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UNIT 2

THE PRIMARY SECTOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 AGRARIAN SPACES ..................................................................................................................................2

The importance of agrarian activities in the world ...................................................................................................................... 2

2 THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION OF AGRARIAN ACTIVITIES ....................................2

2.1 Physical factors ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2

2.2 Human factors ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

3 FEATURES OF AGRARIAN LANDSCAPES ................................................................................... 3

3.1 Inhabited space ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

3.2 Farmland ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

3.3 Cultivation methods .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

4 AGRARIAN SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD .......................................................................................... 4

4.1 Traditional agriculture: subsistence farming.......................................................................................................................... 4

4.2 Advanced agrarian systems: industrial and organic agriculture ..................................................................... 5

5 LIVESTOCK FARMING: TYPES AND MODELS ......................................................................... 5

5.1 Livestock farming systems........................................................................................................................................................................ 5

5.2 Traditional livestock farming ................................................................................................................................................................ 5

5.3 Industrial and organic livestock farming .................................................................................................................................. 5

6 SILVICULTURE (FORESTRY) ................................................................................................................ 6

Production and environmental roles .......................................................................................................................................................... 6

7 FISHING: THE USE OF THE SEA ......................................................................................................... 6

Types of fishing................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

8 THE PRIMARY SECTOR IN SPAIN .................................................................................................... 7

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The primary sector is the sector of economic activity involving the production of animal or plant

materials, or in other words, obtaining resources directly from nature. The activities of the primary sector are agriculture, livestock farming, fishing and silviculture (forestry).

We speak about agrarian spaces when we refer to land where agrarian activities are undertaken. There is a difference with rural spaces, however, because this refers to all ‘non-urban’ spaces. Agriculture is defined as the economic activity of the primary sector dedicated to the cultivation of land and breeding of plants for the obtaining products such as of food, textiles and raw materials, etc. Livestock farming is devoted to the breeding of animals, fishing to the extraction of products from the sea, and forestry or silviculture to the exploitation of the forests for wood, cork, resin, firewood, etc.

As seen in unit 1, the importance of an economic sector depends on the weight it has on the GDP and the occupied population of a country.

2013 About 37 % of the world’s population. - Developed countries: minor role. Less than 10 % of the employed population, and even less in the

country’s GDP (ie. United Kingdom 0,6 % of the GDP, 1,3 % of the population). - Less developed areas: the importance of the primary sector tends to be inversely proportional to

the level of development of an area. Therefore, in developing countries it is still important in terms of employed population (30 to 50 %), but it counts for about a 10 % of the GDP (ie. Guatemala 30 % of the workforce, and 13 % of the GDP).

- In Sub-Saharan Africa and some countries with a very low development, agrarian population reaches the 80 % of the labour force and a great deal of the GDP (ie. Chad: 59 % of the GDP and 80 % of the population).

Elements that determine the development of agrarian activities.

All types of plants need specific characteristics regarding sunlight hours, temperatures, precipitations, winds, etc., so it can benefit or limit crops. However, there are certain conditions which make agrarian activities almost impossible: temperatures below 0º C or over 45º C, high aridity (high desert climate, for example), or those with very cold or very hot winds.

Farming is easier on plains and valleys, and more difficult on high altitudes and on steep terrain.

When necessary, some techniques such as terraces have been used. In addition to this, the influence of the relief on the climate (the fall of temperatures with the altitude, sunlit or shady slopes of mountains, etc.) affect agrarian activities too.

However, forestry and livestock farming are sometimes best suited to mountainous terrains.

The physical and chemical characteristics of the soil determine the possibilities of agrarian

activities. Depth, texture, composition, capacity for retaining water, porosity, acidity and alkalinity, etc. have to be taken into account.

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The size of the population determines food production (the demand of food), which means that if population grows, more land needs to be worked. The risk of overexploitation has been a constant worry since the 18th century.

High densities imply high-yield agrarian spaces, and depopulated areas lead to crops and fields being abandoned and neglected.

