Where is Agriculture Distributed?

Derwent Whittlesey

• identified 11 main agricultural regions

• 5 important in LDCs

  • pastoral nomadism: in the drylands of Southwest, Central, and East Asia, and North Africa

  • shifting cultivation: in the tropics of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia

  • intensive subsistence (wet rice dominant): in the large population concentrations of East and South Asia

  • intensive subsistence (other crops dominant): in the large population concentrations of East and South Asia where growing rice is difficult

  • plantation: in the tropics and sub-tropics of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia

• 6 important in MDCs

  • mixed crop and livestock: in the US Midwest and central Europe

  • dairying: in the population clusters of northeastern US, southeastern Canada, and northwestern Europe

  • grain: in north-central US, south-central Canada, and Eastern Europe

  • ranching: in the drylands of western North America, southeastern Latin America, Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the South Pacific

  • mediterranean: in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, western US, south tip of Africa, and Chile

  • commercial gardening: in southeastern US and southeastern Australia

Agriculture in Developing Regions

• most farmers in LDCs produce food for themselves and have little to no surplus

Agricultural Regions and Climate

• agriculture varies sharply between drylands and tropics, even in MDCs

• cultural preferences also influence agriculture

  • ex. hog production is nonexistent in Muslim regions

Pastoral Nomadism

pastoral nomadism: a form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals

• adapted to dry climates where crops can’t grow

• most nomads are in the belt of [semi]arid land throughout Central and Southwest Asia and North Africa

  • ex. Bedouins of Saudi Arabia and North Africa, Masai of East Africa

• 15 million people are pastoral nomads, but occupy 20% of Earth’s land area

• pastoral nomads survive off of animals; drinking their milk, eating their corpses, using their skins and hair

  • size of herd is important, so animals aren’t usually slaughtered

• ways nomads get grain:

  • trade animal products for grain

  • women and children stay at a fixed spot and farm while everyone else wander

  • hire workers for grain in return for protection

  • may sow grain in flooded areas and come back later

  • remain in one place when rainfall is abundant and migrate during droughts

Choice of Animals

• select types and number of animals by local cultural and physical characteristics

• camels, sheep, and goats are desired in North Africa and Southwest Asia

  • camels

    • go long periods without water

    • carry heavy baggage

    • move rapidly

    • bothered by flies and sleeping sickness

    • have long gestation periods (12 months)

  • goats

    • tough and agile

    • can survive on any type of vegetation

    • require more water

  • sheep

    • slow moving

    • affected by climatic changes

    • require more water

    • picky eaters

• horses are important in Central Asia

Movements of Pastoral Nomads

• groups control a piece of land, depending on wealth and power, and are trying to control an area large enough to survive in

  • only invade in emergency or war

• groups divide into 5-6 family herding groups and move to most likely water source locations

transhumance: seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pasture areas

pasture: grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing

• some animals may pasture in alpine meadows in summer and go back into valleys in winter

The Future of Pastoral Nomadism

• pastoral nomadism was considered a stage in between hunting and gathering and sedentary farmers

• pastoral nomadism is now considered an offshoot of sedentary agriculture

  • it is a way to survive on land where crops are too hard to grow

• used to be important carriers of goods, but are declining due to modern technology and weapons

• nomadism now is confined and their land is used for mining and farming instead

Shifting Cultivation

shifting cultivation: practiced in much of the world’s Tropical, or A, climate regions, which have relatively high temperatures and abundant rainfall

• practiced by 250 million people across 36 million kilometers, in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia

• two distinctive features:

  • clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris (slash-and-burn agriculture)

  • grow crops on a cleared field for a few years and leave it fallow for many once nutrients are depleted

The Process of Shifting Cultivation

• cut down trees and burn the debris

• rain washes fresh ashes into the soil, providing nutrients (potassium/potash)

swidden: the cleared area created from slash-and-burn agriculture

• the swidden is prepared with a hoe

• cleared land is used for 3 or less years, and then the nutrients are depleted

  • abundance of weeds depletes nutrients even faster

• the field is left for 6-20 years to regrow naturally

Crops of Shifting Cultivation

• predominant crops are rice (Southeast Asia), maize/corn and manioc/cassava (South America), and millet and sorghum (Africa)

• yams, sugarcane, plantain, and other vegetables are also grown

• the Kayapo people of the Amazon plant in rings, the last rings containing plants that require more nutrients

