Unit V: Agriculture (Rubenstein Chapter 10) Study Guide

V. Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land UseThis section of the course explores four themes: the origin and diffusion of agriculture; the characteristics and processes of the world’s agricultural production systems and land use; the impact of agricultural change on quality of life and the environment; and issues in contemporary agriculture. Students examine centers where domestication originated and study the processes by which domesticated crops and animals spread. This diffusion process makes clear why distinct regional patterns emerge in terms of diet, energy use, and the adaptation of biotechnology.

The course also covers the major agricultural production regions of the world. Extensive activity (fishing, forestry, nomadic herding, ranching, shifting cultivation) and intensive activity (plantation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, market gardening, horticulture, large-scale commercial agriculture) are examined, as are settlement patterns and landscapes typical of each major agriculture type. Students learn about land survey systems, environmental conditions, sustainability, global food supply problems, and the cultural values that shape agricultural patterns. In addition this section presents the roles of women in agricultural production, particularly in subsistence farming and market economies in the developing world.

Explanations for patterns of rural land use and associated settlements (e.g., von Thünen’s land use model) are major concerns. Also important are the impacts of large-scale agribusiness on food production and consumption. The effects of economic and cultural globalization on agriculture and the need to increase food supplies and production capacity conclude this section.

V. Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use (13–17% of AP Exam)A. Development and diffusion of agriculture

1. Neolithic Agricultural Revolution2. Second Agricultural Revolution3. Green Revolution4. Large-scale commercial agriculture and agribusiness

B. Major agricultural production regions1. Agricultural systems associated with major bioclimatic zones2. Variations within major zones and effects of markets3. _Interdependence among regions of food production and

consumptionC. Rural land use and settlement patterns

1. Models of agricultural land use, including von Thünen’s model2. _Settlement patterns associated with major agriculture types:

subsistence,cash cropping, plantation, mixed farming, monoculture,

pastoralism,ranching, forestry, fishing and aquaculture

3. Land use/land cover change: irrigation, desertification, deforestation,

wetland destruction, conservation efforts to protect or restore natural

land cover, and global impacts4. Roles of women in agricultural production and farming communities

D. Issues in contemporary commercial agriculture1. Biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms (GMO)

2. _Spatial organization of industrial agriculture, including the transition

in land use to large-scale commercial farming and factors affecting the

location of processing facilities3. _Environmental issues: soil degradation, overgrazing, river and

aquiferdepletion, animal wastes, and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use

4. _Organic farming, crop rotation, value-added specialty foods, regional

appellations, fair trade, and eat-local-food movements5. Global food distribution, malnutrition, and famine

APHG Vocabulary and concepts:

Adaptive strategies Agrarian Agribusiness Agricultural industrialization Agricultural landscape Agricultural location model Agricultural origins Agriculture Animal domestication Aquaculture Biorevolution Biotechnology Collective farm Commercial agriculture (intensive, extensive) Core/periphery Crop rotation Cultivation regions Dairying Debt-for-nature swap Diffusion Double cropping Economic activity (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary)Environmental modification (pesticides, soil erosion, desertification) Extensive subsistence agriculture (shifting cultivation [slash-and- burn, milpa, swidden], nomadic herding/pastoralism) Extractive industry Farm crisis Farming Feedlot First agricultural revolution Fishing Food chain Forestry Globalized agriculture Green revolution Growing season Hunting and gathering Intensive subsistence agriculture Intertillage Livestock ranching Market gardening Mediterranean agriculture Mineral fuels Mining Planned economy Plant domestication Plantation agriculture Renewable/nonrenewable Rural settlement (dispersed, nucleated, building material, village form) Sauer, Carl O. Second agricultural revolution Specialization Staple grains Suitcase farm Survey patterns (long lots, metes and bounds, township-and-range) Sustainable yield Third agricultural revolution (mechanization, chemical farming, food manufacturing) “Tragedy of the commons” Transhumance Truck farm Von Thünen, Johann Heinrich

Key Issue 1. Where Did Agriculture Originate?

Origins of Agriculture. Agriculture originated about 10,000 years ago in a number of hearths based on locally available crops as an alternative to hunting and gathering, which is still rarely practiced on Earth today.

Subsistence and Commercial Agriculture. Subsistence agriculture, found in LDCs, is the production of food to feed the farmer; commercial agriculture, found in MDCs, is the production of food for sale. Subsistence agriculture is very labor-intensive while commercial agriculture makes intensive use of machinery. Subsistence farms are smaller than commercial farms. Commercial farms have complex linkages with other economic sectors, called agribusiness, while subsistence farms do not.

1.1 Define the following terms:

a. Agriculture:

b. Crop:

c. Hunting & Gathering:

d. Vegetative Planting

e. Seed Agriculture:

1.2. Describe Carl Sauer’s beliefs about the origins of vegetative and seed agriculture.

1.3. Point out two ways the maps 10.1 and 10.2 are similar.

a.

b.

1.4. Point out two ways the maps 10.1 and 10.2 are different.

a.

b.

1.5. Define subsistence agriculture:

1.6. List and discuss the five principle features that distinguish subsistence agriculture from commercial agriculture.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

1.7. Define agribusiness.

1.8 Research the following. What inventions/contributions did the following people make to agriculture?

a. Jethro Tull

b. John Deere

c. Norman Borlaug

d. Eli Whitney

e. Cesar Chavez

Key Issue 2. Where Are Agricultural Regions in LDCs? Page Shifting Cultivation. Shifting cultivation, or slash-and-burn agriculture, supports relatively few people on a large amount of land. Located in the Equatorial regions, shifting cultivation is under threat of deforestation and the encroachment of commercial farms.

