Agricultural and Rural Land UseStandard 5

Development and Diffusion of Agriculture Agriculture: is deliberate modification of

Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain.

Subsistence Agriculture: found in LDC’s is the production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer’s family.

Commercial Agriculture: Found in MDC’s, is the production of food primarily for sale off the farm.

Neolithic Agricultural Revolution Between 10,000 and 3000 B.C.E., people in several areas

around the earth developed new agricultural methods and machines, such as the plow pulled by horses or oxen.

During this time, people also began the slow domestication and development of both crops and animals.

The results of these changes made agricultural production much more productive.

Food output increased. More land could be farmed by fewer people or in fewer hours.

This resulted in greatly improved production and increased the availability of food.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture ISA: A form of Subsistence agriculture in

which farms must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum yield from a parcel of land.

Second Agriculture Revolution Started in 1815 and ended in 1880 Comprised of many innovations in technology Helped to improve food production to feed

more than just the farmer and a village Railroads cut time for transporting goods so

that food doesn't rot before it reaches the consumer

New fertilizer and artificial feed is introduced Planting in rows is becoming common because

it is easier to manage and harvest

Green Revolution The term Green Revolution refers to the

renovation of agricultural practices beginning in Mexico in the 1940s.

Because of its success in producing more agricultural products there, Green Revolution technologies spread worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s, significantly increasing the amount of calories produced per acre of agriculture.

Food Processing Adding economic value to agriculture products -- is the third part

of the revolution, and the part that is achieving (or attracting or gaining) the most energy and investment.

While the first two phases of the revolution are focused on inputs into the agricultural process, the third is focused on output. Farmers frequently talk about the third phase as "value added," and of course it's the third part that involves agriculturists in secondary and tertiary activities.

One of the indications of this has been the use of the term "agribusiness" in the United States to describe the blending of old agricultural farm-centered cultures to this new, more integrated form of production and culture.

One of the most significant features of the third revolution is the elimination of the difference between urban and rural lifestyles.

Industrialization The industrialization of agriculture in general has caused a number

of changes in agrarian societies. First, there has been change in the application of rural labor as

machines replace or enhance the efficiencies of human labor. In a sense, the industrialization of agriculture creates surplus labor in the rural areas that can be used for other urban activities.

Second, there is the development and introduction of new and innovative inputs such as seeds, chemicals, and different kinds of technologies that supplement or replace locally produced products.

Third, there has been a development of substitutes for some kinds of agricultural products.

Fourth, new uses for agricultural products have been developed. The conversion of corn to sugar for use in soft drinks is an example.

Major Agricultural Production Regions

Agricultural Systems Associated with Bioclimatic Zones Page 312 figure 10-4 What Whittlesey calls rudimentary sedentary

cultivation is now often referred to as subsistence agriculture.

Another Whittlesey phrase is intensive subsistence tillage. This most often refers to either heavy rice or wheat production.

The circulation systems are essentially the same, but each utilizes a different crop mixture that reflects climatic differences. Livestock ranching, like nomadic herding and shifting cultivation, does seem to follow major climatic zones.

Map on page 312-313 The map shows a pattern of about thirteen

varieties of agriculture along with their correlating environmental zones. For example, nomadic herders are found in the arid regions of North and South Africa, the eastern horn of Africa, southwest Asia, central Asia, and northern Eurasia. Shifting cultivation takes place in tropical forests and on the savanna margins of the forests in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia.

Production and Food Supply: Linkages and Flows Commodity maps in an atlas such as Goode's World

Atlas illustrate the concentration of a crop. Wheat, the staff of life, is traded in a worldwide

pattern from these areas of successful production to areas of population concentration where it is then converted to flour.

Maize, or corn -- another major exported crop Rice is the third major grain that moves in world trade Other commodity flows of interest are the movement

of coffee and tea from the tropics to the mid latitudes

Farmer Issues Farmers use their political clout to raise barriers to prevent the

import of food from areas in which food is produced more efficiently, and thus more cheaply.

One of the significant developments in international trade of food in the 1990s has been the growing resistance in Europe to importing American crops that have been produced using GMO.

While selective breeding of crops and livestock has been going on consistently for thousands of years, breakthroughs in genetics in the last 25 years have enabled modification of crops through gene splicing and the introduction of genetic material from other plants into seed corn.

Though this technology has provided hopes in many third-world countries for an increased reliance on local food production

Rural Land Use and Settlement Patterns Objective C

Von Thunen’s ModelAccess to markets is importantThe von Thünen model (1826)The choice of crop to grow is related to the proximity to the market

Von Thunen’s Model Based on the spatial arrangement of different

crops Ring one: market-oriented gardens and the

milk shed Expensive to deliver and are perishable

Ring two: wood lots where timber was cut Close due to weight

Ring three: various crops and pasture Commodity rotated from year to year

Ring four: Animal Grazing

Settlement Patterns About half of the world's population still lives in

rural regions dominated by agriculture. The building materials reflect local conditions

as well as the availability of commercially produced items from elsewhere.

