AP Human Geography Unit 4 - Agriculture

Agriculture

-the purposeful tending of crops and livestock in order to produce food and fiber (DeBlij)

-raising of animals or the growing of crops to obtain food for primary consumption by the farm family or for sale off the farm (Kap)

-tilling of crops and rearing of domesticated animals to produce food, drink, feed, and fiber (Mosaic)

First Agricultural Revolution

-dating back 10,000 years

-achieved plant domestication and animal domestication (DeBlij)

-allowed humans to become more sedentary and avail themselves of a more reliable source of food

-learned how seeds work, started to plant and sustain them (Kap)

Second Agricultural Revolution

-Coexisting with and benefiting from the Industrial Revolution

-witnessed improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce (DeBlij)

-1750-1900

-used technology provided by the Industrial Revolution as a means to increase production and distribution of products

-increased productivity, increased population growth, increased global market (Kap)

ex. steel plow, mechanical reaper

Third Agricultural Revolution

-currently in progress

-has its principal orientation the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (DeBlij)

-involves use of biotechnology or genetic engineering

-scientists create hybrids

-rise of industrial farming (mass production)

-started in 1960s-present

-CONS: concerns animal rights activists, local farms out of business

-PROS: feeding many more people, more efficient farming (Kap)

ex. wheat made to resist spoilage in field due to wet conditions, rice modified in Philippines

Green Revolution

-another name for the Third Agricultural Revolution

-recently successful development of higher-yield, fast-growing varieties of rice and other cereals in certain developing countries

-led to increased production per unit area and a dramatic narrowing of the gap between population growth and food needs (DeBlij)

-uses biotechnology and genetic engineering

Agribusiness

-general term for the business that provide the vast array of goods and services that support the agriculture industry (DeBlij)

-increased mechanization of the farming process to increase productivity and profits

-farms are becoming larger and more geared towards the large-scale production of specific food products (Kap)

ex. instead of one person owning a farm, a group of people own and run it like a business

Agricultural industrialization

-started in Second Agr. Rev.

-use of machines to facilitate farming process

-machines are starting to take over jobs of individual farmers

ex. mechanical reapers, steel plows, automatic harvesting, etc.

Agricultural landscape

-anything that changes landscape for agricultural use

-survey patterns

ex. farms, fields, silos, rice terraces, etc.

Agricultural location model

-Von Thunen Model is a type of this

Agricultural origins

1. Upper Southeast Asian mainland: rice, taro

2. Lower Southeast Asian mainland + Malaysia: rice, yam

3. Eastern India and Western Burma: wheat, beans

4. Southwestern Asia (Fertile Crescent): wheat

5. Ethiopian and East AFrica Highlands: coffee, millet

6. Southern Mexico to Northern Venezuela: maize, corn

7. North-Central China: rice, cabbages

8. Mediterranean Basin: grapes

9. Western Sudan Hill Lands: millet, sorghum

10. Andean Highlands: potatoes, beans

11. Eastern South America: sugar, beans

Agrarian

-another word for "agricultural"

Plant domestication

-happened during First Agricultural Revolution

-learning how seeds work and planting them in hopes to harvest and replant the seeds again

-food purposes, other material purposes

-genetically improved overtime

Animal domestication

-happened during First Agricultural Revolution

-genetic modification of an animal such that it is rendered more amenable to human control (DeBlij)

Nomadic herding/pastoralism

-almost opposite of shifting cultivation

-involves moving animals on a seasonal basis to areas that have the necessary resources to meet the needs of the herd

-practiced in arid (dry) climates

-herds have: camel, sheep, and goats

-cattle aren't good nomadic animals as they eat too much, are slow, and don't thrive in dry climates (Kap)

ex. nomads bring their herd to higher elevation in the summer to keep them cool, Sahara desert, Gobi desert region in Mongolia

Transhumance

-a seasonal periodic movement of pastoralism and their livestock between highland and lowland pastures (DeBlij)

Livestock ranching

-the raising of domesticated animals for the production of meat and other byproducts such as leather and wool (DeBlij)

