Agriculture Review

Ch. 10
Mankind: The Story of All of Us: Birth of Farming | History -
https://youtu.be/bhzQFIZuNFY
 Big Ideas
• Agricultural Revolutions
• Gene Revolution
• Responses to modern agriculture
• Types of Agriculture
• Agricultural regions
• Von Thünen
• Women in agriculture
 First Agricultural Revolution
• The cultivation of seed crops marked the beginning
– Seems to have developed in more than one area & at
different times
– Majority view is that the crucial development took place in
SW Asia
• As new sites are excavated, archeologists change
their assumptions on the timing of agricultural
hearths
– China – new evidence shows much earlier development
– Africa – much more recent
• Knowledge on how to farm crops diffused quickly
outward from the hearths
 2nd Agricultural Revolution
• Would move agriculture beyond subsistence to generate
surplus needed
• Composed of a series of innovations, improvements, &
techniques
– Initially found in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, &
other neighboring countries.
– Seed drill, new fertilizers, artificial feed, advances in livestock
breeding, innovations in machinery & transportation
– Increased output made it possible to feed a much larger urban
population
 3rd/Green Revolution
• Associated with the use of biotechnology to expand
agricultural production
– Science enabled farmers to produce more intensively on the land
& to bring more, marginal land into production
– Relies on the hybridization of seeds, intensified use of technology
& irrigation, & expanded use of land
• Dates back to the 1930s
– 1940s Mexico – hybrid corn
– 1960s India – rice (IR8)
– New high-yield varieties of wheat & corn from the U.S.
• At a time of increased concern about global hunger, so the
promise of increasing production had been seen favorably
 Gene Revolution
• New biotechnology revolution
– Altering the chemical makeup of crops & modifying the genes
of plants to create new crops
• Production of genetically modified organisms has
accelerated over the past 20 yrs.
– Found in 60-70% of all processed foods
• Major debate
– Proponents argue that they help feed an expanding world
population
– Opponents state that companies are releasing organisms into the
environment without understanding the environmental, health,
or socioeconomic issues
• Impact of pollen dispersal on other organisms & the potential for disease
resistant plants to spur the evolution of super-pests
 Organic, Non-GMO, Eat Local
• Organic agriculture now accounts for just over 4% of all
food sales in the country
– Fields are devoted to producing all kinds of food stuff
– Has helped some farmers in the core countries to extract
themselves from the control of large, external corporate interest
– Some clear environment benefits
– Non-GMO

• Eat Local
– Aims to connect producers & consumers in the same
geographic region
– Develop self-reliant & resilient food networks & improve
economies
 Commercial Agriculture
• Non subsistence farming was profoundly shaped by
colonialism in many poorer countries
– Implemented a system to benefit their needs & tended to lock
the poorer countries into producing one/two “cash” crops
• Producing countries consider forming a cartel in order to
present a united front to the importing countries
– Collective action is difficult to coordinate, as the importing
countries can buy from other countries
• Cash crops grown on large estates are termed plantation
agriculture
– Colonial legacies that persist in poorer, primarily tropical
countries, along with subsistence
– Many productive plantations are owned by European or
American individuals or corporations.
 Subsistence Agriculture
• Has taken hold where farmers feel
production for the global market has
not benefited them financially or
culturally
• Two forms of subsistence agriculture:
sedentary & shifting cultivation
– Shifting cultivation is primarily found in
tropical/subtropical areas, where farmers
have had to abandon plots of land after
the soil became infertile
• Slash-and-burn agriculture (swidden,
milpa, or patch agriculture) – reflects the
central role of the controlled use of fires
in places where this technique is used.
 Agricultural Regions
• Derwent Whittlesey identified 11 agricultural regions, plus one
area where agriculture was non-existent
• Regions were divided between 5 that were important in the
developing region & 6 in the developed region
• Developing
– Pastoral nomadism –drylands of N Africa, & SW, Central, & East Asia
– Shifting Cultivation –tropical regions of Latin America, sub-Saharan
Africa, & SE Asia
– Intensive subsistence, wet rice dominant –the large population
concentrations of East & South Asia
– Intensive subsistence, crops other than rice dominant –the large
populations concentrations of East & South Asia, where growing rice is
difficult
– Plantation – tropical & subtropical regions of Latin America, sub-
Saharan Africa, South Asia, & SE Asia.
• Pastoral nomadism – based on the herding of
domesticated animals
– Depend primarily on animals rather than crops for survival
– Do not wander randomly, but rather have a strong sense of
territoriality
– Transhumance – seasonal migration of livestock between
mountains & lowland pasture areas
• Shifting Cultivation
– Two distinct features – farmers clear land and then grow crops
on said land until soil nutrients are depleted.
• Intensive ag, wet rice – farmers work intensively to
subsist on a parcel of land
– Waste virtually no land
– Wet rice refers to rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then
moved as seedlings to flooded fields to promote growth.
• Intensive ag, crops other than rice
– Where precipitation levels are too low & winter weathers too
harsh
– Much of the interior of India & northeastern China
– Wheat is the most important