The relationship between the form and function of architecture is quite visible in certain areas. Because most agriculturists live in villages, it is important to view in some detail the nature of these rural settlement patterns.

Settlement Patterns Villages are frequently referred to as

nucleated settlements. This is in contrast to a dispersed

settlement. The basic pattern in the Midwest, this

kind of settlement consists of individual farmhouses separated from one another and individual farmers living on their own property.

Land use, Land Cover change, Irrigation, Conservation Desertification: semiarid land degradation Deforestation: the clearing of trees,

transforming a forest into cleared land. The first step in turning the wilderness into a shopping center is deforestation.

Slash and Burn: Shifting cultivation, fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris

Swidden: land cleared for planting through slashing and burning.

Mixed Crop & Livestock Most of the crops are fed to animals

rather than consumed by humans. Livestock supply manure to improve soil

fertility to grow more crops Permits farmers to distribute the

workload throughout the year Reduces seasonal variation in income Crop: Corn

Dairy Farming The most important commercial agriculture

practice in USA, Canada, & Western Europe. Milkshed: the ring surrounding a city from

which milk can be supplied without spoiling. (has moved farther then in past, not past 300 miles in MDC’s)

Challenges: Labor-intensive Winter Feed

Grain Farming Some form of grain is the major crop on

most farms. Wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, ect Primarily consumed by humans not animals Wheat: most important crop

Winter-wheat: planted in autumn, develops over winter, ripe by the beginning of summer.

Spring-wheat: planted in spring and harvested in late summer

Livestock Ranching Ranching is the commercial grazing of

livestock over an extensive area (semiarid or arid)

Due to new irrigation techniques and biotechnology ranching has declined in the USA.

Ranching generates lower income per area of land, has a low operational cost

Ranching around the World Stages:1. Herding of animals over open ranges,

in seminomadic style2. Fixed farming by dividing the open land

into ranches Many ranchers now experiment with

new methods of breeding and sources of water and feed

Mediterranean Agriculture Mediterranean Agriculture takes places

along the Mediterranean sea and California and Central Chile

Most crops are for human consumption Horticulture: growing fruits,

vegetables, and flowers Cash crops: Olives and grapes

Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming Truck Farming: grow fruit & vegetables

that consumers in developed societies demand. (not always organic)

Truck farms are highly efficient large-scale operations that take full advantage of machines

Sensitive Land Management Irrigation: artificial application of water

to the land or soil. Sustainable agriculture protects soil

through ridge tillage. Ridge tillage: planting crops on ridge

tops Advantage

Lower production costs Greater soil conservation

Modern Commercial AgricultureObjective D

Green Revolution Cont. In order to continue using Green Revolution technologies to

produce more food for a growing global population. Government agencies around the world funded increased

research. Countries all over the world in turn benefited from the Green

Revolution India for example was on the brink of mass famine in the

early 1960s because of its rapidly growing population. Developed a new variety of rice, IR8, that produced more

grain per plant when grown with irrigation and fertilizers. Today, India is one of the world's leading rice producers and

IR8 rice usage spread throughout Asia in the decades following the rice's development in India.

Modern Commercial Agriculture The biotechnological phase began with chemical

farming -- the substitution of inorganic fertilizers and manufactured products for manure and humus to increase soil fertility.

Chemicals were also used to control pests, and a wide variety of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides have been produced in a never-ending effort to enhance the yields.

This became widespread in the United States in the 1950s and spread to Europe in the 1960s and to the rest of the world during the last three decades of the twentieth century.

Biotechnology Biotechnology: is technology based on

biology Genetically Modified Food (GMO):

foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering.

Organic farming Agribusiness is organized into flows of

political and economic power that are focused on commodity, or food chains.

Organic Farming: s a form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control.

Local Food Production the distance between food producers and consumers USDA Definition of Local: concept of "local" is also

seen in terms of ecology, where food production is considered from the perspective of a basic ecological unit defined by its climate, soil, watershed, species and local agrisystems, a unit also called an ecoregion or a foodshed. The concept of the foodshed is similar to that of a watershed; it is an area where food is grown and eaten.

Food System: how food is produced and reaches consumers, and consumer food choices.

Environmental Impacts of Agriculture Perhaps the most dramatic impacts

have occurred on the margins of arid regions where agriculturists, for a variety of reasons, have expanded into areas that have thin topsoil and vegetation.

Four Strategies for Increasing Food Supply Expanding the land area used for

agriculture Increasing the productivity of land now

used for agriculture Identifying new food sources Increasing exports form other countries