Chapter 12 - Agriculture: Human-Environment Interaction

Chapter 12 - AGRICULTURE: HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

Pages 307 - 336 - Will be done Saturday 2/15/25 

12.1 AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Agriculture is the purposeful cultivation of plants or raising of animals to produce goods for survival.

The first crops to be harvested through agriculture were food crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and grains, the most widespread being corn (or maize), wheat, and rice. Other crops, such as oats and alfalfa, are important for feeding livestock.

 Agriculture is more than growing food—though that is the primary purpose of farming and livestock-raising in many parts of the world. Fiber crops, such as cotton, are used for textile and paper products. And oil crops can be used for consumption or for industrial purposes, like with olives, corns, and soybeans which can be harvested and turned into oils used for cooking

Geographers study agriculture to understand how humans have modified the environment to sustain themselves.

The types and patterns of agricultural production and the processes that affect these patterns exist at a range of scales (regional, local, global, etc) The scale informs the geography of the sustainability of agricultural practices.

Environmental Factors (of Agriculture)

Cultivating plants or raising animals requires adaptation to environmental limitations. Sunlight, water, and nutrients are all factors that affect plant growth. Agriculture is bound to the physical environment, and four factors have a profound effect on the amount that can be grown.

Temperature is the key factor in determining the growing season—the length of the year during which plant life can grow

Generally, the greater the distance from the Equator, the shorter the growing season. At the Equator and in the tropics, the growing season can be year-round. 

In constarts, areas in the subarctic cold temperatues prevent plant growth for a numbers of weks or months. . In those regions, the growing season is measured in the number of frost-free days, as frost can kill plants.

Elevation also affects the growing season and what plants can be grown. Each increase of 1,000 feet above sea level means a corresponding decrease of about 3.6° F in average temperature. As a result, the higher the elevation, the shorter the growing season.

Elevation can create different cultivation opportunities in all mountainous regions, like in Central nd South America, the hotter lowlands  are used to grow tropical crops such as bananas and sugarcane. In the next highest zone, farmers can grow coffee, corn, and other vegetables.

Soil, a vital factor in determining the agricultural potential of a given area, its the biologically active coating of Earth’s surface.

This layer can range from a few inches to several feet in depth. It is formed by the weathering of rock by wind, water, and other factors, which break the rock into increasingly smaller pieces over an extremely long period. It can take thousands of years to form an inch of soil.

Soil has four constituent parts: mineral particles, water, air, and organic matter like decaying plant material. The key characteristics of soil are its fertility, texture, and structure.

Topography, or Andreas land features like the slope of the land, affects the ability of soil so stay in place and retain water. 

The steeper the slope, the more likely the soil will be affected by runoff. Slope can also be a factor in land productivity due to the position of the land toward or away from the sun, which affects how much of the sun’s energy the land receives.

The most favorable land for growing crops has ideal temperatures, precipitation, soils, and slope. SOme landscapes are modified for better environmental factors. 

Terrace building for farming protects soil on steep slopes, while irrigation or drainage schemes influence water availability. 

Adding fertilizers enhances the soil fertility of cropland. In general, it is not feasible to modify the other environmental factors—soil texture, soil depth, soil mineral content, temperature, and terrain—at large scales. 

Climate

Climate differs across the globe, based on 4 key factors:

1. Distance from equator

2. Wind and ocean currents

3. Proximity to large body of water

4. Topography  (shape of the land)

These components interact with one another in different ways to create different climate regions.

Distance from the equator determines temperature and daylight.  The Equator and the regions near it to the north and south, called the tropics, receive direct rays from the sun year-round. Day and Night are near equal.

The northern and southern limits of these warmer regions are called the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, respectively. 

North and South of the tropics contain huge dry deserts like the Sahara and Atacama. Farther north and south of these desert bands are temperate zones, with seasons.

Ocean and wind currents circulate cold or warm water and air masses over Earth’s surface. This affects patterns of temperature and precipitation.

Ocean currents that flow north and south transfer heat between lower latitudes (close to the Equator) and higher latitudes (farther from the Equator). When these currents flow away from the Equator, they bring warmth to temperate zones. 

