AGRICULTURE

Origins of AgricultureOrigins of Agriculture• When humans domesticated plants and

animals for their use• AgricultureAgriculture - deliberate modification of the

earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain

• CultivateCultivate - “to care for”• CropCrop - any plant cultivated by people

Hunter Gatherers

• Today 250,000 people still survive this way

• .005% of human population• Small groups in isolated

locations• Arctic, interior of Africa,

Australia, and South America

Earliest Plant CultivationEarliest Plant Cultivation

• According to cultural geographer Carl Sauer– Vegetative plantingVegetative planting - reproduction of plants by

direct cloning from existing plants, such as cutting stems and dividing roots

– Seed agricultureSeed agriculture - (later) - reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization. Practiced today by most farmers.

Agricultural HearthsAgricultural Hearths(vegetative planting)

• Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia– Diverse climate & topography encouraged growth

of variety of plants– More sedentary population because relied on

fishing more than hunting– Taro, yam, banana, palm– Diffused north and east to China and Japan and

west to India, southwest Asia, Africa, and Mediterranean

– Dog, pig, & chicken first domesticated animals

• West AfricaWest Africa - oil palm and yam• Northwest South AmericaNorthwest South America - manioc, sweet

potato, arrowroot

First Seed AgricultureFirst Seed Agriculture(Eastern Hemisphere)(Eastern Hemisphere)

• Western IndiaWestern India - – diffused to Southwest Asia where wheat

and barley were domesticated & where animals were first intergrated with plant agriculture. Cattle, sheep & goats plowed the land & were fed crops.

– Diffused to Mediterranean & Europe

• Northern ChinaNorthern China– Millet diffused to Southeast Asia

• EthiopiaEthiopia– Millet and sorghum, did not diffuse widely

First Seed AgricultureFirst Seed AgricultureWestern HemisphereWestern Hemisphere

• Southern MexicoSouthern Mexico– Extended into Guatemala and Honduras– Squash and maize (corn)

• Northern PeruNorthern Peru– Squash, beans, cotton– Llama, alpaca, turkey

• Multiple origins of agriculture means that people have always produced food in distinctive ways. Based on climate & cultural preferences

Forms of AgricultureForms of Agriculture• SubsistenceSubsistence

– produced for consumption

– work by hand– most people work (more

than 1/2 of workers are farmers)

• shifting cultivation• nomadic herding• intensive subsistence

(rice dominant or not rice dominant)

• plantation agriculture

• CommercialCommercial– produced for market (mainly food

processors - agribusiness - part of the food production industry)

– Machines & scientific advances (fertilizer, etc)

– few laborers (less than 1/10 of workers in MDCs are engaged in farming)

• livestock & ranching• horticulture• dairy farming• mixed crop• grain• Mediterranean

World Agricultural RegionsWorld Agricultural Regions• Whittlesey’s map from 1936

– Most widely used– 11 main agricultural regions & 1 where it’s

nonexistent (5 regions in LDCs, 6 regions in MDCs)

– Sorted practices by climate (2 maps, one of climate regions & Whittlesey’s are similar)

– Strong correlation between climate & agriculture (Much of the West is dry and also home to ranching)

Agriculture in LDCsAgriculture in LDCs

• Shifting cultivationShifting cultivation

• Pastoral nomadismPastoral nomadism

• Intensive subsistence agricultureIntensive subsistence agriculture

• Plantation farmingPlantation farming

Shifting CultivationShifting Cultivation• Tropics (high temp, high rainfall)• Amazon, Central & West Africa, Southeast Asia• 250 million people• Usually small villages that grow food on

surrounding, communal land• Two Hallmarks of Shifting CultivationTwo Hallmarks of Shifting Cultivation

– Slash and burn agriculture– Farmers grow crops on a cleared field for only a few

years until soil is depleted, then leave fallow so soil can recover

Process of Shifting Process of Shifting CultivationCultivation

• Cut down trees & brush

• Remainder is burned & ashes add nutrients to soil

• Swidden (cleared area)

• Land is hoed and planted • crops grow for 3 years, then

nutrients are depleted and fields are left fallow for 6-20 years.

Shifting CultivationShifting Cultivation• Main CropsMain Crops

– SE Asia - rice– S America - maize, manioc– Africa - millet, sorghum– Also: yams, sugarcane, plantains– Families grow for their own

needs, so one swidden may contain many crops & look chaotic

• Land OwnershipLand Ownership– Traditionally, village owns land &

allocates parts to families, but changing

– 1/4 world’s land area, but less than 5% of people

Future of Shifting CultivationFuture of Shifting Cultivation• Declining in the tropics at 30K sq. mi/yr

– Replaced by logging, ranching & cash crops– Critics: “inefficient way to feed many”– Defenders: “most environmental kind of

agriculture”• No fertilizer or pesticides• Allow native plants to grow back in fallow years• Protects against erosion, soil damage &

unbalanced ecosystems

– Loss of shifting cultivation could harm diversity of cultures (agriculture connected to social, religious, and political customs

Pastoral NomadismPastoral Nomadism• Subsistence ag. based on herding animals

– Depend on herds for life, but eat mostly grain

• Dry climates, crops impossible

• N. Africa, Middle East, central Asia – (Bedouins of Saudi Arabia, Masai of East Africa)

• 15m people, on 20% of world’s land area

• Declining - gov’ts forcing

Nomads to settle because

want access to lands for

irrigation, mining, oil

Intensive Subsistence AgricultureIntensive Subsistence Agriculture• Most of Ag in LDCs (needed in densely

populated areas)• Small farms, fragmented• Ag density is high (lots

of farmers per unit of land) - land must be very productive

• Most done by hand• Waste no land (roads

kept narrow to maximizefarmland)

• Asia divided: wet rice dom. & not dom.

Intensive Subsistence Ag. Wet Rice DominantIntensive Subsistence Ag. Wet Rice Dominant

• “wet rice” - practice of planting rice on dry land in nursery & then moving to flooded field to promote growth

• Small % of Asia’s agricultural land, but largest source of food for region

• Southeast China, East India, Southeast Asia• “sawah” - flooded rice field

• Rice harvested by hand. To separate husks (“chaff”) from seeds, the heads are “threshed”- beaten or stomped on. Lighter chaff is “winnowed” - allowed to be blown away by wind. To be eaten, outer “hull” must be removed with mortar and pestle.

• Grown on flat land: river valleys and deltas• Population pressure has forced up hillsides: terracing• Double cropping - 2 harvests per year (only in warm

climates & alternate with a crop that can be grown in drier months, like wheat.)

Intensive Subsistence Not RiceIntensive Subsistence Not Rice• Same characteristics as wet rice dom., just

different crops (human power, work land intensively, no land wasted)

• Low precipitation & harsh winters (can’t grow rice)

• Interior India, NE China• Wheat, barley, millet, oats, corn, soy & cash

crops like cotton, tobacco, flax• Crop rotation - can get more than one

harvest per year by putting different crops in fields

Plantation FarmingPlantation Farming• Commercial Agriculture (MDCs) found in LDCs,

tropics of Africa, Asia, Latin Am.• Large farm specializing in 1 or 2 crops

– Cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, bananas, tea

• Remote locations– Workers imported & provided with housing, food, social

services– Try to spread out work throughout year to make use of

labor force.– Many goods processed on plantation (tobacco) - easier

to ship