chapter 10 - agriculture...improved collars for draft animals farmers create surplus, people can...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 10 - AgricultureVarious sources
Agriculture – Intro
Agricultural practices = one of the most fundamental differences between MDCs and LDCs
Big Questions….Where is agriculture distributed across the
earth?How does farming vary around the globe?Why does farming vary across the globe?
Key Issue 1 – origins of Agriculture
Agriculture – the deliberate modification of earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain
Cultivate – to care for
History
Hunters and gatherers
Agriculture – accidental
Vegetative planting
Seed planting -
Key issue 1
Key issue 1 – origin of first vegetative planting
Key Issue 1 – location of first Seed Agriculture
First Agricultural Revolution
AG Diffusion: spread by relocation -migration & colonialism (Columbian Exchange)Today diff is hierarchical – starts in research centers of MDCs moves to smaller farms or LDCsDiff can be bad/accidental (ex: kudzu = the vine that ate the South)
AG diffusion – accidental - kudzu
AG Diffusion – Columbian Exchange –relocation diff
Began in W. Eur in 1600s –transformed W. Eur and N. AmericaIntensified AG by promoting higher yields per acre and per farmerUsed crop rotation, fertilizers, improved collars for draft animalsFarmers create surplus, people can live in cities and buy AG products at marketMove from rural to urban
2nd AG revolution – cont’d
Late 1700s = Industrial Revolution – mechanization
Tractors, reapers, threshers replaced human labor
Better transportation – RR, steamboats, refrigerated cars, etc. allows farmers to ship food products further to urban markets
2nd Agricultural revolution – cont’d –Industrial Revolution
Transportation
Revolutions – increase
market area for
farmers’ produce
3rd Agricultural Revolution = Green Revolution –1960s Norman Borlaug and the Green Rev http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9-HTtgFOk
MDCs transfer technology to LDCs Main practices:
Artificial fertilizer
Irrigation
Insecticides and pesticides
Mechanical machinery
Crossbreeding/hybridization (naturally not in a lab)
….all produce higher yields
3rd Revolution / Green Revolution
Multinational Corp encourage LDCs to focus on specialty crops – monoculture for export instead of producing food for local consumption
Was successful in some LDCs but detrimental in others (new tech devastated land, bad for env, unsustainable farming, and changes in social and culture structures
Green Revolution
Green Rev = higher yields
Today and the Future…..High tech AG and Agribusiness Computerized irrigation, remote sensing, long-
term weather predictions, GMO’s
GMOs: genetically modified foods – genes altered in a lab for disease resistance, increased productivity, increased nutritional value
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=38183&CategoryID=11628
GMOs
Pro - USA Biotechnology/ Monsanto
More rigorous testing than any previous food
Efficient, cheap food
High Yield – feed developing food
Anti - Europe Green Peace, Earth Liberation
Front
Frankenfood
Pro Organic
Questions long-term health of GMOs
GMOs
Today and Future….
Agribusiness: multinational giant corporations dominate much of world’s AG market
demise of family farm – Mellencamp’s Rain on Scarecrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNzRzZhR2Y
AG is BIG, expensive business (control land, tech, machinery, shipping, packaging, etc.)
Globalization of AG: free trade, WTO
Geog looks at WHAT crops are produced around the globe….affected by…….
Environment: (Environmental Determinism)…rice needs lots of water, grapes need cool wet winters and hot dry summers, etc. Possibilism…green houses, irrigation
Culture: rice in Asia, corn in MX, wheat in US/Eur, no pork in Middle East, etc.