Currents flowing from a temperate zone toward the Equator carry colder water in that direction. Winds also carry air at different temperatures from one region to another. Because warmer air tends to hold more moisture and colder air tends to be drier, these wind patterns affect precipitation patterns.

Location relative to large bodies of water affects climate in two ways. First, these bodies of water warm and cool more slowly than land. As a result, most coastal areas tend to have milder climates than regions farther inland.

 Second, coastal areas are cooled during the day by cool winds displaced by warmer air rising from the water. These regions are warmed at night by warm air blowing onshore as cooler night air pushes down toward the water. 

Location also affects precipitation, which tends to be heavier near coastlines and lighter farther inland, with some exceptions.

Topography also has an effect, as coastal mountains have much heavier precipitation on the side facing the wind, and very light precipitation on the side away from the wind. Due to the rain shadow effect.

The combination of temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and topography produces different  

climate regions: areas that have similar climate patterns based on their latitude and their location on coasts or continental interiors.

He identified five broad climate types: 

1. Tropical,

2.  Dry,

3.  temperate, 

4. continental, 

5. and polar

Each of these 5 can be broken down to even more specific climate types.

Tropical Climate

Areas with tropical climates all have warm temperatures year-round but vary in their amounts of precipitation. 

The wet tropical climate has lots of precipitation, leading to tropical rainforests, and has heavy summer rains and dry winters. (dry season and wet season). This is a monsoon climate found in places of South and Southeast Asia and West Africa.

With some exceptions, dry climates are commonly found in continental interiors and are either arid (very dry) or semiarid (minimal precipitation). Semiarid climates receive enough precipitation to allow the growth of grasslands. 

The warm temperatures of the tropics allow for year-round agriculture, which can also permit multiple harvests of crops, like rice, in a year.

Temperate Climates

Temperate Climates: climates with moderate temperatures and adequate precipitation amounts.

There are three kinds, and all three have long warm summers and short winters.

1. Humid Temperate climates

   1. Found in eastern side of continents

   2. Cold winters and year-round precipitation

   3. Temperate rain forests

Mediterranean agriculture: consists of growing hardy trees (such as olive, fruit, and nut trees) and shrubs (like grape vines) and raising sheep and goats. These animals forage in the sparse, scrubby summer growth and maneuver around the region’s steep landscape.

Polar Climates

There are two polar climates, at the north and south pole, which are extremely cold. They have mild summers and long winters too cold for farming.

The temperatures in the ice cap climates of the Arctic and Antarctic rarely rise above freezing.

Continental Climates

Continental climates are found in the interior of continents in the Northern Hemisphere, and are characterized by distinct seasons that include cold winters and snow, as well as fall, summer, spring, etc. 

The type of tropical climate limits that potential, however. Even areas with a tropical wet and dry climate may not receive sufficient precipitation in the dry months to allow crop production.

Even the plentiful precipitation of the tropical wet climate poses challenges. The heavy year-round rains allow for the flourishing growth of rain forests, but  the soils in these areas tend to be poor. The main source  of nutrients needed to produce crops in rain forests is  plant matter. 

The temperate zones, with their long growing seasons, are home to major grain-producing regions. Hardier grains like wheat, rice, corn, and more all thrive in temperate zones.

12.2 AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

subsistence agriculture  - Farming for family consumption or to sell to local markets if they meet more than end needs.

Commercial agriculture: Farmers who grow crops to sell to customers. Depends on geographic and economic factors  

Intensive agriculture: a farming method that uses technology and resources to maximize crop and animal yields per unit of land.

Extensive agriculture: a farming system that uses large amounts of land and small amounts of labor and capital

Subsistence and commercial agricultural practices help define the agricultural production regions across the world.

Both subsistence and commercial agriculture are practiced at different scales known as intensive and extensive scales. 

bid-rent theory  explains how land value determines how a farmer will use the land—either intensively or extensively.  The Bid=rent theory assumes there is one central business district.

Where land value is high, farmers will buy less land and use it intensively to produce the most agricultural yield per unit of land. 

Where land has a lower value or is farther from the market, farmers will buy more land and use it less intensively, or extensively. 

