AP Human Geo Agriculture
Terraced Farming
- Build steps into a hill for agriculture
- Benefits: Crops are physically easier to maintain, Rainfall goes down slope and waters crops, Reduces soil erosion
- Cons: Not maintained, Heavy rainfall can lead to mudslides
Irrigation
- Diverting water from natural course to aid crops
- Benefits: Increased crop production
- Cons: Disrupts natural drainage, Reduces soil regeneration, could cause the collapse of land
Draining Wetlands
- They are natural filters that protect and promote surface water and groundwater quality
- Benefits: Land is rich in nutrients, provides more for farm land
- Cons: Reduces biodiversity of organisms
Slash & Burn
- All vegetation is cut down and then burned down (also known as Swidden)
- Benefits: Ash provides nutrients in soil, can be used for farming for a few years
- Cons: Shifting cultivation (requires people to move regularly), could damage environment if on a large scale
Deforestation
- Removal of forest
- Benefits: Creates land for farmlands and urban areas
- Cons: Very damaging to environment, desertification, soil erosion
Intensive Agriculture
- Uses large amounts of money, inputs (such as fertilizer, pesticides/herbicides), and labor to have a large amount of crops
Extensive Agriculture
- Uses less money, inputs, and labor, typically has low amount of production
Commercial Farming
- FOR PROFIT (maximizes production) and uses large amounts of money, inputs, and labor
Subsistence Farming
- FOR OWN USE and less amounts of inputs etc
Bid Rent Theory
- The theory that “Land value is higher, farmers buy less and use it more intensively” and vice versa
1st Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)
- Hunter gatherers >> agricultural settlements and early civilizations
- Started in 10,000 BC in Mesopotamia (Fertile Crescent)
Columbian Exchange
- The global transfer of foods, plants, animals, diseases between the Americas, Europe, & Africa
The Second Agricultural Revolution
- Happened between 1760-1840 (at the same time as the industrial revolution), began in Great Britain
- Involved in the mechanization of agricultural production
- Advances in transportation
- Development of large-scale irrigation
- Changes to consumption patterns of agricultural goods
- Enclosure system - Land became owned by individuals, it led to owners having better control over farms and led to more efficient farming methods, created surplus labor and pushed peasants off the land
- Selective Breeding
- New tech
- Yearly rotation of crops added nutrients, so no leaving fallow fields. This prevents soil exhaustion and increases yields
The Green Revolution
- Starts in the United States after WWII (when world hunger was a huge issue)
- Really takes off in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, due to worldwide population growth
- Two main practices: intro of higher yields seeds and more use of chemical fertilizers
Hybridization
Process of crossing two genetically different individuals to result in a third individual with a different, and preferred set of traits
RECAP
1st
- Hunting/Gathering → Farming
2nd
- Mechanization and transportation
3rd/Green
- Hybridization, genetic engineering, increased use of fertilizers and pesticides
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