-type of commercial farming

-appears mostly in developed countries

-done on land that is on the fringes of productive land, needs large tracts of land for animal grazing (Kap)

ex. southern Brazil, interior of Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan

Biorevolution

-biotechnology, Green Revolution

Biotechnology

-used in Green Revolution/Third Agricultural Revolution (Kap)

Primary economic activites

-economic activity concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment (DeBlij)

-subsistence farming using hunting and gathering techniques or pastoral nomadism (Kap)

ex. mining, fishing, lumbering, and especially agriculture

Secondary economic activities

-economic activity involving the processing of raw materials and their transformation into finished industrial products; the manufacturing sector (DeBlij)

-factories take raw materials and produce product for trading or selling (Kap)

Tertiary economic activities

-economic activity associated with the provision of serves (DeBlij)

-service sector of economy

-sell commodities rather than make them (Kap)

ex. transportation, banking, retailing, education, and routine office-based jobs; selling and servicing cars rather than making them

Quaternary economic activities

-service sector industries concerned with the collection, processing, and manipulation of information and capital (DeBlij)

-selling of Internet time or cell phone service, cannot hold or physically touch products (Kap)

ex. finance, administration, insurance, legal services

Quinary economic activities

-service sector industries that require a high level of specialized knowledge or technical skill (DeBlij)

-management decisions about trade at the governmental level and executive levels (Kap)

ex. scientific research, high-level management, NAFTA

Collective farm

-commercial farm

-crops raised to be collected

Commercial agriculture

-term used to describe large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases

-large mechanized equipment, factory type labor forces, and the latest technology (DeBlij)

-farming of products for sale off the farm

-usually done in more developed countries and requires machinery

-mass prod. of specialty crops, crops high in demand, etc.

Intensive commercial agriculture

-any kind of agriculture activity that involves effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yield

Extensive commercial agriculture

-A crop or livestock system in which land quality or extent is more important than capital or labor inputs in determining output

Core

-processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology

-generate more wealth than periphery processes in the world-economy (DeBlij)

-rely on periphery for raw materials or agricultural products (Kap)

Periphery

-processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology

-generate less wealthy than core processes in the world-economy (DeBlij)

Crop rotation

-planting different types of crops each year to replenish the soil with nutrients used up by the previous crop (Kap)

ex. farmer planting corn in a field one year, soybeans the next, and then corn again

Cultivation regions

-where certain crops are raised and harvested

-depends on climate

ex. coffee is cultivated in Kenya, South America, and East Asia

Dairying

-form of commercial farming

-has become highly mechanized in recent years

-cows and goats are now hooked up to mechanical milkers that milks cow and stores milk in cooled container

-certain health and safety standards must be maintained

-dairying needs to be done close to market

-innermost circle of Thunen Model (along with market gardening) (Kap)

Debt-for-nature swap

-faced among land use in less developed countries

-repay debt to MDCs or enact policies to help environment?

-forgiveness of debts in exchange for the setting aside of land for conservation or preservation

Diffusion

-through trade routes

ex. Tigris-Euphrates River

Double cropping

-the growing of two cops per year to double the harvest

-make sure crops: are different heights, have different harvest seasons, and absorb different nutrients from the ground (Kap)

Pesticides

-full of harmful chemicals to kill insects and other pests who try to eat the crop

ex. RoundUp

Soil erosion

-result of shifting cultivation (Kap)

Desertification

-overgrazing has led to encroaching deserts within arid regions

-can only be reversed by not using such land for pastoral nomadism

-long-term goal of preserving inhabitable land is in conflict with people's immediate need to feed themselves (Kap)

Subsistence agriculture

-self-sufficient agriculture that is small scale and low technology and emphasizes food production of local consumption

-not for trade (DeBlij)

Extensive subsistence agriculture

-LARGE AMOUNT OF LAND USED

-criticized for causing soil erosion, water degradation, and other environmental problems