You will learn more about intensive and extensive agriculture later in this lesson.According to this theory, dairy and produce farmers, concerned with issues of freshness, perishability, and transportation, for example, are willing to pay higher  costs—or “rent”—for land close to the market. However, farmers growing grains and cereal crops, which are easily stored and transported, will not pay as much.

The majority of consumer services are located in the center of a city because the accessibility of the location attracts these services. This central location is called the  central business district (CBD). Land near the CBD is much more expensive. 

With  intensive agriculture , farmers expend a great deal of effort to produce as much yield as possible from an area of land. To achieve high productivity, they rely on high levels of “inputs” and energy. 

What is “input” differs in region. In some, it may be fertilizers, pesticide, and growth regulators, while in others it may be additional human or animal labor, thoughtful care to soil, natural fertilizers, and more.

Regardless of the input, indecisive farming requires large amounts of energy.

Technology and energy speed up the essential steps of farming—plowing, planting, and harvesting. These inputs and expenditures of energy maximize crop yields in intensive agriculture.

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE

When people work the land intensively, putting forth a large amount of human labor to generate high crop yields on small plots of land to support their family and local community. - Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

The yields from intensive subsistence agriculture are affected by weather, seed quality, fertilizers and pesticides, and more.

When these disasters strike farms being used to feed a family or community, they have big effects on nutrition in community areas, leading to undernutrition or even starvation.

Fortunately, new technology is helping intensive subsistence farmers by providing weather information and data that will help them to better strategize on fertilizer use and harvest times, and by improving seed quality and farming tools.

As populations increase in intensive subsistence agriculture regions, many farmers maximize food production by modifying their local environment.  Such as changing the terrain or building irrigation systems. 

These practices are indicative of intensive agriculture because of their reliance on heavy labor and the high crop yields they aim to generate.

RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

Clustered settlement   (also known as a nucleated settlement),  in which residents live in close proximity.

Here, houses are close to one another, with social unity and common resources. Though a downside is the proximity could lead to conflict.

In  dispersed settlements , houses and buildings are isolated from one another, and all the homes in a settlement are distributed over a relatively large area.

They often exist in areas with difficult terrain and physical barriers, and where resources are scarce. This promotes independence but also lacks social interactions and defense among the community.

In a  linear settlement  pattern, houses and buildings extend in a long line that usually follows a land feature, such as a riverfront, coast, or hill, or aligns along a transportation route.

People settle along these features because of transportation or access to water.

INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE

Some farmers in core countries engage in intensive commercial agriculture, which involves heavy investments in labor and capital and results in high yields for profit

Machine and fertilizers are used instead of human and animal labor. Most of the time the farms are near the market, but it can differ.

Regardless of the proximity to market, what all intensive commercial producers have in common is the use of intensive methods, whether these are capital- or labor-intensive, and a high yield.

The characteristics of intensive commercial agriculture can be observed in several specific types of farming including monoculture systems, plantation agriculture, market gardening, Mediterranean agriculture, and mixed crops and livestock systems.

Many people who participate in intensive commercial agriculture in the United States focus on  monocropping: the cultivation of one or two crops that are rotated seasonally—commonly corn, soybeans, wheat, or cotton. 

These crops are usually what the market demands and therefore can be very profitable for plantations as well as large corporate farms.

monoculture  refers to the agricultural system of planting one crop or raising one type of animal annually.

Monocropping allows for specialization, simplifies cultivation, and maximizes efficiency. Farmers usually choose a crop that is conducive to the environment, to decrease inputs and increase efficiency. 

However, monocropping can strip nutrients from the soil; for instance, intensive cotton production leads to soil exhaustion. One way to prevent this depletion of nutrients is through: 

crop rotation: the varying of crops from year to year to allow for the restoration of valuable nutrients and the continuing productivity of the soil.

The shift to monoculture also raises the stakes for farmers. As yields go up, crop prices can decrease. Falling prices can force many farmers out of business and may encourage successful operators to purchase the land of failing farms.

Plantation agriculture involves large-scale commercial farming of one particular crop grown for markets often distant from the plantation.

Plantation agriculture usually takes place in peripheral and semi-pherial countries. Major plantation crops include cotton, tobacco, tea, coffee, sugarcane, bananas, palm oil, and rubber.

