UNIT V: Agriculture & Rural Land Use

A. Categories of Economic Activity 1. Harvest or extraction 2. “Value added” industries 3. “Service-sector” industries 4. “White-collar” information services 5. High-level decision making

I. Primary Activities: I.Subsistence Agriculture: for survival II.Commercial Agriculture: for profit III.Resource Exploitation: fishing, forestry, mining, hunting

RICE CORN POTATO WHEAT MILLET

LDCs: more workers in ag. MDCs: less workers in ag.

1.intensive farming 1.intensive farming: high yield per area of land - chemical farming (fertilizers, pesticides) - irrigation - genetically modified crops (GMO’s) - RICE: feeds ½ world extensive agriculture 2. extensive agriculture: low yield per area - low pop. density Ex: cattle ranching, wheat

Shifting cultivation (swidden agriculture): – “slash-and-burn” – cutting, burning, planting – mutlicropping – Amazon, Congo, Indonesia

Bananas Labor intensive Intensive land use Commercial Ag.

Pigs Feed Lots & Poultry Production Labor intensive & capital intensive Intensive land use Commercial Ag.

The Green Revolution (1940’s-1980’s): research & technology in plant genetics to create new higher-yielding grains India, Mexico, China, Phillipines - successful ag. experiments in developing countries (India, Mexico, China, Phillipines) Intensive farming practices: mechanization, chemicals, biotechnology

Regions benefitting form Green Revolution

Negatives of Green Revolution 1. biodiversity loss 2. soil erosion; fertility loss; salinization 3. air pollution 4. water depletion; pollution 5. human health concerns

Boserup’s Thesis Pop. ↑ = requires ↑ tech. ↑ tech. = ↑ food = Pop. ↑

Carl Sauer Proposed that agriculture began in Bay of Bengal 14,000 years ago… – Root cultivation 1 st

World Areas of Agricultural Innovations Carl Sauer identified 11 areas where agricultural innovations occurred.

agribusiness: an industrialized, corporate form of ag. - mostly in core & developing countries

The Meatrix

“Organic Agriculture” production w/out chemicals, hormones, antibiotics - sales on ↑ in MDC’s - NO “franken foods” (GMO’s)

Organic Agriculture

Model of Agricultural Location: “von Thünen’s Rings”: 1.concentric rings around cities 2.As distance from market ↑, land value ↓ 3.perishable crops close to city 4.extensive crops (grain & livestock) far

von Thunnen weaknesses: high-speed transport today “truck farms” (refrigerated ships, trucks) outsourcing of jobs

Advances in Transportation & Food Storage -- refrigerated containers Dunedin, New Zealand

II. Secondary Economic Activities: manufacturing, processing, building

III. Tertiary Economic Activities - service jobs (retail, restaurants, tourism) - 80% of U.S. jobs

IV. Quaternary Economic Activities -high-skilled research; management

V. Quinary Economic Activities - executive decision makers - “gold” collar jobs

Land Divisions 1. Township & Range System Range: – evenly disperses farmland – sq. miles Township: political center

Township and Range: The cultural landscape of Garden City, Iowa reflects the Township and Range system. Townships are 6x6 miles and section lines are every 1 mile.

2. Metes & Bounds Survey natural features used – rivers, lakes, mts. – British influence

3. Long-Lot System – from road, river – French influence

Dominant Land Survey Patterns in the US

“Tragedy of the Commons” - resource depletion “Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush”

1. There are two main differences in agricultural production: commercial agriculture as practiced mostly by core countries and subsistence agriculture as practiced mostly in periphery countries. (A) Briefly explain how each factor below influences BOTH commercial and subsistence agricultural production: – Purpose of farming – Percent of labor force in farming – Use of machinery – Size of farm – Integration of farming with other economic activities (B) Describe THREE factors which prevent periphery countries from transitioning from subsistence to commercial agriculture.