The level of technological development available to a society influences the farming tools and

techniques. Technology can be here understood as the capacity for controlling nature, and therefore the capability to overcome the limits imposed by the natural factors.

- Traditional societies: basic tools and techniques which allow little productivity using a large labour force and hard work.

- Advanced societies: modern tools such as tractors, harvesters and milking machines are combined with chemical fertilisers, pesticides, greenhouses, crossbreeding and genetic modification, etc. Labour forces are smaller and require less work.

Land ownership: private or public property, communal or collective, etc.

Exploitation: direct or indirect (renting, sharecropping [paying with part of the production, etc.), etc.

Agrarian economies: subsistence or market orientation. The former mixes crops and combines them with livestock farming using very little technology for self-consumption, while the latter tends to be carried out by companies employing workers with specialised production and with a high use of technological advances.

Agrarian policies: implemented by governments or by international organisations. They promote or discourage certain products through incentives (grants, subsidies, etc.) or by introducing tariffs and import taxes. Generally, these aim at raising levels of modernisation and competitiveness.

When analysing the diversity and types of agrarian spaces –and mostly regarding agriculture- we

can establish certain characteristics. We have to refer to fields, which are the basic divisions of agrarian land. Fields are separated from one another by borders, and distinguished taking into account then following features:

Settlement: way in which the agrarian population is distributed across the land. It may be:

- Dispersed: the houses are separated to one another and surrounded by the land they farm. - Concentrated: grouped into a village. They may be linear (along a road or a path) or clustered

(around a central point). - Interdispersed: some dwellings are isolated, while others are grouped together.

1º ESO: positive feedback loop: if there was more food surpluses, there was more people. If there was more people, there was more division of labour, and more people could create or improve agricultural tools, therefore allowing greater surpluses and greater populations (see video ‘Neolithic agricultural revolution’).

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- Size: small (< 10 hectares), medium (10-100 hectares) or large (> 100 hectares). - Shape: regular or irregular. - Boundaries: open (separated only by a furrow or boundary markers) or enclosed (fences, trees or

walls separating). - Use: agriculture, livestock farming, forestry or mixed.

They refer to the procedures used by farmers to grow agrarian products.

- Crop varieties: monoculture (one crop in one field) or polyculture (various crops). - Water supply: irrigated (additional water required) or dry farming (only water from nature). - Soil use: continual or crop rotation (alternating crops: two-year; three-year; four-year crop

rotation systems). - Use of the land (or exploitation): intensive (land used to its full potential, involving significant

economic investment and large workforce for producing high yields) or extensive (large fields, less productive).

- Technology: traditional or mechanised. - Destination: self-subsistence or market-oriented.

The level of development of the different geoeconomic regions of the world is reflected in the

agrarian activities. Therefore, we have to distinguish between traditional and advanced agrarian systems.

Traditional agriculture requires a great deal of work, involves little mechanisation and advances,

and implies very low productivity of the land. It is typical of regions with low levels of development in Africa, Asia and South and Central America.

In equatorial and humid tropical climates in Africa mostly, but also in Central and South America. It consists in irregular shaped fields created by clearing trees and burning the wood and the

undergrowth. These fields are used for polyculture (cereal, sorghum, millet, maize, cassava, etc). The soil is exhausted in two or three years because of the continuous work, so the farmers repeat

the process on another site. This type of agriculture requires a semi-nomadic lifestyle.

In the savannah, and some areas of Asia and South America. It consists in working plots and fields. The plots are located near the farmer’s house and fertilised

with waste and dung, so vegetables, maize and beans can be continuously cultivated. The fields surrounding these plots use the three-year crop rotation system with a main crop (maize, millet, etc.), a complementary one (groundnuts, tubers, etc.), and a fallow field fertilised with manure.

This type of agriculture implies the possibility of permanent populations.

In areas with tropical monsoon climate (south and south-eastern Asia).

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Paddy fields separated by ditches located in alluvial plains and river deltas for being flooded for the cultivation of rice. This type of agriculture implies intensive labour, since the rice must be planted in another field and then moved when it grows, and fields are emptied of water before the harvest.