Plantation agriculture is one of the oldest forms of intensive commercial agriculture, with its roots going back to the European colonization of the Caribbean and Central and South America as well as Asia and Africa.

Tropical countries like Brazil, Jamaica, and sri-lanka continued to take advantage of their plantation culture and have become well-known for certain goods—Sri Lanka for tea, for instance. Though, this makes the former colonies rely on the production of their specialty crop.

Plantations: a large-scale commercial farm, typically located in a developing country, that specializes in producing a single cash crop like coffee, sugar cane, tobacco, or rubber

Plantations tend to be labor-intensive operations, although since many are located in peripheral countries, the cost of that labor is relatively low.

Market gardening: is farming that produces fruits, vegetables, and flowers and typically serves a specific market, or urban area, where farmers can conveniently sell to local grocery stores, restaurants, farmers’ markets, and road stands.

The practice of market gardening is driven by the perishability of the products, or their likeliness to spoil, and the demand by local consumers for fresh fruits and vegetables. Market gardens can be found in most large cities in the United States, from the Northeast to Texas to California. 

The farm-to-table movement, which emphasizes fresh, locally grown ingredients, is giving a new momentum to market gardening. Still, in the winter months, most fruit and vegetables consumed in the United States are grown  in Chile or Mexico.

Operators of market gardens often require greenhouses, which are high-energy, to germinate seed before the growing season. 

They also need to use costly high-quality seeds and fertilizers and pesticides to ensure harvests. Some market garden operators practice organic farming, which involves using natural methods to fertilize the land and prevent pest infestations.

Truck farming, once synonymous with market gardening, now serves markets that are very distant from the farm. 

Large commercial farms in Mexico and the western and southern United States, where the climate is conducive to locally growing seasonal produce in high quantity, transport specialty crops to distant markets using large-capacity refrigerated trucks.

As you have read, agriculture thrives in the Mediterranean climate of southern Europe, southwest Asia, South Africa, Australia, and California. Much of the land in these climate regions is used for this type of intensive commercial agriculture.

Another type of intensive commercial agriculture practiced frequently is:

 mixed crop and livestock systems: in which both crops and livestock are raised for profit.

There are two types of mixed farming: on-farm and between-farm. 

In on-farm mixed farming, the crops and livestock are raised on the same farm. 

In between-farm mixing, two farmers share resources, with one growing crops and the other raising livestock.

On-farm mixing effectively combines a farm’s focus on one or two crops, such as corn and soybeans, with the raising of animals to meet the demand for high-quality meat. 

Mixing provides a farmer with certain advantages: part of the crop can be fed to the livestock, and the animals’ waste can be used to fertilize the crops.

 This type of farming boosts labor needs, which makes it a form of intensive commercial agriculture. The diversity of mixing also may provide some protection from a bad crop year or low market value.

EXTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE

With relatively few inputs and little investment in labor and capital, farmers who participate in  extensive agriculture  typically have lower outputs than farmers who employ intensive practices.

Like intensive agriculture, extensive agriculture can be practiced in subsistence agricultural regions as well as in commercial agricultural regions. Extensive agriculture is in core and peripheral countries.

Extensive subsistence agriculture is often found in regions in which intensive subsistence agriculture is not feasible because the environment is marginal—that is, too wet, too dry, or too cold—and thus, the carrying capacity (the maximum population size an environment can sustain) is low. 

One type of extensive subsistence agriculture that uses relatively simple technology requiring little capital investment is shifting cultivation.  

Shifting cultivation: the practice of growing crops or grazing animals on a piece of land for a year or two, then abandoning that land when the nutrients have been depleted from the soil and moving to a new piece of land where the process is repeated. 

Although the size of the piece of land being used short-term is not large, shifting cultivation requires a relatively large area in which to operate over time. 

Shifting Cultivation is practiced worldwide in marginal agricultural areas of the tropics, particularly in areas with high rainfall, such as in the rain forests of South America, Central and West Africa, and Southeast Asia. 

Slash and Burn

Some farmers, including those in Colombia and Brazil in South America and Papua New Guinea in Oceania, use traditional subsistence farming techniques, such as  slash and burn  —a type of shifting cultivation—to maintain the land. 

