AP Hug unit 5

Agriculture

the planting and harvesting of domesticated plants and the raising of domesticated animals for food

What are domesticated plants and animals

Domesticated plant: a plant that is deliberately planted, protected, cared for, and used by humans and is genetically distinct from its wild ancestors

Domesticated animal: an animal that depends on people for food and shelter and is different from its wild ancestors in looks and behaviors as a result of close contact with humans

farmers

people who practice agriculture by raising crops, rearing animals, or some combination of the two

Physical geography

the study of Earth’s physical characteristics and processes: how they work, how they affect humans, and how humans affect them

Best soils for agriculture have what characteristics?

1. Crumbly texture that provides space for water and air to move through to the plant roots

2. Rich base of organic materials

3. diverse population of microorganisms(eg earthworms, ants and bacteria) to decompose ground surface organic material

nutrients

components of topsoil(eg nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) necessary for plants to survive, grow, and reproduce

Topography

the arrangement of shapes on Earth’s surface

Climate vs weather

Climate: average pattern of weather over a 30 year period for a particular region

Weather: day-to-day atmospheric conditions that affect daily decisions

Climate patterns approximately for the world

Dry climate: North Africa, west US, Australia, Middle East

Tropical: Latin America, Sub-saharan Africa, Southeast Asia

Continental: northeast US, Canada, Russia, Eastern Europe

What are tropical climates and what are the subtypes?

Tropical: located 20 degrees north and south of the equator, 80 F year round

Tropical wet: rain every day, tropical rain forests(Amazon River Basin in Brazil, Congo River Basin), farming in rainforests as small family operations

Tropical wet and dry climates: has a dry season with little to no rain(usually in winter), can experience monsoons

monsoons and monsoon rains

seasonal reversal of winds with a general onshore movement in summer and a general offshore movement in winter(onshore=monsoon rains)

Monsoon rains: long periods of heavy rains every day at the end of a short dry season

Dry climates

Dry: lack of precipitation, temperatures can be hot year round or very hot in he summer and very cold in the winter, 30% of the world’s land surface

Arid: less than 10 inches of rain annually

semiarid/steppe: 10-20 inches of rain annually, which can support farming(but farming is risky because it can have severe droughts), usually sourroudn ddeserts

Moderate climates

Average year round temperature of 75 F, on the edges of tropics. Usually have 2 seasons(mild winter). Rain in winter or year round

Humid subtropical: eastern coasts of continents. Long, hot summers, and short, mild winters with variable precipitation(EX eastern China has a winter monsoon not typical of this climate)

Marine west coast: western coasts closer to the poles. Moderate temp during long summers and cool winters because ocean breezes bring warm air while polar winds bring cooler air. Cooler, shorter summers, and less humid than humid subtropical. Has a large area in wester and central Europe because there are few topographical borders to wind blowing in

Mediterranean: mostly around the Mediterranean sea(EX Europe around Italy and Cali around the Central Valley). Winter precipitation 15 in near the equator and 25 inches close to the poles. Mild 50 F winter. Clear skies and sunshine, especially in the summer. 2 Mediterranean zones(US area and South Africa area). Hilly and rugged with narrow valleys. Transhumance. Figs, date, olives, grapes, and tomatoes.

Continental Climates

Interior of continents north of moderate climate zones. Only in the northern hemisphere and characterized by continentality(remoteness from oceans) so there is little influence from oceanic breezes

Humid continental: four seasons, moderate precipitation, warm to hot summers, cold winters with snow

Humid cold(sub arctic): frigid year round, northern most of continental)

Intensive Agriculture with list of types(no description yet)

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that use high level of labor and financial capital relative to the size of the landholding. Usually use less land and are close to urban centers

Subsistence farming, commercial farming, market gardening, truck farming, plantations, mixed crop/livestock agriculture, paddy rice farming, grain farming, livestock fattening, dairying

Subsistence farming

Intensive. Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, rather than primarily for sale

Commercial farming

Intensive. Farming mostly for agricultural commodities to sell in market

Market gardening

Intensive. Small-scale farming system in which a farmer plants 1 or a few acres that produce a diverse mix of veggies and fruits mostly for sale in local and regional markets Done in moderate climates

Truck farming

Intensive. A scaled up version of market gardening with more acreage, less crop diversity, and is oriented to more distant marketet

It doesn’t refer to truck vehicles but troc in French for barter since truck farmers work together to market more cheaply

Plantation

Intensive. Large landholding devoted to capital-intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical product for the global market

In less developed countries and former colonies where there is a surplus of cheap labor. Owned by large corporations like Dole and Chiquita who hire farmers to manage plantations and workers

Usually grow cash crops

EX sugarcane, bananas, coffee, pineapple, sugar

monocropping

growing the same crop on the same land ever year

Mixed crop/livestock agriculture

diversified system of agriculture based on the cultivation of cereal grains and root crops(potatoes, yams, etc) to feed the livestock. Usually in colder regions/semiarid. Cows and sheep are extensive. Poultry are intensive because they need more concentrated labor and are indoors.

