow for shorter periods
5 stages
Forest fallow
Use it for 2 years, left fallowed for 20
Bush fallow
Use it for 8 years, left fallowed for 10
Short fallow
Use it for 2 years, left fallowed for 2
Annual Cropping
Used every year and rotated between legumes and roots
Multi-Cropping
Used several times a year and never left fallowed

24. Shifting Cultivation - Subsistence
Humid Low-Latitude climate regions
High temperatures and abundant rainfall
Amazon in S.A., Central and W. Africa, S.E. Asia
Very small 5% of people use it but it occupies the largest percentage of the world’s land area ¼
Live in small villages
2 main details
Slash and burn agriculture (swidden = cleared area)
Grow crops on fields for only a few years until nutrients is depleted

25. Pastoral Nomadism - Subsistence
Pastoral = herding of animals
Dry climates; arid & semiarid lands (N. Africa, Middle East, Central Asia)
15 million people occupy 20% of earth’s land
Transhumance- seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pasture areas

26. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
For people who live in LDC’s
East, South, And Southeast Asia
Must produce a large amount of food in a smaller area
Wet rice – planting rice on dry land in a nursery then moving the seedlings to a flooded field to promote growth (sawah, paddy)
Dominant in S.E. China, E. India, & S.E. Asia
Inter tillage; manually clearing rows (rice)
Abundant water is the most important factor when growing rice
Agricultural output in South Asia each year depends on the monsoon rains
To increase crop yields, farmers in China practice double cropping -2 harvest per year from 1 field. Wet rice in the summer and wheat, barley or other dry crops in the winter

27. Plantation Farming - Commercial
Tropics and subtropics (Latin America, Africa, Asia)
Generally in LDC’s but owned by Europeans or N.A. and grow crops for sale primarily in MDC’s (core-periphery) e.g.; cotton, sugar, coffee, rubber, tobacco, cocoa, jute, bananas, tea, coconuts, palm oil
Example of a commodity chain - series of links connecting the many places of production and distribution and resulting in a commodity that is then exchanged on the world market
Import workers and provide them with food, housing and social services.

28. Review: Types of Agriculture
Intensive
Extensive
Small amounts of land, get as much as you can from it, very labor intensive. (Crop rotation).
Large amounts of land, get as much as you can from it then move to a new location. (Shifting cultivation).
Crop Rotation – Dividing a field into different parts
uses most land worldwide
Inter tillage – manually clearing rows (rice)
Shifting Cultivation – Farm till soil is used up the relocated (slash and burn)
Being eliminated worldwide
Greater use of technology and globalization
Double cropping – obtaining two harvest in one year
Pastoral Nomadism – migrating animal herds
Transhumance – relocation based on the seasons
Cattle feedlot is a good example of extensive land use
Sustainable Agriculture – can be maintained
unsustainable

29. Review: Types of Agriculture
Subsistence
Commercial
grow enough to survive
grow for sale
Majority of people in the world are involved in this type of agriculture
Truck Farming – large scale specialty farming for trade
Plantation Agriculture –Mostly practiced in LDC’s
Example of Core-Periphery in agricultural trade
Exporting of cash crops to MDC’s
Combinations
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
Intensive Commercial Agriculture
Extensive Subsistence Agriculture
Extensive Commercial Agriculture

30. Review Commercial cont.
Agribusiness – Mass production and distribution of agricultural products
Dominant form of agriculture in U.S., MDC’s
Suitcase farms – Use cheap migrant labor
Use of industrial agriculture – Assembly line mass production concepts in farming
Integrated commodity chains – Control production from growing to selling to the customer
Comparative advantage – produce goods cheaper than small family farms
Family farmers have resorted to organic farming
Appeal to environmental, social, and health concerns of consumers
Allows for higher profits on products
Sell directly to the consumer at farmers markets