They clear the land by cutting down the trees and brush, and after the vegetation dries, burning this “slash,” resulting in a nutrient-rich ash fertilizer. The cleared land is then cultivated for several years until the soil becomes infertile. 

The process is then repeated on a new patch of land. While slash and burn has long been practiced, it is becoming unsustainable as more farmers engage in this practice. The cleared land can become severely degraded and open to erosion.

 In slash and burn agriculture—and  in all agricultural methods—clearing forests for cropland leads to loss of habitat for local species, and increases air pollution and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change.

Another example of extensive subsistence farming is  nomadic herding , also called  pastoral nomadism . People who practice this type of agriculture move their animals seasonally or as needed to allow the best  grazing. 

It requires far-reaching areas of land to prevent overgrazing:  which is the destruction of feed plants that results from livestock overpopulation or overfeeding.

Some nomads engage in transhumance: the movement of herds between pastures at cooler, higher elevations during the summer months and lower elevations during the winter. 

For example, the Kohistani people of eastern Afghanistan are nomads who move their herds of livestock among five different altitude levels from 2,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level over the course of a year. Families have five different homes—one at each level—to provide shelter during the seasonal stay at each level. Transhumance may be practiced by non-nomads, too, who move their herds upslope or downslope but live in only one home.

EXTENSIVE COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE 

Ranching is an extensive commercial farming practice. It takes place in semiarid grassland areas around the world in which crop production is difficult or impossible, like places in Australia and South America. 

Ranching is not as labor-intensive as other forms of agriculture. A rancher can rely on as little labor investment as one cowhand for every 800 to 1,200 head of cattle. 

In the United States, livestock ranching is mostly found in the western states, where there are large, open tracts of land for livestock such as cattle and sheep to roam and graze. The arid grasslands of this region are suitable only for extensive agriculture, and therefore the price of this marginal land is low. 

Ranchers take advantage of the low land costs, the availability of federal lands, and the fact that less labor and capital is required to prepare the land for grazing. 

Ranching is typically carried out in sparsely populated areas farther away from markets or city centers, and ranchers must transport their livestock to markets for sale.

 Extensive commercial ranching, while a common agricultural practice of the western United States, is different to the increasingly common intensive commercial practice of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. 

With CAFOs, farmers on small tracts of land rear pigs, cows, or other livestock in limited spaces called feedlots so that they can maximize the potential of their land. 

This practice makes it easier to manage the animals, and there are fewer costs involved in the operation, though some concerns have been raised over animal welfare. Some cattle raised on the range may also be “finished” in feed lots.

A society’s agricultural practices depend on several factors, including 

1. climate, 

2. culture, 

3. the availability of capital, 

4. the quality of the land, 

5. the supply of labor, 

6. global markets, 

7. and the societal needs and demands for agricultural output.

Many countries participate in a mix of agricultural practices.

Physical geography is a major determinant of the agricultural practices used. Areas with large expanses of land and less nutrient-rich soil like the rain forests require extensive agricultural practices, and areas with less land and less nutrient-rich soil require intensive agricultural practices.

Of course, inputs such as fertilizer or irrigation can be used to make deficient land more productive. However, there are limits to what inputs can achieve. 

Areas with marginal agricultural potential are generally only able to support small populations. 

In contrast, areas with highly productive agriculture are able to support large populations. 

And a populous society needs intensive agriculture. This situation generates a continued cycle. Intensive agriculture generates high crop yields, which can support a large population. A large population, in turn, requires high yields, which means emphasizing intensive agriculture.

Land topography plays a major role in the kind of agriculture that can take place in a specific location. Some regions cannot sustain certain crops or animals—even with human intervention.

12.3 AGRICULTURAL ORIGINS AND DIFFUSIONS

Answering when, where, and why agriculture started is tricky. There was no internet or even writing.

Still, people have discovered fossils of ancient plants and early domesticated animals, and some conclusions have been drawn. 

Those answers can be summarized in this statement: People living in many different places domesticated different plants and animals at different times from about 11,000 to 1000 b.c.e.  

Domestication: the deliberate effort to grow plants and raise animals, making plants and animals adapt to human demands, and using selective breeding to develop desirable characteristics.

