Human Geography
Unit 5: Agriculture
What are the four sectors of
economic activity?
Primary Sector Secondary Sector
Tertiary Sector Quaternary Sector
What sector does the President of the United
States work in?
The Size of SectorsCountry Primary Secondary Tertiary
China 38% 46.9% 43%
Iran 25% 31% 45%
Mexico 13.7% 23.4% 62.9%
Nigeria 70% 10% 20%
Russia 10% 31.9% 58.1%
United Kingdom 1.4% 18.2% 80.4%
United States .7% 20.3% 79%
What assumptions can be made from this
graph?
What is agriculture?
Agriculture is the deliberate tending of crops and livestock in order to produce food and
fiber.
The History of Agriculture
Hunters and Gatherers
First Agricultural Revolution(8000BCE)
Second Agricultural Revolution (1600s)
Third Agricultural Revolution (Later
20th Century)
Hunters and Gatherers
• Followed game and seasonal plants.
• Left little imprint on the land.
• Two Major Migrations:
– Eastern Africa to Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia
– Asia across the land bridge to the Americas
The Neolithic Revolution
What is the Neolithic revolution?
The Neolithic Revolution was the drastic changes that
occurred when people began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals.
The Neolithic
Revolution
Increase in Reliable Food
Supply
Rapid Increase in
Human Population
Job Specialization
Larger Gender Differences (Patriarchal)
A divide between
nomads and settled people
What is the difference between seed planting and vegetative planting?
Seed planting is the production of plants through the planting of seeds where vegetative planting is where new plants are created from
existing plants.
Vegetative Planting
Origin and Diffusion of Vegetative Planting
Vegetative planting probably started in Southeast Asia with crops such as the Taro and Yam as well as the banana and palm. The first domesticated animals were dogs, pigs, and chickens.
Origin and Diffusion of Vegetative Planting
Other hearths were West Africa and South America.
Why would vegetative planting happen
before seed planting?
Seed Planting
What caused seed planting to become more available?
Irrigation
Plowing
Fencing
Terraced Farming
Fertilizing
Origin and Diffusion of Seed Agriculture
Western IndiaNorthern China
(Millet)
Ethiopia
(Millet and Sorghum
Southwest Asia
(Rice)
Eastern Hemisphere
Origin and Diffusion of Seed Agriculture
Southwest Asia
EuropeNorthwest
Africa
Origin and Diffusion of Seed Agriculture
Northern Peru
(Squash, Beans, Cotton)
Southern Mexico
(Squash, Maize, Potatoes)
Western Hemisphere
What is the Columbian Exchange?
The Columbian Exchange is when products began to be
exchanged between the western and eastern
hemispheres.
What is an example of where a crop in the western hemisphere became important in the eastern
hemisphere?
The Second Agricultural Revolution
What is the Second Agricultural Revolution?
The Second Agricultural Revolution began in Western
Europe in the 1600s. It intensified agriculture and promoted higher yield per
acre.
What were some innovations seen during the Second Agricultural Revolution?
EnclosureCrop
Rotation
Jethro Tull’sSeed Drill
Industrial Revolution
Refrigeration
Fertilizers, Weed Killers,
Pesticides
Major Agricultural Production Regions
What are the differences between subsistence and commercial agriculture?
Subsistence Agriculture is most prevelant in LDCs and
produces no surplus. Commercial Agriculture is the production of surpluses with
the intention to sell.
Differences
Subsistence Commercial
Low percentage of farmers.
Use Mechanized Tools
Huge Farm Sizes
Higher percentage of farmers.
Use Hand Tools
Small Farm Size
Subsistence Farming: Subregions
Intensive Subsistence
Yields Large Amounts of Output Per
Acre
Found in Large Population
Concentrations: East and South
Asia
Dominated by Wet or Lowland
Rice
Labor Intensive: Large number of people, low
capital
Shifting Cultivation
“Slash and Burn” Agriculture
Found in Rain Forest Zones: Central and South
America, West Africa, Eastern and Central Asia,
Southern China, Southeast Asia
Involves farming large plots of land until nutrients are
depleted and then moving on.
Involves Intertillage:
Growing Various Types of Crops
Major Crops: Millet, Sorghum,
Rice, Manioc, Sweet Potatoes,
Yams, Beans
Pastoral Nomadism
Nomadism: The practice of
moving frequently from
one place to another
Herders follow their herds from
pasture to pasture.
Central Eurasia, Arabian
Peninsula, Sudan, North Scandanavia
Sheep, Goats, Camels, Cattle,
Horses, Yaks
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
Extensive Subsistence Agriculture
Commercial Agriculture: Subregions
Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
Most Common
Form in the US east of
Appalachians
Farmers grow crops and
raise livestock on the same
land
Most money comes from the sale of
animal products.
Most practice
Crop Rotation
Dairy Farming
Located in areas outside
of urban locations.
