1. Agriculture

2. Agricultural Origins and Regions
Hunters and gatherers
Small groups, nomadic movement based on game/plants
Small groups exist today in the Arctic, Africa, Australia and South America
Invention of agriculture
Plant cultivation evolved from accident and experiment
Two types
Vegetative and Seed

3. Location of agricultural hearths
Vegetative planting
Reproduction through cloning, cutting and splitting roots
Originated in Southeast Asia to China, Japan, India, S.W. Asia, Africa, and Mediterranean
1st plants were taro, yam, banana and palm
1st animals were dog, pig, and chicken
Seed agriculture
Planting seeds
W. India, N. China and Ethiopia
S.W Asia was the 1st place to integrate seed agriculture and domestication
Mexico and Peru developed independently (origin of corn and squash)

4. Seed Agriculture Hearths
Fig. 10-2: Seed agriculture also originated in several hearths and diffused from those elsewhere.

5. Classifying agricultural regions
Subsistence
Practiced in LDC
Personal consumption
Large farmer work force
Use hand tools, little machinery
Small farms
Commercial
Practiced in MDC
Produced for sale
Small farmer work force
High level of machinery
Large farms
Large connection to manufacturing sectors

6. Tractors, per Population
Fig. 10-4: Tractors per 1,000 people. Use of machinery is extensive in most MDC agriculture, but it is much less common in LDCs.

8. Agriculture in Less Developed Countries
Shifting cultivation
Humid low latitude, Amazon, W. C. Africa, S.E Asia
Characteristics of shifting cultivation
Slash and burn and fallow fields
Plows and animals barely used
Potash (potassium) from burning
Rice, corn, cassava, millet, sorghum, yams, sugarcane, plantain and vegetables
Future of shifting cultivation
Replaced by logging, cattle ranching and cultivation of cash crops
Large scale destruction of rain forest (Bolivia)

9. Pastoral Nomadism Pastoral nomadism
Characteristics of pastoral nomadism
Animals are used for meat, hides and milk
Animals are selected by local cultural and physical characteristics
Camels, horses, goats, and sheep
Movement is tied to territory
Future of pastoral nomadism
Offshoot of sedentary agriculture
Governments try to resettle groups or provide alternative jobs

10. Intensive subsistence agriculture
Farmers must produce more with less land for more people
Labor intensive and some use of animals, no machines
Intensive subsistence with wet rice dominant
S.E. Asia, China, and E. India
Plowed land is flooded with water and seedlings are transplanted and harvested by hand
Intensive subsistence with wet rice not dominant
Interior India and N.E. China grows wheat instead of rice
Cash crops like cotton, flax, hemp and tobacco are grown
Crop rotation is used to increase yield amount

11. World Rice Production
Fig. 10-6: Asian farmers grow over 90% of the world’s rice. India and China alone account for over half of world rice production.

12. Agriculture in Developed Countries
Mixed crop and livestock systems
Integration of crops and livestock (Crops fed to animals)
Reduces seasonal variation in income
Crop rotation for efficient output
Corn and soybeans (corn belt)
Dairy farming
U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia and New Zealand
Dairy farms must be close to the market
Farms farther away produce dairy products like cheese, butter, dry milk or condensed milk
Labor intensive, lack of profitability

13. World Milk Production
Fig 10-8: Milk production reflects wealth, culture, and environment. It is usually high in MDCs, especially production per capita, and varies considerably in LDCs.

14. MDC agriculture con’t Grain farming Livestock ranching
Commercial production, easily shipped worldwide
U.S., Canada, Argentina, Australia, France and U.K.
Winter and spring wheat
Livestock ranching
Animals grown for commercial sale
Beef demand rose through the use of railroads and changed ranching and breeds
Chisholm trail was the cattle route used bring to market
The Code of the West led to Range Wars when the government sold land previously used for grazing

15. World Wheat Production
Fig : China is the world’s leading wheat producer, but the U.S. and Canada account for about half of world wheat exports.

16. MDC agriculture con’t Mediterranean agriculture
Mediterranean climate (borders a sea, prevailing seas, moisture and mild winters)
Fruits, vegetables, flowers, olive oil, wine, and grapes
Commercial gardening and fruit farming
U.S. southeast because of climate
Consumer goods of agriculture (apples, cherries and lettuce)
Use of migrant workers keep labor cost down
Plantation farming
Located in LDCs but owned by MDC corporations
Cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, tobacco and tea
Crops are processed on site then shipped

17. Economic Issues of Commercial Farmers
Access to markets-proximity determines crop choice
Overproduction-brings down prices of crops
Avoid certain crops, farmer assistance and gov’t buys surplus
Sustainable agriculture- land management and integration
Ridge tillage, Round up ready seeds
Integration of crops and livestock to get rid of the middle man (farmer grows food to feed livestock instead of purchasing it)

18. Economic issues of subsistence farmers
Population growth and international trade are issues faced by LDCs
Boserup suggests that LDCs need to consider new farming approaches in order to produce enough food for their population
This is achieved through more efficient agriculture (fallow fields, better machinery and more fertilizer)
Increasing food supply
Expand agricultural land
Increase efficiency on current land
Identify new sources of food
Increase exports so there are funds to purchase food

19. Von Thünen Model
Fig : Von Thünen’s model shows how distance from a city or market affects the choice of agricultural activity in (a) a uniform landscape and (b) one with a river.