• Plantation
– Generally situated in developing countries, but often owned or
operated by European or North American companies
– Crops processed at the plantation & then shipped as processed
goods are less bulky
– Cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, tobacco, cocoa, jute,
bananas, tea, coconuts, & palm oil
– Must import workers & provide them with food, housing &
social services.
 Agricultural Regions
• Developed
– Mixed crop & livestock – primarily the US Midwest & central
Europe
– Dairying – primarily near population clusters in the
northeastern US, southeastern Canada, & NW Europe
– Grain – primarily the north-central US, south-central Canada,
& Eastern Europe
– Ranching – primarily the drylands of western North America,
southeastern Latin America, Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa,
& Chile
– Mediterranean – primarily lands surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea, the western US, the southern tip of Africa,
& Chile
– Commercial gardening – primarily the southeastern US &
southeastern Australia
• Mixed crop & livestock – most common form of
commercial ag in the US
– Most crops fed to animals; livestock supply manure to improve
soil fertility for crops
– Nearly all land area devoted to growing crops
– Permits farmers to distribute the workload more evenly over
the year
– Corn is most frequently planted in the US & typically involves
crop rotation
• Dairying – most important practiced on farms near large
urban areas
– In developed countries, the most important in the first ring
outside large cities
– Farmers face economic difficulties due to declining revenues &
rising costs
• Grain – the major crop on most farms
– Commercial grain ag is distinguished from mixed crop, because
crops on grain farms are grown primarily for consumption by
humans
– Most important: wheat
– Increase in developing country output due to growth in large-
scale commercial ag.
– Large scale production is heavily mechanized, conducted on
large farms, & oriented to consumer preferences
– Generally located in regions too dry for mixed crop & livestock
– North America, is concentrated in three areas –
• Winter wheat: Kansas, Colorado, & Oklahoma – planted in autumn
• Spring wheat: Dakotas, Montana, and southern Saskatchewan
• Palouse region of Washington State
• Ranching – the commercial grazing of livestock over an
extensive area
– Importance of ranching in the US extends beyond the people,
importance in popular culture (i.e. Hollywood films) has helped
to draw attention & to illustrate the crucial role it plays in the
history & settlement
– Spread of crop farms has converted the US from ranching to
crop growing
– Growth of ranching has been seen more in developing countries
• China is the leading producer of meat
• Mediterranean – exists primarily on the lands that border
the Mediterranean Sea
– Areas share a similar physical environment with prevailing
winds that provide moisture & moderate the winter temperatures
– Most crops are grown for human consumption
– Most important cash crops: olives & grapes
• US: citrus fruits, tree nuts, & deciduous fruits
• Commercial gardening & fruit farming – predominant
type of ag in the southeastern US
– Region has a long growing season & humid climate
– Accessible to the large markets in the eastern US urban areas
– Truck farming is frequently practiced in the region
• Highly efficient large-scale operations that take full advantage of
machines at every stage.
• Willing to experiment with new varieties, seeds, fertilizers, & other
inputs to maximize efficiency
• Hire migrant workers
• Tend to specialize in few crops
– Specialty farming has spread to New England
• Growing crops that have limited but increasing demand
– Asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, strawberries, & nursery plants
– Represents a profitable alternative to dairying.
 Von Thünen model
• First proposed in 1826
– Which crops to cultivate & which animals to raise based on
market location
– Farmers compares two costs: land & transportation of product
• Grown in different rings around the city
– 1st ring: market-oriented gardens & milk producers. Delivery costs
were expensive & must reach market fast due to perishability
– 2nd ring: wood lots; closeness to market is important due to weight
– 3rd ring: various crops & pasture; rotated from one year to the next
– 4th ring: devoted exclusively to animal grazing.
• Assumed that all land had similar site characteristics & was
of uniform quality
• Model could vary based on topography & other distinct
physical conditions
 Women in Agriculture
• On average, women comprise 43% of agricultural labor
force in developing countries
– Typically work longer hours than men
– Tend to be employed for labor-intensive tasks
– Wage workers dominate employment in areas of export-oriented
high-value agriculture