CHAPTER 11

AGRICULTURE

Organic agriculture (introduction) producing crops without any man made materials

(pesticides, fertilizers) • Most organic food sold in core countries• Organic crops produced in all levels of countries

but shipped to core countries• Benefits environment with less chemicals in

water and soil

Economic Activities• Primary- jobs that work

directly with nature (farming, hunting, forestry)

• Secondary- take primary products and manufacture them into other products

• Tertiary- service jobs (do not produce anything but their service- teachers, lawyers)– Quaternary- exchange of money (bankers)– Quinary- exchange of information (scientist)

• By looking at what sector is dominant, you can see the countries development

• Example– Guatemala 50% ag/ 35% tertiary (semi

periphery)– Canada 2% Ag/ 75% tertiary (core)

Where did Ag begin?• Agriculture- the deliberate tending of crops

or livestock to produce food– ½ the grains made in the US are consumed

by livestock

• History- hunting, fishing, and gathering preceded farming

• Used ancient tools and perfected things like fire

• First Rev. known for the planting of crops

First Ag. Revolution

• Ag. Allowed people to settle down in one place

• Plant domestication- planting and harvesting crops for your own use

• Root crops- grown by plant selection of plant’s roots

• Seed crops- produce plants from seeds

• Most think agriculture began in Iran (fertile crescent) other areas of early ag are Nile, west Africa, and China (theory maybe the first?)

• Crops diffused through exploration (corn was taken from Central America to US and Europe)

• Animal domestication (using animals like sheep, goats and dogs in daily life)– Began when people became settled and

attached to villages (protection and food)– Used animals for meat, labor, and milk

Modern day first ag. rev• Hunters and gathers still exist in Africa but

running out of room• Subsistence Ag: growing enough food to

survive• Shifting cultivation- found in tropical areas

where you farm the land until it is dry and then move to new land– Slash and burn- where people burn underbrush to

clear and fertilize new soil

• Colonialism tries to end subsistence farming for cash crops (cotton, rubber, coffee, tea)– Colonies made money; locals starved from

lack of food– Still a problem today in former colonial

countries

Second Ag. Revolution • Used machines in farming

– Paired with the industrial revolution and took agriculture from subsistence to producing extra

– Brought new crops from colonization– Fertilizers were used and land sectioned off

Von Thunen• Man who created a model to explain how

farming and economics were linked through transportation

• Setup towns in rings revolving around the market– Market– Gardening and dairy (spoils fast)– Forestry (heavy!)– Grains (lighter to carry)– Livestock (walk themselves)

Third Ag. Revolution• Using technology to manipulate agriculture

and increase crop yields

• Green Revolution: (step 1 in third rev.) occurred in Asia with crossbreeding of rice to create a “SUPER RICE”– Then used to create wheat and corn through

hybrid seeds

• Used worldwide: hybrid seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation

• Allowed people to grow more crops to feed their population (but still poor distribution)

• Problems: disease resistant plants, water pollution, expensive to buy the seeds, soil pollution

• Most farmers worldwide are women; many farms now changing into commercial farms

Agriculture and Landscape• Cadastral system- how land is defined and

divided– Rectangular survey- geometric division (straight lines like

out west’s township and range)– Metes and bounds- division based on natural boundaries

(east coast)– Longlot- land in narrow section that centers around a road

or water– Primogeniture- old idea of only passing land to eldest son

Villages • Round village• Walled village• Grid village• Nucleated (cluster)

settlement• Different regions have

different ways to represent wealth and success based on size or location of homes

Commercial agriculture- growing and harvesting crops to sell for a profit– Created monoculture growing of one crop– Cash crops in periphery and semi periphery

still occurring today with core owners of the farms

• Refrigerated trucks helped change transporting food over long distances

Cash crops & plantation agriculture • Colonial powers brought cash crops to

poor countries

• Plantation agriculture- crops grown on large estates

• Multinational corporations- (Dole) have protected against countries getting power over the land to ensure that the company stays in control– Guatemala gov. coup sponsored by a fruit

company

• Cotton and rubber two most used cash crops

• Luxury crops- tea, cacao, coffee, and tobacco

• Coffee the second most traded commodity in the world with US buys half

• “fair trade” coffee is when farms meet qualifications and register to get “fair value” for their coffee

• Livestock- raising of domesticated animals for meat and byproducts

• Mediterranean- farming of crops that can only grow in the Med. Climate (olives, grapes, citrus)

• Illegal drugs- usually grown in periphery/ semi periphery and sold to core– Coca & marijuana- South America– Opium and heroin- south asia– 92% of cocaine enters US through Mexico

• Impacts of commercial agriculture– Fishing industry part of agriculture and fishing

stocks are decreasing– Clearing of land causes soil erosion and

chemical runoff– Livestock increase with fast food chain

increase has led to deforestation of the land for grazing land

• Agribusiness- businesses that support farms and create a connection of production and exchange– Tyson chicken- runs all parts of the industry

from the baby chicks to the processed fried frozen chicken

• Collective farms- communist experiment to have everyone work on one big farm (FAILED)

• Loss of productive land– Urban sprawl taking over farm land for

housing developments