Agriculture in Less Developed Countries

LDC Agriculture

• Five types of agriculture typify the less developed country– Shifting cultivation– Pastoral nomadism– Intensive subsistence wet rice dominant– Intensive subsistence non wet rice dominant– Plantation farming

Slash and burn or swidden agriculture

Extensive subsistence

Slash and burn- vegetation is removed and burned, releasing nutrients that fertilize

Land is cleared, followed by two or three years of cultivation until abandoned because of declining soil fertility and weeds

Land is left fallow for up to 20 years

Today, practiced in tropical regions (low latitudes)

intertillage, human labor, crop rotation, staggered sowing

Low population densities; as populations grow…

Shifting Cultivation

Shifting Cultivation: Map

IntertillageShifting Cultivation

Slash and Burn AgricultureShifting Cultivation

Shifting CultivationSouth AmericaMaizeManioc (cassava)

AfricaMillet Sorghum

yams sugarcane plantains

Cassava

Plantains

Maize

Sedentary or nomadic, small plots of crops may be planted and tended by women and children

Extensive subsistence

Practiced in arid or mountainous regions that lack of fertile soil, deserts, steppes, savannahs

Reliance on animals

Mobile and small populations

Sheep, cattle, goats, camels, yaks, horses, reindeer

transhumance: movement between cooler mountains (summer) and warmer lowlands (winter)

Pastoral Nomadism

Kyrgyz yurt made of felt; known as a ger by the Mongolians

Pastoral Nomadism

densely populated rural areas

small, fragmented plots

work done by hand or animals

no land is wasted (terracing)

crops for human consumption

Intensive Subsistence

Intensive Subsistence

refers to planting rice initially on dry land in a nursery and then moving seedlings to a flooded field

occupies a small % of Asia’s land but is region’s most important source of food

Southeast China, East India and Southeast Asia

All family members contribute to the work load

Buffalo or oxen

Found near river valleys and deltas

Terraced hillsides, some use of irrigation

Double cropping = two crops a year per field

Common in areas with warm winters

Wet rice grown in summer and another crop (barley or wheat) grown in dry winter season

Intensive Subsistence Wet Rice

Intensive Subsistence Wet Rice

Intensive Subsistence Wet Rice

Parts of Asia where summer precip levels are too low and

winter months are too cool

Interior India and northeast China

Wheat is most important crop followed by barley

Millet, oats, corn, sorghum, soybeans also grown for individual consumption

Intensive Subsistence non-Wet Rice

Pearl Millet, grown in Africa

Millet is a type of grain grown in dry and cool climates where wheat or barley can’t; can be stored for five years

Millet•Millet is a collective term for a variety of grasses that produce small, rounded seeds that are harvested for food•in developing nations, millet is used for food, animal bedding, construction materials, and forage fodder for animals •hardy annual capable of growing in conditions that would kill other crops•thrives in intense heat and poor soil, which makes it a natural choice for areas of the world that are turning into deserts •high concentrations of numerous vitamins, as well as a high volume of protein—a little over one tenth of the grain is protein•millet is gluten free•grows quickly and can be harvested as soon as three months after planting, providing an opportunity to get two or even three crops in a year

Millet

Sorghum•used for food (as grain and in sorghum syrup or "sorghum molasses"), fodder, and the production of alcoholic beverages•Most species are drought tolerant and heat tolerant and are especially important in arid regions•cereals that thrive in semi-arid regions and provide important human food in tropical Africa, central and north India, and China•Sorghum produced in the USA and Australia is used for animal feed

Sorghum

Rice

Intensive Subsistence

Cash crops may be grown in this region: cotton, flax, hemp, tobacco

Crop rotation will allow some use of double cropping

Intensive Subsistence non-Wet Rice

Different varieties of sorghum can be grown for feed or for making molasses

Flax flower and seeds

Cotton

A form of commercial agriculture

Crops grown in LDC’s but fields and plantations are owned by MDC’s and sold in MDC’s

Latin America: coffee, sugarcane, bananas

Asia: rubber, palm oil

Work spread evenly throughout the year; some double cropping

Plantation

Crops:tealumbercoffeebananarubbercacaotobaccosugarcanecottonpineapple

Plantation

Plantation

BreadfruitNative to East Indian ocean and Western Pacific Islands

Tea Plantation, Malaysia

Plantation

Cacao tree with fruit pods

Plantation

Cacao •Introduced to the South American region by the Mayas of the Yucatan•Used for chocolate and cocoa•Beans once used as currency•Currently practiced in tropical environments

Rubber tree

PlantationRubber •Native to Central and South America•Now practiced primarily in Asia

Sugarcane

PlantationSugarcane •Caribbean region•Tropics and subtropics•Industry expected to crash by 2009•In Brazil, can be used in production of fuels

Pineapple field, Hawaii

PlantationPineapple•Native to Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay•Symbol of hospitality•Major producers: Thailand, Philippines, Brazil•Scales arranged in spirals of eight and thirteen, an example of a Fibonacci symbol existing in nature