Study Notes on Land Use and Agriculture

Broad Categories of Land Use

  • Extensive Land Use

    • Characteristics:
    • Involves large areas of land.
    • Typically requires low labor input per unit area.
    • Examples:
    • Herding: Requires large land for grazing but minimal labor per acre.
    • Wheat Farming:
      • Description: Planting, monitoring for pests, harvesting with limited labor involvement.
      • Regions: Common in the wheat belt where barns are significantly large.

  • Intensive Land Use

    • Characteristics:
    • Involves smaller land areas.
    • Requires substantial labor input per unit area.
    • Examples:
    • Terrace Farming:
      • Description: Labor-intensive due to the maintenance and planting processes, such as transplanting rice.
      • Additional labor needed for weeding and soil management.

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

  • Nomadic Herding

    • Definition: A method that involves moving livestock to find fresh pastures.
    • Common animals:
    • Goats: Resilient to drier and colder environments.
    • Horses: Occasionally herded, particularly by nomadic cultures.
    • Llamas and Reindeer: Other examples of herded animals.
    • Challenges: Declining due to globalization, urban migration, population pressure, and governmental restrictions on movement across borders.

  • Hunting and Gathering

    • Description:
    • Practice predominantly found in isolated regions.
    • Examples:
      • Inuit populations in Alaska.
      • Residents of arid interiors and cold climates worldwide.

  • Shifting Cultivation (Slash and Burn)

    • Process:
    • Clearing a small area (about the size of a football field) by cutting down vegetation and allowing it to dry before burning.
    • Briefly cultivates the area before moving on to allow for forest regrowth.
    • Regions:
    • Predominantly practiced in rainforests or tropical savannahs (e.g., Indonesia, Central Africa, Amazon).
    • Implications:
    • Requires large land areas with minimal population density for sustainability.
    • Overpopulation and pressure reduce fallow periods leading to soil degradation and malnutrition.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

  • Sedentary Agriculture

    • Definition: Farmers remain in one location and grow crops primarily for their families.
    • Majority of the world’s agricultural producers.
    • Regions:
    • Northern China, Eastern China, parts of Ethiopian highlands, Nigeria, Tanzania, and other developing countries.
    • Specialized Activities:
    • Peasant grain farming, root crops, and livestock raising.

  • Green Revolution

    • Definition: Significant increase in agricultural yields through the introduction of improved crop strains and farming technologies.
    • Notable Technologies:
    • Modern irrigation methods, commercial fertilizers, and advanced crop management techniques.
    • Intended benefits:
    • Fewer famines and enhanced nutrition through genetically engineered crops.
    • Issues:
    • Limited benefits to Sub-Saharan Africa and areas with existing agricultural success.
    • Financial burdens introduced due to reliance on commercial seeds and irrigation technology.
    • Environmental impacts from over-fertilization and loss of biodiversity.