Advanced agrarian systems reflect technological, mechanical and scientific innovations, with the final objective of maximising yields and minimising the labour needed. Therefore, it is highly technological and mechanised, includes the use of chemicals (fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, etc.), involves selection of the most productive seeds (including transgenic crops), etc.

It is used for mass production, so production tends to be specialised, and the destination of the products is both national and international markets.

Because of the different demand of products, this type of agriculture takes place all over the world, but it is in many cases under the control of multinational corporations. The main areas in which this type of agriculture is found is certain areas of ‘new countries’ (Great Plains in the USA), Europe and the coasts of tropical countries.

The types of advanced agrarian systems include: - Extensive mechanised agriculture: for cereals. - Plantations: in tropical areas for pineapple, cocoa, coffee, tea, bananas, fruits, etc. - Greenhouses and hydroponic crops (method of growing plants without soil by using mineral

nutrient solu-tions in a water solvent). In addition to these, in the last decades there has been an increase of organic agriculture, which

uses environmentally friendly techniques. It requires more work than in industrial agriculture, and the production is lower. However, an increasing number consumers in developed countries demand these type of products (and fair-trade products), and are prepared to pay more.

Livestock farming, as agriculture, involves a highly diversified activity in which a great range of

animals are involved (cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, etc.) in different proceedings (extensive and intensive) and in many systems (traditional, industrial and ecological).

Extensive livestock farming: large, open-air fields, which require little labour force or capital.

Intensive livestock farming: livestock is house in barns and fed completely or partially with artificial feeds. This demands high levels of investment in buildings, breed selection, feeding technology, veterinary care, etc.

Nomadic livestock farming: livestock is continually moved in order to provide animals with fresh

pastures. It is typical of peoples living on edges of deserts.

Seasonal migration: livestock is moved on a seasonal basis, between summer and winter pastures (transhumant farming, for instance). It is typical of mountainous regions in America, Asia and North Africa.

Industrial livestock farming: its objective is to obtain the highest possible yield to be sold in the

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market. o Extensive: large quantities of livestock are reared in the open air. Ranches in North America

and Australia, farms in Argentina (Pampas and Patagonia). o Intensive: genetically selected livestock reared in barns and fed with artificial feeds. Highly

technological and mechanised.

Ecological: the same idea as in organic agriculture, but relating with the well-being of the animals, the breeding of local species, the respect for the environment, etc.

Forestry refers to the conservation and use of forests in order to obtain different products, to

create grazing areas for animals and hunting spaces, and to harvest wild fruits and mushrooms. About 30 % of the Earth’s surface is occupied by forests (about 40 million km2), and there are various types of woodland that depend on climatic conditions: equatorial and tropical woodland, temperate woodland and the taiga or boreal forests.

The products obtained in forestry are:

Wood as raw material for furniture and housing. The main species are:

Conifers (pines, firs, etc). Hardwood (birch, beech, maple, oak, etc.) Precious woods (ebony, teak, mahogany, cedar, etc.).

Food products: fruits, mushrooms, etc.

Raw materials: cork, rubber, resin, cellulose, pharmaceutical products, perfumes, etc.

Forests, also, fulfil an important environmental role as they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere helping to reduce the greenhouse effect, add humidity to the atmosphere, protect the soil from erosion, preserve biodiversity, and have an economic role for leisure and recreation activities. Thus, deforestation due to uncontrolled exploitation is a challenge we have to face as societies.

Depending on the scale: - Traditional fishing: in rivers and coastal areas. Self-consumption. - Artisanal fishing: small-scale fishing using small boats and little mechanisation. Small production

for local markets. - Industrial fishing: large factory ships, in which the products are conserved in refrigeration for

months. Very large captures for national or international markets. Depending on the fishing areas:

Inshore fishing: coastal areas.

Deep-sea fishing: offshore.

Main fishing areas (they depend on abundance of plankton, cold currents or where cold and warm currents meet).

- North Atlantic: Newfoundland, southern Greenland, coasts of Europe, Saharan-Canary fishery. - South Atlantic: Namibia and the Argentinian coast. - North Pacific: eastern Asia, Alaska and California.

