Farming in LEDCs

Comparing LEDCs with MEDCs

Types of farming in LEDCsSubsistence

• Shifting cultivation– Eg Amazonia

• Nomadic pastoralists– Eg Masai in Kenya

• Intensive cutivation– Eg Rice farming in India

Commercial

• Plantations (monoculture)– Cash crops such as coffee,

tea, sugar, flowers

Types of farming

Physical problems of farming• Too much water - flooding. Crops &

animals are washed away Eg Bangladesh

• Not enough water – drought often associated with desertification eg Sahel zone in Africa

• Soil erosion – caused by drought but also poor farming techniques

Average rainfall in the Sahel

Rainfall below average – desert advances

Rainfall above average – desert retreats

Why did farmers in West Africa begin to grow more crops in the early 20th century?

What happened in the 1970’s?

Desertification

Human problems of farming

• Vicious circle of poverty – no money for investment

• Lack of education about good farming techniques

• Low use of technology

• Cash crops grown on best quality land so countries have to import food

• Fluctuating prices

Ways of helping farmers in LEDCs

Rice farming in Sri Lanka

Rice growing in the padi field

Harvest by hand

Physical inputs

• The farm is on flat land on the floodplain of the river

• Size - 2 hectares

• Fertile, alluvial soils

• Average temperature is 28oC

• Average rainfall 1,000mm

• Manure from the oxen is used to fertilise the fields

Human inputs

• The labour on the farm consists of Mr Silva, his wife and 3 children

• No machinery so all work is manual

• The family own an ox which is used to plough the fields. They hire this out to other villagers to earn extra cash.

Outputs

• 2 crops of rice are grown each year. The yield is approximately 100 kilos per hectare.

• Manioc and sweet potatoes

• Vegetables such as chilli and cabbage are grown in a small garden by the house.

Rice farming in Sri Lanka

INPUTS OUTPUTS

Is this farm intensive?

Add labels to your photo to describe how the rice is grown