Cereal grains

seeds coming from a wide variety of grasses cultivated around the world(wheat and barley in the middle east, sorghum and millet in africa, oats and maize in the Americas)

millet

fast-growing cereal plant widely grown in warm regions with poor soil

root crops

vegetables that form below the ground and must be dug at maturity(cassava, potatoes, yams). Used primarily to feed the farmer family

Cash crops

crops raised to be sold for a profit rather than to feed the farm family or livestock

peasants

small-scale farmers who own their own land, depend on family labor, and produce cereal crops for themselves and for sale

Paddy rice farming

Intensive. System of wet rice cultivation on small level fields bordered by watertight dikes(long walls). The paddy fields are flooded with water for ¾ of the growing season. Many times terraced on hillsides

In humid tropical and subtropical parts of southern and eastern Asia

grain farming

humid continental. Highly mechanized commercial farming system specializing in the production of cereal grains. Requires large farms and widespread use of machinery, synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, and GMO seeds

Livestock fattening

Intensive: system of animal feeding using feedlots to fatten livestock(usually cattle and hogs) for slaughter and processing done mostly by mobile immigrant labor for the market

Humid continental and humid subtropical

EX Us corn belt where corn and soybeans are grown to feed to livestock

Western and Central Europe

feedlots

fenced enclosure for livestock to limit their movement and associated weight loss

Dairying

Intensive. Farming system specializing in the breeding, rearing, and utilization of livestock to produce milk and its by products(yoghurt, butter, cheese)

Cannot be found in tropical wet and dry zones and arid zones. May use feedlots(especially in semiarid zones)

Extensive Agriculture

crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that require little hired labor or monetary investment to successfully raise crops and rear livestock. Rely on natural soil fertility and climate conditions(Work with the environment they have)

Shifting cultivation, nomadic herding, livestock ranching

Shifting cultivation

Extensive Found in the tropics. Can be a form of subsistence farming

Cultivation of a plot of land until it becomes less productive(3-5 years) . When productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land prepared with slash and burn agriculture, leaving the old plot of land to fall

Usually use intercropping

Slash and burn agriculture(swidden)

extensive. cutting small plots in forests/woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the ground to release nutrients and planting in the ash of the cleared spot

Allows for no fertilizer needed

Intercropping

practice of planting multiple crops together in the same clearing

Stronger taller crops shield smaller, weaker ones. Less change of total crop loss

Nomadic herding(nomadic pastroalism/pastroralism)

extensive. system of breeding and rearing herd livestock(cattle, sheep, goats) by following the seasons. EX transhumance or following season rain patterns.

Mostly in the eastern hemisphere by ethnic tribal culture groups for subsistence

tundra

the vast, flat, treeless region of Europe, Asia and north america where the subsoil is permanently frozen

livestock ranching

extensive. the practice of using large tracts of land usually far from urban centers to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides or wool. Have fixed places of residence(ranches).

Usually cattle and sheep(australia, china, US New zealand make up 71% of wool exports)

Semiarid

rural area vs rural settlement

rural area: area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population, and housing not include din an urban area

rural settlement: small group of people living outside of an urban area(EX US Midwest has many miles between homes, farms, and villages

How much of the world’s area is used for agriculture?

1/3

Agricultural landscape

the visible imprint of agricultural practices

grain elevators

large storage fascilities for grains

suitcase farms

In the US: commercial grain agriculturla regions; a farm where no one lives; planting and harvesting done by migrant workers

silo

a round or square tower-like structure that stores feed for livestock on the farm(usually family farms)

Shifting Cultivation

several small clearings near a village in tropical areas

Settlement patterns

the ways in which people organize themselves on the land

Types of settlements

clustered settlements; dispersed settlement patterns; linear settlement patterns

Clustered settlements(farm villages) - nucleated

A tightly bunched farm settlement that has between a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants. Usually in Europe and places colonized by them. Homes are close together with the fields being outside the cluster of homes. Farmers had to walk to and from the fields.

Farmstead

It was easier to defend in times of insecurity and formed because of strong communal ties(like the Mormon communities in Utah)

Farmstead

center of farm operations, which includes the farmhouse, barns, shed, livestock, and family garden

Dispersed/isolated settlement pattern

families live relatively distant from one another

In times of peace and security in the countryside

Usually because of colonization by pioneer families and the land is well-drained with available water.

Preferred in the US in the midwest because of the pioneer families who lived alone

linear settlement pattern

Buildings are arranged in a line, often along a road or river; limited to areas where legal systems dictate that property lines must be rectangular

Survey methods

methods used by surveyors to lay out property lines

Types of survey methods

metes and bounds, township and range, long-lot survey system

Cadastral system

the systematic documentation of property ownership, shape, use, and boundaries

metes and bounds

survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delineate property boundaries

Great Britain and the 13 colonies

township and range

land survey system created by the US land ordinance of 1785 which divides most of the country’s territory into a grid of square shaped townships with 6 mile sides. Everywhere except the 13 original colonies in the US

long-lot survey system

a unit block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that is typically 10 times longer than it is wide. Divides a scare resource into the hands of many

France(Louisiana and Quebec)

domestication

the long-term process through which humans selectively breed, protect, and care for unique plants and animals taken from wild species to create genetically distinct speices(domesticates)

First Agricultural Revolution

period in which the early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals and the cultivation of seed crops led to the development of agriculture

teosinte

large wild grass native to Mexico that produced the small ears of maize favored as food among early groups in EMesoamerica. Through domestication(selective breeding), it began producing the large ears of corn we eat today

Mesoamerica

cultural region in the AMericas that includes the diverse civilizations in modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

How did domestication start?