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- South Pacific: Peru and Chile. Fishing is also important in the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean (Southern Africa), certain great rivers (Yangtze, Indus, etc.), lakes (Baikal) and internal seas (Caspian, Black, etc.).

The future of fishing face several problems: overfishing, sea pollution and conflicts regarding fishing grounds (national fishing grounds). Fishing policies from national or international organisations try to find solutions to these issues, establishing fishing quotas, applying anti-pollution measures, signing of international fishing agreements and promoting aquaculture (breeding of species in underwater farms).

Little importance from the second half of the 20th century: 4,5 % of working population (around 900 000 people), and around 2,6 % of the GDP. It is more important in the regions in the interior (both Castillas, Extremadura, etc.) than in coastal areas, where tourism and services tend to be more important.

The most important crops are: - Cereals: wheat, barley, maize and rice (Castillas, Ebro Valley, etc.) - Fruits and vegetables: potatoes, tomatoes, melons, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, etc. Irrigated

agriculture in the Mediterranean coast (water channels or greenhouses). - Fruit trees: citrus fruits, peach, apples, etc, in the eastern Peninsula (MUR, VAL, ARA, Lleida),

bananas (Canary Islands), and tropical fruits (avocado, mango, etc.) in Southern Andalucía. - Grapevines and olive trees: for wine and olive oil. Mostly in Andalucía, La Mancha and

Extremadura, but important vine fields in Castilla y León, La Rioja, Cataluña, etc. - Industrial crops: cotton, sunflower, tobacco, sugar beet, etc.

Types of agrarian fields: latifundios (large-sized fields) in Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalucía; minifundios (small-sized) in the north, the archipelagos and the greenhouses in the south-east. Forestry supply mostly wood, cellulose, resin and cork with beech, oak, chestnut, eucalyptus and pines.

The most important kinds of livestock: - Bovine (about 6 million heads): Castilla y León, Extremadura and northern Peninsula. - Ovine (about 16 million heads): central Peninsula. - Caprine (goats) (about 2,5 million heads): Andalucía and Extremadura. - Porcine (about 23 million heads): very important from northern Huelva (Jabugo), Extremadura,

Castilla y León, Aragón, Cataluña, etc.

Extensive coastline, so major historical importance. Currently, its importance has declined (0,5 % of occupied population) because of the increase of other economic sectors and European fishing policies. The most important fishing areas are Galicia, the Canary Island and Western Andalucía, and the main species are hake, anchovy, tuna, bonito, sardine, molluscs (mussels), crustaceans (prawn, crabs, etc.) and cephalopods (squid and octopus). Spanish fisheries are mostly in the Cantabrian sea and the north west (52 %), the Mediterranean (27 %), the Gulf of Cádiz (8,25 %) and the Canary Islands (8,13 %).

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GLOSSARY Primary sector

Agriculture Livestock farming

Fishing Silviculture

Field Intensive agriculture

Extensive agriculture Migratory agriculture

Sedentary dryland agriculture Irrigated Monsoon agriculture

Organic agriculture Nomadic livestock farming

Seasonal migration livestock

farming Industrial livestock farming Intensive livestock farming Extensive livestock farming Ecological livestock farming

VIDEO – FARMING TODAY: 9 BILLION MOUTHS TO FEED. THE FUTURE

OF FARMING

1. Why do you think that agriculture and higher education should (or shouldn’t) be related? 2. Why hasn’t mechanisation -according with the video- expelled people from agricultural

activities? Do you think that it is true? Justify your answer. 3. What are the main crops in California? 4. What natural factors which influence agriculture are mentioned in the video? 5. What are the main responsibilities for agriculture workers and farming regarding the future? 6. What are the three Ps of agriculture that are mentioned in the video?

REVISE

1. Complete the diagram with the factors of production of agrarian activities and how they condition them.

2. Do a mind map with the main features of fields.

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3. Compare these agrarian landscapes by taking into account their characteristics.

