1. Food and Agriculture
Ch. 10

2. Origins of Agriculture
Agriculture is the deliberate modification of earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and/or rearing of animals
Exact Invention of agriculture is unclear, but it likely diffused from many hearths

3. The First Agricultural Revolution
Geographer Carl Sauer suggests that SE Asia and South Asia may have been where the first tropical plant domestication occurred, more than 14,000 years ago
Seed crops marked the first agricultural revolution, which likely first took place in the Fertile Crescent

4. Domestication of Animals
Some believe this happened before plant cultivation, but others argue that it began 8,000 years ago, well after crop agriculture
Domesticated animals could be used as beasts of burden, a source of meat, and providers of milk
Most important domesticated animals in the world: cow, sheep, goat, pig, and horse

5. The Second Agricultural Revolution
Moved agriculture beyond subsistence to generate the kinds of surpluses needed to feed thousands of people working in factories
Great Britain’s Enclosure act encouraged field consolidation into large, single-owner holdings
New technologies like Jethro Tull’s seed drill and Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper transformed farming
There were advances in breeding livestock
Innovations in machinery that happened in the Industrial Revolution (late 1800s and early 1900s) helped sustain the second Agricultural Revolution

6. The Third Agricultural Revolution
Called the GREEN REVOLUTION
Since the 1930s, agricultural scientists experimented with technologically manipulated seed varieties to increase crop yields
The Green Revolution brought new high-yield varieties of wheat and corn from the US to other parts of the world, like South and SE Asia
The Green revolution has been criticized since many crops are genetically modified and there are higher inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides

7. New Genetically Modified Foods
GMOs are found in 75 percent of all processed foods in the US
Many of the poorer countries of the world don’t have access to the necessary capital and technology
There is ideological resistance to genetically engineered foods

8. Commercial and Subsistence 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

9. Commercial and Subsistence Agriculture
Five characteristics distinguish commercial from subsistence agriculture:
Purpose of farming
Percentage of farmers in labor force
Use of Machinery
Farm Size
Relationship of farming to other businesses

10. Subsistence Agriculture
Shifting cultivation
Intercropping and Agroforestry
Pastoralism
Transhumance
Wet Rice Farming
Smallholder crop and livestock farming

11. Commercial Agriculture
Agribusiness
Plantation agriculture
Cash Crops
Dual Society and Dual Economy
Commercial Gardening and Mediterranean Agriculture
Truck Farming
Commercial Dairy Farming
Factory Farm
Feedlots
Commercial Grain Farming
Livestock Ranching
Extensive Agriculture

12. Diet
Consumption of food varies around the world primarily for two reasons:
Level of Development
Physical Conditions
Developing regions typically differ most in their primary sources of protein consumed

13. Nutrition and Hunger
UN estimates that 850 million people are undernourished
99% are located in developing countries

14. Shifting Cultivation Most prevalent in low-latitude, A-type climates
Two Features:
Land is cleared by slash-and-burn agriculture
Land Is tended for only a few years at a time
Types of crops grown vary regionally
Most often occurs in tropical rainforest regions – SE Asia, Central Africa, Brazil

15. Intensive Subsistence
Found in areas with high population and agricultural densities
Especially in East, South, and Southeast Asia
To maximize production, little to no land is wasted

16. Types Of Agriculture in MDCs
Mixed Crop and Livestock
Dairying
Grain
Ranching
Mediterranean
Commercial Gardening

17. Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
Livestock fed with crops grown on same farm, ¾ of income is from sale of animal products
Involves crop rotation, which helps maintain fertility of land
Common products are corn and soybeans

18. Dairy Farming Primarily in NE Us, SE Canada, NW Europe
60% of the world’s milk comes from these areas
Must be close to their market area because it’s highly perishable

19. Grain farming and Livestock
The largest commercial producer of grain is the US (KS, CO, OK, MT, WA, ND, SD)
Livestock Ranching
Practiced in marginal environments (US, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia

20. Plantation Farming Usually involves the production of one crop
Common in many tropical areas, like Latin America, Africa, and Asia
Examples: bananas, sugarcane, coffee, tea, cocoa, cotton, rubber, palm oil, etc.

21. **Von ThüNEN Model**
As one moved away from the town, one commodity or crop gave way to another
The greater the distance to the market, the higher the transport costs that had to be added to the cost of producing a crop or commodity
This model was the first effort to analyze the spatial character of economic activity

22. Challenges for Commercial Farmers
Overproduction
Agriculture efficiencies have resulted in overproduction
Demand has remained relatively constant
Sustainable agriculture
Sensitive land management
Integrated crop and livestock

23. Challenges for Commercial Farmers
Population Growth
Boserup thesis – population growth compels subsistence farmers to consider new farming approaches that produce enough food to take care of more people
International Trade
To be successful, LDCs need to grow crops people in MDCs want (coffee, tea, cocoa)
Drug Crops
South America – cocaine, marijuana
Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos – Opium, heroin

24. Strategies to increase food supply
Expanding agricultural land
Desertification - the Sahel
Increasing Productivity
The green revolution (1970s-80s)
Introduction of higher-yield seeds and use of fertilizers
Identifying New Food Sources
Cultivating oceans, developing higher-protein cereals, and improving palatability of foods
Increasing Trade