AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Agriculture and Land Use

INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE: What is it and where did it

begin?

So what is agriculture?The textbooks define it as…

The deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation (growing) of plants and rearing (raising) of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain.

Intentional planting of crops and raising of domesticated animals

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY LEVELS

PRIMARYInvolves products closest to the ground; farming,

ranching, fishing, forestry, miningSECONDARY

Manufacturing of a primary product; processed foods, cars, chemicals

TERTIARYThe service industry; bankers, lawyers, teachers

QUATERNARYServices involved with the exchange of money or goods

QUINARYServices involved with research and higher education

***Agriculture is classified as a primary activity

WHY study agriculture?Use Chapter 10 to help

Impact on people?Impact on other businesses/industry?Importance of survival to agrarian societies

AGRARIAN: Relating to or concerning the land and its cultivation

What is agriculture dependent upon?

Climate?

Culture and Traditions?

Demand?

AGRICULTURE TODAY…Agriculture has been transformed into a globally

integrated system.The introduction of new technologies, political concerns

about food security and self-sufficiency, and changing opportunities for investment and employment are among the many forces that have dramatically shaped agriculture as we know it today.

The industrialized agricultural system of today’s world has developed from – and largely displaced – older agricultural practices, including subsistence agriculture and pastoralism.

Double-cropping and triple-cropping are being practiced in Asia.

Transformations in agriculture have had dramatic impacts on the environment, including soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, and soil and water pollution, as well as the elimination of some plant and animal species.

AGRICULTURE TOMORROW… World population will grow from around 7 billion people

today to 8.3 billion people in 2030. The world population will be increasingly well-fed by

2030. The number of hungry people in developing countries is

expected to decline, but Sub-Saharan Africa is cause for serious concern.

Much of future food production growth will come from higher productivity.

The expansion of farmland for food production will be slower than in the past.

Globally, deforestation will probably continue to slow down.

At a global level there is enough water available, but some regions will face serious water shortages.

Modern biotechnology offers promises as a means to improving food security.

FOOD PRODUCTION

Providing food in the United States and Canada is a vast industry.

The mechanized, highly productive American or Canadian farm contrasts with the subsistence farm found in much of the world.

This sharp contrast in agricultural practices constitutes one of the most fundamental differences between the more developed and less developed countries of the world.

Top 10 Agricultural Products in U.S.

($ value exports)1) beef2) animal feed3) corn4) fruits5) dairy6) wheat7) vegetables8) poultry9) tree nuts10) sugar

The Economics of Farming The reason why farming varies around the world relates

to distribution across space of cultural and environmental factors.

Elements of the physical environment, such as climate, soil, and topography, set broad limits on agricultural practices, and farmers make choices to modify the environment in a variety of ways.

At a global scale, farmers increasingly pursue the most profitable agriculture

Agricultural Location TheoryLocational Rentvon Thunen Model of Agricultural Land UseTransportation of crops for economic gain

AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPEThe overall appearance of an area

impacted through a system of agriculture.

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

WHAT IS THIS?(WHERE MIGHT THIS BE?)

KEY ISSUES1. Where did agriculture originate?

Major Agricultural Revolutions2. Where are agricultural regions in less

developed countries? 3. Where are agricultural regions in more

developed countries? 4. Why do farmers face economic

difficulties?

ORIGINS OF AGRICULTUREHunters and GatherersInvention of Agriculture (Three Agricultural

Revolutions)

HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

Before the invention of agriculture, all humans probably obtained the food they needed for survival through hunting for animals, fishing, or gathering.

Hunters and gatherers lived in small groups. The men hunted game or fished, and the women collected berries,

nuts, and roots. This division of labor sounds like a stereotype but is based on

evidence from archaeology and anthropology. The group traveled frequently, establishing new home bases or

camps. The direction and frequency of migration depended on the

movement of game and the seasonal growth of plants at various locations.

CONTEMPORARY HUNTING AND GATHERING

Today perhaps a quarter-million people, or less than 0.005 percent of the world’s population, still survive by hunting and gathering.

Contemporary hunting and gathering societies are isolated groups living on the periphery of world settlement, but they provide insight into human customs that prevailed in prehistoric times, before the invention of agriculture.

THE INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE: THE FIRST AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONAgriculture evolved into two types of

cultivation.Vegetative PlantingSeed Agriculture

TWO TYPES OF CULTIVATION

Over thousands of years, plant cultivation apparently evolved from a combination of accidental occurrences and deliberate experiments.

The earliest form of plant cultivation, according to Carl Sauer, was vegetative planting, direct cloning from existing plants, such as cutting stems and dividing roots.

