what is the global pattern of agriculture and agribusiness? commercial agriculture: large-scale...

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What Is the Global Pattern of Agriculture and Agribusiness? Commercial agriculture: Large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology Roots in colonial economic system Today, global production made possible by advances in transportation and food storage

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What Is the Global Pattern of Agriculture and

Agribusiness?Commercial agriculture: Large-scale

farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology• Roots in colonial economic system• Today, global production made

possible by advances in transportation and food storage

World Climates(Köppen Classification System)

World Agriculture

World Agriculture

• Definite correlation between the World Climate and Agriculture Maps

• Drier lands rely on livestock & ranching

• Moister climates marked with grain

production

• Extensive subsistence agriculture- Shifting cultivation- Pastoral nomadism

• Intensive subsistence agriculture– Intensive subsistence with wet

rice dominant– Intensive subsistence with wet

rice not dominant

Agriculture in LDCs

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

Qashqai nomads using paved roads to move their animals near Shiraz, Iran.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

Terraces create flat land for wet (irrigated) rice on hilly land in Indonesia.

World Rice Production, 2005

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.

Plantation Agriculture- Cash crops are part of the colonial

legacy: sugar, bananas, coffee, cocoa, tea, rubber

- Goal is to protect these cash crops:- Governments implement quotas

& offer subsidies, producers may attempt collective action and multinational corporations at times fight federal governments

- At times cash crops are grown instead of food crops

Contemporary Cash Crops• Cotton:

– Initially produced mostly in India, also Nile Delta, Punjab Region, Sudan, Uganda, Mexico & Brazil (European colonies)

– Now production is worldwide (Core countries also)

– Now in competition with synthetic fibers

• Rubber: - Initially only found in rainforests along equator- As a result of colonization the largest

plantations are in SE Asia now- Now in competition with synthetic rubber

Luxury Crops

• Suitable environment and available labor in colonies led to establishment of plantations that focused on Luxury Crop production

• Examples: Tea, Cacao, Coffee, Tobacco

• Typically labor wages are very low• Most of what is produced is sent

abroad

Fair Trade Agriculture• Fair trade coffee: Shade-

grown coffee produced by certified fair-trade farmers, who then sell the coffee directly to coffee importers

• Guarantees a “fair trade price”

• Over 500,000 registered farmers, in more than 20 countries

• Often organically grown• Purchase commitment by

Starbucks and other chains

Illegal Drugs• Difficult to map• Poppy: Heroin and Opium production

– SE & SW Asia, esp. Myanmar (Burma) and Afghanistan

• Coca: Cocaine production– Colombia, Peru & Bolivia

• Marijuana: – most of what is imported into the US

comes from Mexico

• Mixed crop and livestock farming• Dairy farming• Grain farming• Livestock ranching• Mediterranean agriculture• Commercial gardening and fruit

farming• Access to markets

Agriculture in Developed Countries

World Milk Production, 2005

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.

Milk Producti

on in MDCs &

LDCs1960-2005

Milk production has grown more rapidly in LDCs than in MDCs since the 1960s.

Combines on Wheat in Kansas

Combines can reap, thresh, and clean crops like wheat in a single operation.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Grapes loaded in vineyards on slopes above the Douro River in northern Portugal

Environmental Impacts of Commercial Farming

• Overfishing• Overgrazing• Clearing of forests to facilitate

agriculture and trade• Leeching of pesticides, herbicides,

antibiotics, hormones and fertilizers into groundwater

Agribusiness and the Changing Geography of Agriculture

• Agribusiness: Businesses that provide a vast array of goods and services to support the agricultural industry

• Spatial concentration of agricultural activities

• Relationship to subsistence farming– Privileged large landowners– Government organization of agriculture

• Impact of markets

Poultry Farming

Hog Production

Farmland in danger of being

suburbanized as cities

expand

Loss of Productive Farmland

Farmland Loss in Maryland