According to Sauer, the first farmers were sedentary folk who had enough food to remain settled in 1 place and devote time to plant care

Best in hilly places and areas with great biodiversity. Independnetly began in multiple regions. 12000 years ago

biodiversity

the variety and variability among species and ecosystems

domestication of animals?

It was after the plant domestication(except for dogs)

Began because of mutual beneficial interactions

Goats, sheep, pigs, cattle are still important worldwide today

But water buffalo are used in Asia and llamas are used in South America in the Andes

Hearth

a center from where innovation or new practices develop and from which they diffuse

Southwest asia’s role in the first agricultural rev

10,000 years ago plant domestication; heart for the largest number of aniamls important for agriculture. Fertile Crescent and Indus River valley

Fertile crescent

area in southwest asia that includes the river valleys of the tigris and euphrates

earliest center for domestication of seed plants; orgin of great cereal grains(wheat, barley, rye, and oats) and first domesticated grapes, apples, and olive. First major animal domestication, espeiclaly herd animals. Domesticated cattle

Indus River valley

area along the INdus river that flows from the highlands of tibet and continues down along the border between pakistan and india

a site of the earliest domestication of plants and herd animals.

Domesticated dry rice, wheat, adn cattle. May have been the first to combine animals an plants in a mix crop/livestock farming(used oxen to plow fields)

China’s role in first ag rev

rice, soybeans, sugarcane, pigs

South and southeast asia’s role in first ag rev

14,000 years ago: root crops(before dom of seed crops in the fertile crescent), water buffalo

New Guinea’s role in the first ag rev

bananas and taro

Africa’s role in the first ag rev

peanuts, yams, coffe, barley, wheat, rice sorghum, millet

cattle dom

america’s role in the first ag rev

maize, tomatoes, beans, squash, potato

llama, alpaca, guinea pig, Muscovy duck

Columbian exchange

the interaction and widespread transfer of plants, animals, cultures, human populations, tech, disease, and ideas between the americas, west africa, and the old world in the 15th and 16th century

demographic collapse

phenemenon of near-genocide of native populations(happened in columbian trade because of smallpox and influenza)

Second agricultural rev

period that brought improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce that began in the late 1600s and continued through the 1930s. Coincides with the industrial revolution

seed drill

machien for planting seeds in a row

mechanical reaper

machine used to harvest grain crops mechanilcally; pattented by cyrus mcCormick in 1831. Increased yield by 10 times

scythe

an agricultural hand tool with a curved blade used for gutting grain the fields

agrichemicals

chemical compounds obtained from petroluem and natural gas for use in agriculture; includes fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides

synthetic fertilizer

industrially manufactured nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; made from petroleum by products; contains higher concentrations of nutrients for plants than natural fertilizers

Plows

Horsed used to pull steel plows was the first commercially successful plow

the cast iron plow earlier was the first agricultural improvement in 2000 years but it was not successful

enclosure movement

land formerly owned in common by all village members changed to fenced in privately owned land

pesticides

material used to kill or repel animals or insects that can damage, destroy, or inhibit crop growth

herbicide

pesticide designed to kill/inhibit the growth of unwanted plants(weeds) that compete with crops

nutrient pollution

consequence of overuse of fertilizer; occurs when excess nutrients seep down into groundwater or are carried into nearby waterways as runoff

runoff

flow of rain or irrigation over land

tractor’s effect

increased efficiency and saved labor; used the gas-powered internal combustion engine; back then, it was hard for farmers to fix it when it broke down, which caused many problems

railroads and shipping canals role in second rev

affordable access to distant markets and to transport their cattle. Allowed the Us to become the #1 exporter of wheat and corn

Green revolution

the third agricultural revolution; the US supported evelopment of high-yield seed varieties that increased the productivity of cereal crops and accompnaying agricultural technologies for tarnsfer to less developed countries. Started in the 1950s and focused on grain to allow developing countries to overcome food deficits

Main characteristics: high yeidl seeds, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and use of irrigation and mechanization

crossbreeding

the act of mixing different species or varieites of plants or animals to produce hybrids

hybrid

the offspring of 2 plants or animals of different species or varieties

double cropping

planting another crop on the same plot of land as soon as the first crop has been harvested

multicropping

planting 2 or 3 crops per year on the same land

cassava

root veg native to south america; became important in africa after the columbian exchange

sorghum

grain plant native to northeast africa

endemic

native to or characteristic of a certain environemt

environmental contamination

chemical residue that builds up with each application fo synthetic pesticides and fertilizers

soil salinization vs soil salinity

soil salinization: the concentration of dissolved salt in the soil

soil salinity: a measure of the concentration of dissovled salts in the soi; high soil slainity results from poor irrigation pracices