-more productive than intensive subsistence farming

ex. pastoral nomadism, shifting cultivation

Intensive subsistence agriculture

-LITTLE AMOUNT OF LAND USED

-more intense style of sub. farming

-more work is needed to obtain the same level of production

-#1 crop: wet rice (grown in rice sawahs or rice paddies)

-time-comsuming and labor intensive

-other crops: wheat, barley

-predominant in Southeast Asia and Africa (Kap)

Plantation agriculture

-production system based on a large estate owned by an individual, family, or corporation

-organized to produce a cash crop

-almost all plantations were established in the tropics

-in recent decades, many have been divided into smaller holdings or reorganized as cooperatives (DeBlij)

-occurs in less developed countries and usually involves the production of one crop which is sold in more developed countries (Kap)

-capital-intensive, large-scale, specialized reduction of one subtropical crop (Mosaic)

ex. crops include: bananas, sugarcane, coffee, and cotton

Globalized agriculture

-countries depend upon each other for different crops

-MDCs (core) depend on LDCs (periphery) for raw materials

Mediterranean agriculture

-specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails (DeBlij)

-must be practiced in dry summer climate and a cool moist winter (Kap)

ex. Greece (grapes), Italy (olives), Australia, parts of California

Shifting cultivation (slash-and-burn, milpa, swidden)

-involves moving of farm fields after several years in search of a more productive soil after depleting the nutrients in the original field

-takes place in tropical areas which have porous and shallow yet fertile soil

-soil erodes due to moisture and precipitation (Kap)

Slash-and-burn

-cultivation of crops in tropical forests clearings in which forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning

-clearings are usually abandoned after a few years of newly cleared forestland (DeBlij)

-type of shifting cultivation

-burning old crop field to put nitrogen in soil

-re-use land

-may cause soil erosion after many years (Kap)

Extractive industry

-purpose is to find most efficient way to remove resources rom the earth with minimal disruption to the natural environment (Kap)

ex. mining

Farm crisis

-caused by improving technology and monopolized farming

-farmers are too productive, causing supply to exceed demand for many products, meaning lower prices and less revenue for farmers

-as a result of less revenue, farmers lose their land and cannot keep up with rising operating costs leaving them bankrupt (Kap)

Feedlot

-farms that specialize in cattle or hogs

-may have thousands of head

-waste products often infiltrate local watersheds

-foul smell has people questioning increased use of feedlots (Kap)

Forestry

-unique industry in North America

-government problems with preserving forests

-used for many things such as construction

ex. major areas are Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest, Southeast

Aquaculture

-farming of fish for sale off the farm (Kap)

ex. self-sustainable aquaculture farm in Spain

Mining

-powered by fossil fuels

-gold- Gold Rush, attracted migrants, used as backup to US monetary system

-iron- helps produce steel, used for building

ex. California has gold, Upper Lakes region has iron

Mineral fuels

-fossil fuels/nonrenewable resources

-MDCs run on these

-usually burned to produce electricity

-gov'ts seeking better alternatives (Kap)

ex. coal, oil, and gas

Fishing

-high demand for fish but dangerous jobs

-aquaculture doesn't take away fish from nature but rather raises and breeds existing fish

-environmentalists fear that the harvest of fish is outpacing their reproduction (Kap)

Food chain

-after harvest: commercial grain is sent to market area

-then: sold to a producer who makes it a product (bread, etc.)

-then: sold to a wholesaler

-then: sold to a grocery store

-then: sold to consumer (Kap)

Growing season

-in US: usually 6 months (spring-fall)

-depends on location

Hunting and gathering

-way of obtaining food before First Agricultural Revolution

ex. Aboriginals in Australia, Siberians in Northern Russia, Inuits in Canada

Intertillage

-clearing of rows in the field through the use of hoes, rakes, and other manual equipment

-subsistence farmers use this instead of expensive machinery (Kap)

-aerates soil and disperses water and nutrients

ex. tilling

Market gardening

-innermost circle in Thunen model (along with dairying)

-spoils fastest so needs to be transported to the city quickest (Kap)

-aka truck farming (Mosaic)

ex. milk, strawberries, etc.