Pastoral Nomadism. Pastoral nomads make use of about 20 percent of Earth’s surface but total only about 15 million people. Pastoral nomads migrate seasonally depending on the amount of land allocated to a group and the seasonal changes of climate. Pastoral nomadism is on the decline and will likely be practiced only in marginal land not well suited to other agricultural techniques.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture. Intensive subsistence agriculture features a maximum yield of crops from a small area of land. It is found in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Two subtypes of intensive subsistence agriculture are wet rice dominant and wet rice not dominant. The distinction is

important because of the unique landscape required for wet rice cultivation (flat, seasonally flooded fields). Intensive subsistence with wet rice not dominant features labor-intensive cultivation of wheat and barley in regions where rice cannot grow because of cold climate or inadequate precipitation.

Plantation Farming. Plantation agriculture is a form of commercial agriculture found in LDCS. Common plantation crops include cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, and tobacco.

2.1 Define Pastoral nomadism:

2.2 Define transhumance:

2.3 Another form of subsistence agriculture is “intensive” subsistence agriculture. What does the word intensive imply?

2.4 What is meant by the following terms?

a. wet rice

b. sawah or paddy

c. double cropping

d. crop rotation

2.5 What are the two characteristics of shifting cultivation?

a.

b.

2.6 What is meant by “slash-and-burn” agriculture? Where is it used in the world today and to what extent?

2.7 Use Figure 10.4 and pages 321-328 to complete the following table about agricultural regions in Less developed Countries (LDC):

Shifting Cultivation

Pastoral Nomadism

Intensive Subsistence -

Intensive Subsistence –

Plantation (found in Key

wet rice dominant

wet rice not dominant

Issue #3 page 336)

Where Practiced?

Crops Grown

Key Issue 3. Where Are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming. This form of agriculture is found in the American Mississippi/Ohio Basin and northern Europe. Crops, especially corn, are grown as feed for animals, which are then sold to consumers. Mixed crop farms frequently make use of crop rotation to maintain soil productivity.

Dairy Farming. Dairy farming is concentrated near large urban areas in the more developed world. The area where it is profitable to produce milk, a perishable and expensive to transport product, is called the milkshed. Dairy farming is an expensive and labor-intensive form of commercial agriculture.

Grain Farming. Wheat is the most important grain crop because of its importance as an export crop.

Livestock Ranching. Ranching has experienced a decline in open rangeland and increased integration with agribusiness.

Mediterranean Agriculture. This form of agriculture is limited to the small areas of the Earth with a Mediterranean climate. Unique crops include grapes and olives.

Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming. Fruit and vegetable producers grow fresh produce for sale to MDC consumers who prefer a diversity of fresh food choices.

3.1. How did the invention of McCormick’s reaper and today’s combine change wheat production?

3.2 Define horticulture:

3.3 Use Figure 10.4 and pages 328-337 to complete the following table about agricultural regions in More developed Countries (MDC):

Mixed Crop & Livestock

Dairy Grain Livestock Ranching

Mediterranean Commercial Gardening & Fruit Farming (Truck)

Where Practiced?

Crops Grown

Key Issue 4. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? Challenges for Commercial Farmers. Commercial farmers choose which crops to grow based on the market price of that crop and the cost of transport. This relationship was modeled by von Thunen in 1826.

Commercial farmers face economic difficulties because of overproduction, which keeps prices low. Federal policies in the United States attempt to control the potential for overproduction and reduce the shock of low prices on farmers, especially through subsidies.

Commercial farming can exact a high impact on the land. Sustainable agricultural practices aim to reduce the impact of farming on the environment through sensitive land management, reducing the use of chemicals, and better integration of crops and livestock.

Global Forces, Local Impacts: Genetically Modified Foods and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many nations are concerned with the unknown risks of using genetically modified food crops, which are common in the United States but regulated in many other places.

Challenges for Subsistence Farmers. Subsistence farmers face the challenge of increasing food supply in line with population growth in the developing world. They may consider new farming methods or use the land more intensively. An additional challenge exists when countries adopting the international trade approach devote arable land to the production of export crops, which can then not serve to feed the population. LDC farmers sometimes choose to grow drug crops because of their high value.

Strategies to Increase Food Supply. Four strategies to increase food supply are: expanding the land under cultivation (but remaining land is of poorer quality); increasing the productivity of existing agricultural land (requiring energy- and resource-intensive fertilizers and machinery) identifying new food sources (subject to cultural preferences); and increasing trade.

Issues for Subsistence Farmers

4.1 According to Ester Boserup, how has the growing population affected subsistence farmers?

4.2 How has international trade affected subsistence farming?

Issues for Commercial Farmers

4.3 According to von Thunen’s model for selecting an agricultural activity, what factors does a farmer take into account when deciding what crops to grow?

4.4 Why are market oriented gardens and milk producers located in the first ring closest to the city center in Von Thunen’s Model?

4.5 Why is wood lots where timber is cut for construction and fuel located in the second ring close to the city center in Von Thunen’s Model?

4.6 What are two things Von Thunen did not consider in his model?

4.7 How does the overproduction of food affect commercial farming?

4.8 How do government policies attack the problem of excess food production?

4.9 Define sustainable agriculture.

FRQ’s associated with Agriculture From 2001:

From 2004:

From 2007:

From 2008:

From 2009:

Essay questions to answer:

E1 Why are farmers suffering from low incomes in both more and less developed countries?

E2 Discuss some of the problems encountered in the policy of encouraging farmers to grow export crops in less developed countries.

E3 Corn is a major crop in both the United States and Mexico; describe the main differences in the patterns of production and consumption of corn in these two countries.

E4 Explain the sustainable agriculture principals and complex management issues of integrated crop and livestock farming.

E5 Compare the distinctive types of agriculture found in the dry lands of more and less developed regions.

slash-and-burn swidden,

milpa,

patch,

chitemene,

ladang