What crops produced where…
Economic: grow crop that makes greatest profit (von Thunen)
HOW crops grown
Subsistence AG (LDCs) V. Commercial AG (MDCs) …see handout
5 features distinguish commercial and subsistence agriculturePurpose of farmingUse of machinery Farm sizeRelationship of farming to other businesses
(agribusiness)
Labor Intensive AG – Subsistence - LDCs
Capital Intensive AG – Commercial -MDCs
Intensive AG – higher yield per acre –terraced rice paddies in China
Extensive Farming
Intensive farming must increase –efficiency to yield more and feed more
Subsistence agriculture - LDCs
Agricultural Regions
Whittlesey identified 11 regions5 important for LDCS6 important for MDCs
AG in LDCs -
Shifting cultivation – deforestation
AG in LDCs -
Pastoral Nomadism
Agriculture in LDC
intensive substance
Crop rotation Rice = intensive crop
Plantation
AG in MDCs – Dairy Farms
AG in MDCs – grain farming
AG in MDCs - Mediterranean
Truck farming
Apples, squash, lettuce, cabbage,
peppers, cucumbers, potatoes,
peaches, tomatoes, green beans
Truck Farming
Problem 1: Access to market Von Thunen’s Model
Farmer in N. Germany Book 1826 The isolated State Commercial Farmers
1. identifies a crop that can be sold for more than land cost
2. distance of farm from central city b/c of cost of transportation
Formula – can farmer make a profit?P= V – (C + T)Profit = commodity value – (production cost + transportation cost)
Von T’s model
Application of Von Thunen Model
1st ring – garden and milk producers
2nd ring – woodlots – timber was cut for construction or fuel
Also weight
3rd ring – various crops and pasture (pigs and poultry)
4th ring – outer ring: Wheat, barley, grains, and livestock (extensive)
Does not consider human and site factors
Does not take government or social customs into account
Contemporary Variables of the Model? Modern transportation more efficient Transportation costs no longer proportional to distance Wood (#2 forestry) no longer needed for fuel Technology has decreased perishability (refrigerated cars,
canning, etc.) AG products used for products other than food No single markets – regional and global markets
Model still relevant today?????
Economic difficulties - MDC
Problem 2: Overproduction
Commercial farmers are poor b/c they produce more than they can sell
MDC supply has gone up but demand has stayed the same
Why???
US Government’s role
Discourage growing foods in excess supply
Subsidies: govn’t pays to produce less –spends @ 10 bill annually
Pays farmers when prices are low
Buys surplus food
Gov Subsidies
Issues for Subsistence Farmers
LDCs need to produce more food – Why?
Strategies?
Subsistence farming and international trade Issues
Need $ to import agricultural supplies
Can’t grow enough to export b/c have to feed
SO, they grow drugs as export crops to make $
The future of farming
Sustainable Agriculture – practices that preserve and enhance environmental quality Land sensitive management
Ridge tillage
Production costs are lower b/c less machinery
Soil conservation
Increased organic matter
More water holding
More earth worms
Decreased chemicals
Good for animals
The future of farming
From extensive to intensive farming
Feed lots
Biotechnology
New food sources:
Cultivate Oceans
Higher protein cereals
Improve palatability of rarely consumed foods
Increase food supply by increasing exports from other countries
Agriculture and environment
Agriculture and environment - resources
Natural resources – substances in environment that are useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and acceptable to use
Renewable:
Nonrenewable:
Agriculture and environment
Fishing – 20% of human animal protein consumption
3 sources
Inland catch
Fish farms (aquaculture or Blue agriculture)
Marine catch
Use of technology
Problems
Overfishing
Pollution of coastal waters
Tragedy of the commons – open land/resources available to everyone
AG and the Environment Negative impacts on Env
Pesticides (DDT an abbreviation for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) harm wildlife, pollute lakes, rivers, etc.
Erosion – loss of fertile topsoil –
fertile topsoil accumulates slowly
takes hundreds of yrs to rebuild
Salinization: soil in dry area is
irrigated, water evaporates quickly
and leaves salty residue
Urban Sprawl: takes over good
AG land
AG and the Environment
Deforestation: slash and burn in rainforests (debt for nature swap – see article)
Desertification: degradation of land…turns into desert b/c of extensive planting or grazing
Conclusion….greater tech often correlates w/ destruction of environment