4. Draw this table in your notebook and complete it comparing the traditional agrarian systems.

SYSTEM Migratory or slash-

and-burn agriculture Sedentary dryland

agriculture Irrigated monsoon

agriculture

LOCATION

ORGANISATION OF THE AGRARIAN LANDSCAPE

CULTIVATION METHODS

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

5. Draw a diagram like this one in the notebook and complete it.

6. Comment the following map. a. Description: what is shown in the map? Include the key. b. Interpretation:

i. How is the distribution of the elements of the map? What are the areas with more elements, and the areas with less?

ii. What factors influence the distribution of the elements, and how? c. Conclusion: why is this map relevant?

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7. Link the concepts and characteristics.

1. Primary sector 2. Silviculture 3. Soil 4. Agrarian policies 5. Livestock farming 6. GDP 7. Irrigated 8. Artisanal fishing 9. Monsoon agriculture 10. Agriculture 11. Underdeveloped areas 12. Fisheries 13. Technology

a) The percentage give us the relative importance of the sector

in an economy b) Its objective is to control the influence of natural factors c) Receiving water in addition to what it is received naturally d) Their acidity or alkalinity affect agrarian activities e) 4,5 % of Spanish population f) Production of animal or plant materials g) Small-scale, near the shore, small production. h) They aim to regulate activities encouraging or discouraging

the production of certain products. i) Very important role of the primary sector j) Traditional systems include nomadic and seasonal migration

systems k) Production of rice l) Areas where the activity takes place. The most important

are in the Pacific and the Atlantic. m) Exploitation of forests

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TEXT – UK could double its

fish catch if quotas allowed

stocks to recover, says study

Following scientific advice on rebuilding overfished species would double British catches within a decade creating thousands more jobs, study suggests Fiona Harvey. The Guardian. 13 March 2015.

Fishermen in the UK could benefit from doubled fish catches within a decade and an expanded industry, if European Union fishing quotas were in line with scientific advice, a new study has found.

British fleets would be able to land 1.1 billon tonnes of fish a year – up from about 560 million at present – within a decade if scientific advice on re-stocking overfished species were heeded, according to estimates from the New Economics Foundation.

Larger catches, with the revenue that would accrue to them – an extra €500m (£356m) a year in the UK alone, based on current prices – and thousands of extra jobs could become available if stocks were allowed to recover, because this would bring about higher yields.

Larger catches will only come at the cost of short-term gain, however: if the UK’s quota were to be re-balanced immediately, more than a tenth of current levels would have to be sacrificed. This could be much higher for other member states.

This is one of the major reasons why quota negotiations are strongly tilted towards a short-term view.

Griffin Carpenter, of the New Economics Foundation, said: “Our analysis shows that rebuilding fish stocks can result in more jobs, more profits and higher wages. Ministers are wasting significant economic potential through their failure

to sustainably manage a vital environmental resource.”

Fishing quotas are set using historical quotas and records, and the size of the fleet in each EU member state. Ministers meet in Brussels each December to wrangle over quotas, but are not under an obligation to manage fish stocks without overfishing.

Under recent reforms to the EU’s common fisheries policy quotas should be moved to a “maximum sustainable yield”, bringing scientific advice to the fore in setting quotas. However, the obligation to work towards a maximum sustainable yield will be phased in gradually over the next five years.

There is dispute over what a maximum sustainable yield is, as scientists and fishermen disagree about the size of fish stocks in European waters.

Last December ministers set quotas above scientifically advised limits for nearly two-thirds of the EU’s fish stocks, according to the New Economics Foundation report.

Cod and whiting, which are the main species in most of the UK’s fishing areas, have good potential for recovery, the report found, and if they were well-managed the stock may rise to levels at which better catches are possible, while the UK would keep its share of the quota. British fleets would benefit from taking the same share of a larger pie.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK 1. Why has the EU created fishing quotas? What are they? 2. What consequences would the re-balance of the fishing quotas –lowering them- would have for

British fishermen? 3. Why would scientists and fishermen disagree over the quotas? 4. What criteria should be used for the establishing of fishing quotas in the EU? 5. What is the ‘maximum sustainable yield’?