FROM FORAGING TO FARMING

Why did domestication take place? For thousands of years, humans lived as foragers: small nomadic groups who had primarily plant-based diets and ate small animals or fish for protein.

Foragers fished in rivers and lakes or gathered shellfish and used traps, stones, or projectile weapons to hunt small game. Small bands sometimes formed within the group to hunt for larger animals. These humans lived by ranging over the land to exploit the food resources that were in season, often returning to the same areas each year.

Between 12,000 and 11,000 years ago, Earth entered a period of increased warming. The impact on the environment was substantial; this warming melted almost all the massive glaciers that had covered much of the Northern Hemisphere. This led to massive climate change.

About 11,000 years ago, average rainfall in Southwest Asia (Middle East) dropped significantly for an extended time—perhaps as long as 1,000 years. 

People there adapted to this environmental stress by domesticating animals and plants to ensure a steady food supply, making them the first humans to do so. The first animals to be domesticated were sheep and goats, which supplied hides, milk, and meat.

agricultural hearth: area where different groups began to domesticate plants and animals.

There are many agricultural hearths throughout time, and new ones are being found and discovered.

As said before, domestication first took place in Southwest Asia. This heart is called the Fertile Crescent because it forms an arc from the eastern Mediterranean coast up into what is now western Turkey and then south and east along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through present-day Syria and Iraq to western parts of modern Iran.

Another agricultural hearth arose in Southeast Asia, where people raised pigs and grew sugarcane and root vegetables. Domestication began there about 7000 b.c.e. 

Ancient North Central China had two hearths with distinct crop types, both developing between 8000 and 7000 b.c.e. To the north, in the somewhat dry valley of the Huang He, people used the river’s fertile soil to grow millets, hemp, Chinese cabbage, and wheat. In the warmer, wetter south, they grew rice.

In South Asia, an agricultural civilization thrived in the Indus River Valley from 2500 to 1700 b.c.e. This group, known as the Harappan civilization, was based primarily in two large cities—Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro—as well as in other towns and villages. 

These people took advantage of the fertile valley and farmed wheat, barley, peas, sesame, and possibly cotton. Their domesticated animals included cattle, fowl, pigs, camels, and buffalo. 

In northern Central America and into southern Mexico, an agricultural hearth began about 8000 b.c.e. People there grew sweet potatoes, beans, and other crops. 

They also domesticated the turkey. Maize (corn) later became the staple, or basic crop, of the region. 

About the same time, another agricultural hearth in the Andean highlands of South America began. 

Its chief crops were beans, tomatoes, and potatoes. The people there also domesticated llamas, alpaca, and guinea pigs. 

Hearths were also located in Africa. In East Africa, crops  like coffee, olives, peas, and sesame originated around  8000 b.c.e. Sorghum, a type of grain, was likely domesticated in Ethiopia around 4000 to 3000 b.c.e. In West Africa, people raised millets and sorghum.

Scientists distinguish such hearths as the Fertile Crescent from other ancient areas that adopted agriculture later through diffusion.

SHARED CHARACTERISTICS OF HEARTHS

Hearths have different physical characteristics, may they share some like fertile soil, water availability, climate, organization, etc..

Because rains in these regions were not uniform throughout the year, the people in some areas developed methods of irrigation.

Irrigation: the supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels

Many of the societies that developed in these hearths relied on the collective work of most of their members to tend the fields and harvest crops. Cooperation ensured success and efficiency.

Agriculture depends on the land, but like all human activities, it is mobile because people are mobile. Diffusion of agricultural practices has produced patterns of flow throughout history, from ancient times to the present.

Agricultural Hearths:

CENTRAL AMERICA  

Cassava, chiles and peppers, cocoa beans, cottonseed oil, maize, palm oil, sweet potatoes

ANDEAN HIGHLANDS  

Beans, potatoes, tomatoes 

WEST AFRICA  

Coffee, cowpeas, millets, palm oil, rice, sorghum, yams

EAST AFRICA 

 Bambara beans, coffee, cottonseed oil, cowpeas, millets, olives, peas, sesame, sorghum

FERTILE CRESCENT  

Barley, beans, peas, rye, wheat

INDUS RIVER VALLEY 

 Barley, cotton, peas, sesame, wheat

NORTH CENTRAL CHINA  

Apples, grapefruit, grapes, lemons and limes, millets, oranges and mandarins, rice, soybeans, tea

SOUTHEAST ASIA  

Bananas, cloves, coconuts, grapefruit, rice, sugarcane, taro, tea, yams

In ancient times, agriculture evolved independently and separately in several hearths. As people migrated (for whatever reason (push and pull factors), they brought new agriculture practices to the region.