Produce Milk,
Butter Cheese
Labor Intensive
and Expensive
What is a milkshed?
A Milkshed is the ring of milk production that surrounds a
major city.
Cincinnati Milkshed
GrainFarming
Production is largely
mechanized
US produces the most
grain in the world.
Labor is concentrated
in planting and harvesting
times.
Grain Farming Locations
• Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma
• Planted in the Autumn, Ripens in the Summer
The United States: Winter Wheat
• Palouse Region of Washington, the Dakotas and Montana
• Winters too severe for Winter Wheat
The United States: Spring Wheat
• Canada, Australia, Argentina, France, and the United Kingdom
Other Countries
Livestock Ranching
Def: The commercial grazing of
livestock over an extensive
area.
Often practiced in arid or semi-
arid regions
Includes much of the Western
US, and the Pampas (prairie)
of Argentina
Mediterranean Agriculture
Def: Agriculture located on
Western coasts, with mild
winters and dry summers.
Grown through horticulture (growing of
fruits, vegetables and
flowers)
Olives, Grapes, Fruits,
Vegetables
Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming
Def: Agriculture that relies on
heavy equipment to grow bulk
amounts of fruit and vegetables
Also known as “truck farming” because truck
means to barter.
Located in Southeast US
Apples, Asparagus,
Cherries, Lettuce, Mushrooms,
Tomatoes, etc.
Plantation Farming
Def: Large farms that
specialize in one or two
crops.
Found in Latin America, Africa,
and Asia
Called “Cash Crops” because
they make money for their
owners.
Cotton, Sugarcane, Tobacco,
Coffee, Rubber
Rural Land Use and Settlement Patterns
What is a land-use model?
A Land Use Model shows the different ways that people use
the land that is available to them.
What is Von Thunen’s Model?
Von Thunen’s Model demonstrated the way that rural land use changed as a
person moved outward from the center of a city area.
Central City
1. Market Gardening and Dairy
2. Forest
3. Field Crops
4. Animal Grazing
• Nearest the town, farmers raised perishable products such as garden vegetables and milk.
Market Gardening and Dairy
• Towns from Von Thunen’s Day were surrounded by a ring of trees used for construction.
Forest
• Crops that are less perishable.
Field Crops
• Required a lot of space.
Animal Grazing
• Transporation costs became to high for profitability.
Outside of these rings:
Thunen’sModel
Assumed
Flat Terrain
Uniform SoilNo significant
barriers to transportation
Long Term Observations of Thunen’sModel
• His model is still applicable to Organic Food Growth.
• His model is applicable for understanding Broad Patterns of rural land use.
– Farmers in areas away from major markets are less likely to grow perishable items.
Patterns of Settlements
Rural Settlement Patterns:
• Dispersed Settlement: Individuals living in farms that lie far apart from one another.
• Nucleated Settlement: Villages located close together with relatively small agricultural fields.
– Hamlets: Small clusters of buildings
– Villages: Slightly Larger buildings.
Building Materials
Wood
Brick
StoneGrass and
Bush
Wattle
Village Types
Land Ownership and Survey Techniques
• A practice where all land falls to the eldest son.
• This results in land parcels that are large and controlled individually.
Primogeniture
• Used in the US to encourage settlers to disperse evenly across the Midwest.
Rectangular Survey System
• Natural Features are used to mark irregular parcels of land.
• Used on the US East Coast
Metes and Bounds System
• Divides land into narrow parcels that extend from rivers, roads or canals.
• One example are plantation plots of old Southern plantations.
Long-Lot Survey System
Commercial Agriculture
History
Modern commercial agriculture through mercantillism.
Mercantillism: Private companies were given charters by the crown to conduct trade.
The Third Agricultural Revolution
• Began in the late 20th century.
• Characterized by the industrialization of agriculture, biotechnology, and the Green Revolution.
What is a the green revolution?
The Green Revolution involved the practice of using
higher yield seeds and expanded use of fertilizers to
increase production.
Praise
• Agriculture now outpaces population.
• Nitrogen-based fertilizers increase farm productivity.
• Scientists continue to invent new food sources.
• Higher productivity reduces dependency on imports in places such as China and India
• New Irrigation have increased crop yields.
• Agribusiness has increased the productivity of cash crops
Criticism
• Poor countries cannot afford the machinery
• Farmers in poor countries cannot afford the fertilizers – which also can lead to groundwater pollution.
• Many fishing areas are over-fished.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, population is still growing faster than food.
• Irrigation has led to serious groundwater depletion.
• Agribusiness means that land is devoted to raising one crop.
Impacts
Erosion
Changes in the Soil Content
Depletion of Natural Vegetation
Chemicals in ground
Water
Future Food
Expansion of Land
Increase in Productivity
New Food Sources
Improved Distribution