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TEXT – Spain's greenhouse effect: the shimmering sea of polythene

consuming the land To grow food all year, Almería is cloaked in plastic. But soil-free farming is bringing prosperity and problems. Giles Tremlett. The Guardian. 21 September, 2005

From the lens of a passing satellite, Almería province is one of the most recognisable spots on the planet. The roofs of tens of thousands of closely packed plastic greenhouses form a blanket of mirrored light beaming into space.

The shimmering surface is down to an agricultural gold rush that has turned one of Spain's poorest corners into Europe's largest greenhouse. An area so arid and dusty that it provided the backdrop for spaghetti westerns, Almería has made a fortune by covering itself with a canopy of transparent plastic. Above all, it is a monument to the way we now grow our food. Almería, and the area around it, is Europe's winter market garden, spread across 135 square miles.

Antonio Moreno, one of thousands of smallholders who have built this plastic jungle, knows how to put fresh tomatoes on British tables in January or courgettes at Christmas. He grows crops that have no direct contact with nature beyond sun, air and water. […] Chemical fertilisers are drip-fed to each plant from four large, computer-controlled vats in a nearby room. He talks proudly of his vats. They hold, he says, potassium nitrate, magnesium and potassium sulphate, calcium nitrate and phosphoric acid. "The plants get exactly what they need, nothing more and nothing less," he says. "There is no waste."

Swamped The greenhouses are so successful that they have

swamped the plain of Dalías. Now the sheeting is moving up the valleys of the nearby Alpujarra hills, one of Spain's unspoiled areas. Diggers are also gouging terraces in nearby Granada province.

"They block up dry riverbeds and destroy mountainsides but nobody does anything, however much we complain," says environmentalist Juan Antonio Martínez. "If there is a serious storm, much of this will be washed away."

[…] There is growing evidence, too, of more serious damage. In his laboratories, Professor Nicolás Olea has detected a link between some pesticides and increased risk of breast cancer in women and testicular problems in boys. Although this link has not been proved, he says the signs for those who work in or live near the

greenhouses are too strong to ignore. He points at up to 40kg of pesticide applied per hectare (88lbs per 2.5 acres). "Every time we test the hypothesis, the results point the same way." Pesticide-related residues are now present in umbilical cord blood and placenta. Last month he exposed an increased risk of cryptorchidism (undescended testicles) among boys.

But it may take 20 years to prove cause and effect. That, he says, would be too late. "We do not know what will happen, but we have reasonable doubt."

Supermarkets British supermarkets are secretive about how much

produce comes from Almería. Tesco calls this "commercially sensitive information". But Rafael Losilla, editor of a local farming magazine, names Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's as valued customers. "Britain is the third-biggest export market after France and Germany," he says.

Supermarkets said rigorous tests and standards imposed on farmers were in place to prevent goods with excess pesticide residues reaching the shelves. But Prof. Olea fears potential dangers are being ignored. "Something may have 10 substances in it that are all at legal levels, but what does the mixture mean? ... Why not measure the combined effect of the cocktail?"

However, he recognises UK consumer power has been an unexpected force for good. In the 1990s, British supermarkets became the first to demand rigorous controls - and pay extra for them. […] Mr Segura says farmers look for ways to limit pesticide use. "Biological controls" - or getting "good" insects to eat "bad" ones - is the latest solution. But in the driest corner of a country struck by severe drought farmers fret more about water. Drip irrigation may cut waste but aquifers are still drying up. Some are so full of intruding seawater that some crops can no longer be grown.

As problems arise farmers seek scientific fixes. Soon some will not even need rainwater. A desalination plant, turning Mediterranean seawater into freshwater, is set to rescue them. That will leave only the sun and air untouched by the human hand, or machinery, before reaching their plants.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK - What is the main idea of the text? - What are the advantages presented for the use of greenhouses in Almería? - What are the disadvantages? And the main environmental problems caused by this type of agriculture? - What do you think that it could be done in order to minimise the disadvantages? - What are the characteristics of this type of practices? (agricultural landscapes)