Over hundreds of years, many important crops diffused throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa as a result of relocation diffusion or through trade. Though the diffusion was limited by climate and transportation.

Diffusion can also spread new crops, like with the columbian exchange. In the 15th century, dozens of domesticated plants and animals were spread across the Americas.

Columbian Exchange: the exchange of goods and ideas between the Americas, Europe, and Africa, known as the. Began after Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492.

It had a huge impact on people, plants, and animals around the world and offers many examples of agricultural diffusion.

Columbus brought disease as well to the natives, killing millions of natives, not considered part of columbian exchange. Moreover, millions of slaves were brought.

Crops from the Americas also had a big effect in Europe, where crops like potatoes and maize were nutritional and thrived. Many of these European countries also rely on these crops.

The same effect is also in the Americas, with crops like Wheat and sugarcane being big crops in the Americas.

DIFFUSION IN MODERN TIMES

Diffusion still continues today, as access to new foods is easier. An example being the kiwi fruit. Native to China, it was transplanted to New Zealand in the early 20th century, where it grew well and became a popular food.

12.4 ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE

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The  first agricultural revolution (11,000 years ago - 5-6k years ago) was the shift from foraging—or searching for food—to farming, which marked the beginning of agriculture.

The revolution occurred at different agricultural hearths at different times. The effects of the revolution weren't simultaneous across all continents.

By some estimates, more than 80 percent of the world’s diet comes from a dozen or so staple crops, such as rice, wheat, and maize. The cultivation of these crops started in the first revolution.

The first agricultural revolution is sometimes called the Neolithic Revolution because it took place during a time in history now known as the Neolithic Age, or New Stone Age.

SOCIETAL CHANGES

The first agricultural revolution profoundly changed the lives of the people who experienced it.

People went from being nomadic to being sedentary or semi sedentary. Sedentary means settling in one place and making that place a permanent home.

Sedentary life also decreased the variety of foods consumed as people relied on a single crop.

The overall diet of a person became less diverse.

Overtime, farming productivity and efficiency increased and new tools and methods were created. With more efficiency brought more food, which brought a greater population, which provided more workers.

Another plus to having more food was storing it for future use. People began to create storage places to put food in.

As farm fields became more productive, some members of society were not needed to cultivate food as there was already enough being made.  Instead of farming, they became pottery-makers or woodworkers.

Farmers also produce nonfood crops like cotton and wool.

As societies became more productive, they became more complex, with ruling classes being introduced in charge of making laws, distributing resources, and managing the country.

As population continued to increase with more farm productivity, cities were created. Other cities traded with one another for materials and goods. 

Over time, the first ancient civilizations developed.

For the next several millennia, people around the world continued to make breakthroughs that made agriculture more productive. Like the Romans and the Chinese who created new advances in agriculture.

These advances increased productivity but fell short of the widespread, deep impact of the Neolithic Revolution. Essentially, societies continued to grow food largely for themselves. 

That changed in the early 1700s, when new practices and tools launched the: 

second agricultural revolution: saw dramatic improvements in crop yields, with new innovations like more effective yokes for oxen, the replacement of oxen by horses, and advancements in fertilizers and field drainage systems.

The second agricultural revolution began in Britain and the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and diffused from those regions.

Enclosure system: lands owned by a community (communal lands) were replaced by farms owned by individuals, and use of the land was restricted to the owner or tenants who rented the land from the owner

The enclosure system gave land owners more control over farming practices, but it also pushed peasants off the land and created a labor surplus, which contributed to the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1700s and spread to Western Europe and the United States in the 1800s. The second agricultural revolution continued into the late 1800s, and much of it coincided with the Industrial Revolution.

