1. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography
Chapter 10: Agriculture
The Cultural Landscape:
An Introduction to Human Geography

2. Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Origins of agriculture
Agriculture = deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and/or rearing of animals
Cultivate = “to care for”
Crop = any plant cultivated by people

3. Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Origins of agriculture
Hunter-gatherers
Perhaps 250,000 remaining today
Invention of agriculture
When it began = unclear
Diffused from many hearths

4. Crop Hearths
Figure 10-2

5. Animal Hearths
Figure 10-3

6. Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Commercial and subsistence agriculture
Subsistence = produced mainly for the farm family’s survival
Most common in LDCs
Commercial = produced mainly for sale off the farm
Most common in MDCs

7. Agriculture and Climate
Figure 10-4

8. Where Did Agriculture Originate?
Commercial and subsistence agriculture
Five characteristics distinguish commercial from subsistence agriculture
Purpose of farming
Percentage of farmers in the labor force
Use of machinery
Farm size
Relationship of farming to other businesses

9. Second Agriculture Revolution
A series of innovations, and techniques used to improve the output of agricultural surpluses (started before the industrial revolution). eg.
seed drill
new crops-potatoes & corn
advances in livestock breeding
new soil preparation methods & new fertilizers

10. Agricultural Workers
Figure 10-5

11. Area of Farmland Per Tractor
Figure 10-6

12. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs?
Shifting cultivation
Most prevalent in low-latitude, A-type climates
Two features:
Land is cleared by slashing and burning debris
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Land is tended for only a few years at a time
Types of crops grown vary regionally
Traditionally, land is not owned individually

13. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs?
Pastoral nomadism (herding domesticated animals)
Found primarily in arid and semiarid B-type climates
Animals are seldom eaten
The size of the herd indicates power and prestige
Type of animal depends on the region
For example, camels are favored in North Africa and Southwest Asia
Transhumance practiced by some pastoral nomads

14. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs?
Intensive subsistence
Found in areas with high population and agricultural densities
Especially in East, South, and Southeast Asia
To maximize production, little to no land is wasted
Intensive with wet rice dominant
Intensive with wet rice not dominant

15. Rice Production
Figure 10-12

16. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs?
Plantation farming
Found in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
Products are grown in LDCs but typically are sold to MDCs
Plantations specialize in one or two cash crops
Important crops = coffee, sugarcane, cotton, rubber, and tobacco
A large labor force is usually needed in sparsely settled regions

17. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs?
Mixed crop and livestock farming
Most land = devoted to crops
Most profits = derive from the livestock
Dairy farming
Regional distribution: the milkshed
Two primary challenges
Labor-intensive
Expense of winter feed

18. Corn (Maize) Production
Figure 10-15

19. Milk Production
Figure 10-17

20. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs?
Grain farming
The largest commercial producer of grain = the United States
Livestock ranching
Practiced in marginal environments
Mediterranean agriculture
Based on horticulture
Commercial gardening and fruit farming
Truck farms

21. Wheat Production
Figure 10-19

22. Meat Production
Figure 10-21

23. Von Thünen Model Von Thünen Model
What farmers produce varies by distance from the town, with livestock raising farthest from town.
Cost of transportation governs use of land.
First effort to analyze the spatial character of economic activity.

24. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties?
Challenges for commercial farmers
Access to markets is important
The von Thünen model (1826)
The choice of crop to grow is related to the proximity to the market
Figure 10-24

25. Von Thünen
Johann Heinrich von Thünen ( ) wrote Der Isolierte Staat (The Isolated State) which is the foundation of location theory.
Noted how crops near Rostock, Germany changed with no change in soil-mapped the pattern
With terrain, soils and rainfall the same he created the ringed-pattern
Noted that transportation costs governed land use

26. Von Thünen Model

27. Application of Von Thünen Model
Geographer Lee Liu studied the spatial pattern of agriculture production in China.
Found:
- farmers living in a village farm both lands close to the village and far away intensively
- methods varied spatially – resulting in land improvement (by adding organic material) close to village and land degradation (lots of pesticides and fewer conservation tactics) farther from village.

29. Third Agriculture Revolution (Green Revolution)
invention of high-yield grains and rice, (goal to reduce hunger).
- increased production of rice
- new varieties in wheat and corn
- reduced famines due to crop failure,
now most famines are due to
political problems
- impact (in terms of hunger) is greatest
where rice is produced

30. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties?
Challenges for commercial farmers
Overproduction
Agricultural efficiencies have resulted in overproduction
Demand has remained relatively constant
As a consequence, incomes for farmers are low
Sustainable agriculture
Sensitive land management
Integrated crop and livestock

31. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties?
Challenges for subsistence farmers
Population growth
International trade
Drug crops

32. Drug Trade
Figure 10-27

33. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties?
Strategies to increase food supply
Expanding agricultural land
Desertification
Increasing productivity
The green revolution
Identifying new food sources
Cultivating oceans, developing higher-protein cereals, and improving palatability of foods
Increasing trade

34. Agricultural Land and Population
Figure 10-28

35. Grain Imports and Exports
Figure 10-32

36. The End.
Up next: Industry