Planned economy

-government controlled economy

-gov't often dictates to farmers the quantity and type of agricultural products they can produce (Kap)

ex. "noodle line" in China dictates the type of crops grown, north of noodle line is where wheat is grown, south of noodle line is where rice is grown

Renewable resources

-can regenerate as they're exploited

-can be used again

ex. trees for lumber, sugarcane for biofuel, sunlight

Nonrenewable resources

-cannot regenerate as they're exploited

-do not replenish themselves within a human life or even several human life spans

ex. fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)

Rural settlement

-way a village is set up (village form)

-building materials depend on environment, resource availability, and wealth of people

-DISPERSED: spread out housing, no central space, random

-NUCLEATED: centered around something (church possibly), brought into US by UK

Carl Sauer

-believed that humans had power over their environment and weren't simply the product of their environment

-mapped out agricultural origins of vegetative planting and seed agriculture (Kap)

ex. Southeast Asia's climate supports root plants, yams, taro, and bananas

Vegetative planting

-removing the part of a plant and putting it in the ground to grow a new plant

ex. hosta

Johann Heinrich Von Thunen

-lived during Second Farming Revolution

-invented agricultural location theory and Von Thunen Model (DeBlij)

Specialization

-mass production of one crop

-familiarity with one crop (mono cropping)

Staple grains

-grains that are produced in commercial grain farming regions

-large % of people depend on staple grains for survival (Kap)

ex. wheat, barley, millet, etc.

Suitcase farm

-farms on which no no resides permanently

-go against the grain of traditional farming in the US

-migrant workers provide cheap labor (work during day, leave at night)

-many are in market gardening business (Kap)

ex. found in Wheat Belt of Northern Plains

Truck farm

-farm where farmers produce fruits for the market

-use mechanization to produce large quantities of fruits and veggies which are sold to processors

-use migrant labor to keep costs low

-essentially, produce goes into trucks to be shipped as soon as they're harvested (Kap)

ex. Jolly Green Giant plants in Minnesota receive their products from truck farms

Survey patterns

-way that boundaries of towns and land are determined

-METES AND BOUNDS: used in UK, moved to New England, uses physical features

-bounds uses generalized features

-metes uses traditional distance measurements

-TOWNSHIP AND RANGE: settlers moved further west, square-mile tracts (sections)

-mostly in Midwest (Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska)

-LONG LOTS: brought by French, built along river or central road

-prevalent in Louisiana

Sustainable yield

-production of a biological resource (as timber or fish) under management procedures which ensure replacement of the part harvested by regrowth or reproduction before another harvest occurs (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

ex. fish farm in Spain (self-sustainable while making enough fish to feed flamingoes and people)

Tragedy of the commons

-developed by William Forster Lloyd, then modernized by Garrett Hardin

-suggests that humans will inevitably do what is best for them despite what is best for the public good (Kap)

ex. when there are limited resources in a community, society must dictate the best uses of those resources even if the decision does not please the people of the neighborhood

Von Thunen Model

-developed by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen

-products' weight and transportation cost determines where farmers must be in relation to the market to grow them

-applies only to commercial agriculture

-FOUR MAIN RINGS

First (innermost) ring of Thunen Model

-MARKET GARDENING AND DAIRYING

-spoil quickly so they need to be close to the city/market

-transportation costs are fairly high so they need to be close

ex. melons, vegetables

Second ring of Thunen Model

-FOREST

-need wood for building materials

-heavy so transportation costs will be high

ex. wood, lumber industry, etc.

Third ring of Thunen Model

-FIELD CROPS AND GRAINS

-need room to grow so farther away from city

-light so transportation costs won't be as high

ex. wheat, barley, corn, etc.

Fourth (outermost) ring of Thunen Model

-RANCHING AND LIVESTOCK

-need room to graze

-cheap land

-transportation costs not high because animals move themselves (transhumance)

Climate regions

1. Mediterranean- Humid temperate, dry summer

2. New England- Humid temperate, NO dry season

3. Brazil- Humid equatorial, dry winter

4. Russia- Humid cold, NO dry season

5. Sahara Desert- Dry, arid