An important technology of the second agricultural revolution was a  horse-drawn seed drill invented by Jethro Tull in England around 1701.

The invention allowed for the automation of seed distribution, fixing the problems brought on by my hand scattering seeds.

There were many other inventions created during the second agricultural revolution like the steel plow, etc.

Farmers also adopted new methods of crop rotation that prevented soil exhaustion and increased yields. These changes resulted in another population boom, similar to the one that had accompanied the first agricultural revolution.

The events of the second agricultural revolution, such as more food, more nutritious diets, and longer life expectancies, as well as peasants being pushed off farms, coincided with the industrial revolution and gave industrial factories workers during the revolution. 

Additionally, as railroads were being built, this coincided with the agricultural revolution, as it allowed food to be transported greater distances, creating a larger market for the higher yields of the second agricultural revolution.

The  third agricultural revolution  began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day.

It features further mechanization and the development of new technology, changes brought about by scientific and technological advances outside agriculture.

New synthetic pesticides were made, electric power began to be used over animals– mechanical, power, and more.

The third agricultural revolution occurred in core countries such as the United States before mid-20th-century scientists brought some of the revolution’s advancements to the countries in the periphery.

In the late 20th to 21st century scientists used their understanding of the genotype of plants and animals to make: genetically modified organisms  (GMOs) can enhance the ability of the new strains to resist disease or drought.

Producers are also using information technology to monitor their fields for water and nutrient levels, allowing targeted delivery to meet crops’ needs. (fourth agricultural revolution)

• Some scientists refer to this use of information technology and data analytics as a fourth agricultural revolution. This recent period has been characterized by efficiency driven by data. 

• For example, producers now use drones to deliver fertilizer and pesticide in measured quantities along precisely controlled routes to fields that were difficult to reach in the past.

genetically modified organisms  (GMOs): organisms that have had their DNA altered using genetic engineering. Can be a plant, food, animal.

PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

The increased mechanization of farming started with motorized tractors that could do many parts of farming like plowing, harvesting, and more. They replaced beasts of burden (horses, oxen) and speeded the process.

Later, machines tailored to farmers' farms were created that can do jobs very efficiently.

Additionally, the use of electricity aided greatly in crop storage and preservation, enhancing livestock and dairy farming.

Another 20th century (third agricultural revolution) developed was the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which makes farming more productive by killing destructive insects, disease, and pests.

Crop dusting, in which airplanes spray pesticides over fields, made the delivery of these products more efficient.

The Green Revolution:

During the 1950s and 1960s, scientists used increased knowledge of genetics to develop new high-yield strains of grain crops, particularly wheat and rice. 

This is known as the Green Revolution. It is an offshoot of the third agricultural revolution.

New crop strains were introduced in low yield areas.

Spearheading this movement was Norman Borlaug, who devoted his life into transferring third agricultural revolutionary ideas and practices into peripheral and semi-peripheral areas.

Borlaug was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize and has been called the “father of the Green Revolution.”

IMPACT AND RESPONSE OF GREEN REVOLUTION

The green revolution saved many lives and nourished millions, but there were also some downsides.

First it decreased the need for human labor with mechanized tools, making agricultural workers displaced. When agricultural workers were needed, migrant workers were relied upon.

Second, some technology of the third agricultural revolution is dominated by multinational corporations, making producers vulnerable to the companies’ marketing and sales practices. 

There are also some environmental impacts as well. Green Revolution crops have increased growers’ demand for water, causing regional inequities and the need for more water development projects.

An example of this can be seen in the 1960s with the Soviet Union the aral sea. They diverted water away from sea in order to use it to farm, leading to it drying.

In addition, pesticides and fertilizers can harm humans and helpful insects and animals. The buildup of chemicals can pollute water supplies and humans. The concentration of massive packs of livestock in huge facilities leads to disease 

As producers rely on high-yield green revolution crops, they decrease biodiversity and lead to monocropping.

Solutions

One solution is sustainable agriculture, where producers work toward ensuring the health of soils by avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers and minimizing water use, among other practices. 

Some really devout in sustainable agriculture may do organic farming which eliminates synthetic chemicals. These methods produce crops that are better for the environment but have lower yield