Coming later, according to Sauer, was seed agriculture. Seed agriculture is practiced by most farmers today.

VEGETATIVE PLANTING HEARTHS

There were several main hearths, or centers of origin, for vegetative crops (roots and tubers, etc.), from which the crops diffused to other areas.

LOCATION OF FIRST VEGETATIVE PLANTINGDr. Sauer believes that vegetative planting

probably originated in Southeast Asia. The region’s diversity of climate and

topography encouraged plants suitable for dividing.

The first plants domesticated in Southeast Asia.. . probably included roots such as the taro and yam, and tree crops such as the banana and palm.

The dog, pig, and chicken probably were domesticated first in Southeast Asia.

Other early hearths of vegetative planting also may have emerged independently in West Africa and northwestern South America.

SEED AGRICULTURAL HEARTHS

Seed agriculture also originated in several hearths and diffused from those elsewhere.

DIFFUSION OF SEED AGRICULTURE

Seed agriculture diffused from Southwest Asia across Europe and through North Africa.

Seed agriculture also diffused eastward from Southwest Asia to northwestern India and the Indus River plain.

Again, various domesticated plants and animals were brought from Southwest Asia, although other plants, such as cotton and rice, arrived in India from different hearths.

Rice has an unknown hearth. Sauer identified a third independent

hearth in Ethiopia, where millet and sorghum were domesticated early.

However, he argued that agricultural advances in Ethiopia did not diffuse widely to other locations

DIFFUSION OF SEED AGRICULTURE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Two independent seed agriculture hearths originated in the Western Hemisphere: southern Mexico and northern Peru.

Agricultural practices diffused to other parts of the Western Hemisphere.

This diversity derives from a unique legacy of wild plants, climatic conditions, and cultural preferences in each region.

Improved communications in recent centuries have encouraged the diffusion of some plants to varied locations around the world.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE

The most fundamental differences in agricultural practices are between those in less developed countries and those in more developed countries.

Subsistence agriculture is the production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer’s family.

Commercial agriculture is the production of food primarily for sale off the farm. Five principal features distinguish commercial from

subsistence agriculture: purpose of farming; percentage of farmers in the labor force; use of machinery; farm size; (and) relationship of farming to other businesses.

LABOR FORCE IN AGRICULTURE

A large proportion of workers in most LDCs are in agriculture, while only a small percentage of workers in MDCs are engaged in agriculture.

FARM SIZE The average farm size is relatively

large in commercial agriculture, especially in the United States and Canada.

Commercial agriculture is increasingly dominated by a handful of large farms.

In the United States the largest 4 percent of farms account for more than one half of the country’s total output.

One half of U.S. farms (2.2 million) generate less than $10,000 a year in sales.

Large size is partly a consequence of mechanization.

As a result of the large size and the high level of mechanization, commercial agriculture is an expensive business.

RELATIONSHIP OF FARMING TO OTHER BUSINESSESCommercial farming is closely tied to

other businesses. Commercial farming has been called

agribusiness, integrated into a large food production industry.

Although farmers are less than 2 percent of the U.S. labor force, more than 20 percent of U.S. labor works in food production related to agribusiness: food processing, packaging, storing, distributing, and retailing.

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONSFirst Agricultural Revolution

Dating back 10,000 years, this achieved plant domestication and animal domestication.

Second Agricultural RevolutionWitnessed improved methods of cultivation,

harvesting, and storage of farm produce. Third Agricultural Revolution

Currently in progress, its principal orientation is the development of Genetically Modified Organisms

FIRST AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

Studied by geographer, Dr. Carl SauerBelieved that agriculture would only flourish in a land

of plenty

Key area: Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers (Fertile Crescent)

Labor-intensive crop growth, animal domestication

SECOND AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Coincided with the Industrial Revolution (1750-1900) Surpluses of food needed to feed those working in factories New technologies developed to improve crop yields (fields

could double or triple in size and use the same amount of labor)

Supported by governments of EuropeEnclosure Act of Great Britain – enforced the increase in

the size of farms; created large scale farms Increased productivity=> increased market area

(transportation)

***As a result of the Second AG Revolution, more people left farms and moved to urban areas to fulfill industry demand for workers.

THIRD AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

Also known as the Green Revolution (biotechnology, genetic engineering and use of chemical fertilizers)

Dates back to the 1930sManipulation of seed varieties to increase crop yields1960s – focus of the Green Revolution turned to IndiaCrops impacted: corn, wheat, rice (double-cropping,

triple cropping)Decreased famine in numerous areas“Hunger Areas” greatly impacted

*Third AG Revolution vital in the evolution of the modern supermarket and the global AG market. Most food comes from highly industrialized, automated operations that produce millions of dollars in profit each year.