• swiddens may contain a large variety of intermingled crops

Ownership and Use of Land in Shifting Cultivation

• traditionally

  • land was owned communally

  • chief would give out patches of land to families

  • individuals could own specific trees

• today

  • private individuals own the land (especially in Latin America)

• occupies 25% of world’s land area (highest percentage of all agriculture)

• 5% of the world’s people practice shifting cultivation

Future of Shifting Cultivation

• shifting cultivation land decreases about 0.2% a year

• tropical forests have been reduced due to support of deforestation

• replaced by logging, cattle ranching, and cash crops

• LDCs view it as inefficient

• critics believe it should be replaced by more sophisticated agricultural techniques

• defenders believe other forms of agriculture damage soil, cause severe erosion, and upset ecosystems

• destruction of rainforests contribute to global warming

• a change in agriculture would disrupt activities of daily life of people there

Intensive Subsistence with Wet Rice Dominant

intensive subsistence agriculture: main form of agriculture in LDCs, with intense work from the farmer

Characteristics of Intensive Subsistence Farming

• most Asian farmers need to survive off of a small piece of land

• most work is done by hand or with animals

  • lack of funds to buy equipment

• little to no land is wasted

  • irregular pieces of land are still used

  • paths and roads are narrow to increase arable land space

  • livestock don’t graze and little grain is grown for them

wet rice: rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then moved as seedlings to a flooded field to promote growth

• China and India account for 50% of the world’s rice production

  • more than 90% is produced in East, South, and Southeast Asia

• dominant in southeastern China, East India, and Southeast Asia

Cultivation of Wet Rice

four steps:

• field preparation

  • use a plow drawn by buffalo or oxen

• flooding

  • plowed land is flooded with water (from rainfall, river overflow, or irrigation)

  • dikes and canals are repaired

  • field is called a sawah, incorrectly called a paddy by North Americans and Europeans

• transplanting

  • rice is grown for 1 month in a dry nursery

  • moved to the sawah for 3/4 of the growing period

• harvesting

  • seperate the husks [chaffs] by beating them on the ground or treading on them [threshing]

  • light chaff is blown by the wind [winnowed]

  • the outer covering [hull] is removed for consumption

• most growing takes place in river valleys, delta, or terraced on hillsides

double cropping: obtaining two harvests per year from one field

• double cropping is common in place with warm winters (southern China, Taiwain)

• uncommon in dry winters (India)

Intensive Subsistence with Wet Rice not Dominant

• wet rice can’t be grown in areas with too little rain or too harsh winters

• wheat and barley are the most important crops

• some other crops are millet, oats, corn, sorghum, and soybeans

• cash crops such as cotton, flax, hemp, and tobacco, are grown for profit

• double harvests may occur due to crop rotation (the practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil)

• communes in China

  • private individuals hold little agricultural land after the Communist Revolution

  • communes were several villages combined together

  • the government hoped productivity would go up, but it actually went down

• post-communes

  • villagers are able to own portions of land as private individuals and have the right to sell it

  • reorganization of infrastructure was difficult

  • production increased

Plantation Farming

plantation: a large commercial farm in a LDC that specializes in one or two crops

• mainly located in the [sub]tropics of Latin America, Africa, and Asia

• owned by MDCs

• plants are grown to be sold in MDCs

• common crops include cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, tobacco, cocoa, jute, bananas, tea, coconuts, and palm oil

• provide workers with food, housing, and social services

• production increased due to Industrial Revolution (cotton gin)

• production declined after Civil War when the slave laborers were taken away

Agriculture in Developed Regions

• most agriculture in MDCs still depends on climate

• commercial farming grows crops and animals primarily for sale

  • products are sold to large food-processing companies rather than individuals

agribusiness: the system of commercial farming found in developed countries

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

• most common in the US west of the Appalachians and in much of Europe from France to Russia

Integration of Crops and Livestock

• most crops are fed to animals

• livestock produce manure to improve soil fertility

• nearly all land is devoted to growing crops, but almost all sales come from animal products

• having both crops and livestock distribute the workload more evenly yearround

• corn/maize is the most common crop in the US due to its higher yield

  • products include oil, margarine

  • most is fed to pigs and cattle

  • Corn Belt (from Ohio, Iowa, and the Dakotas) is most important

• soybeans are the second most common crop to make animal feed

Crop Rotation

• farms are divided into fields and crops are cycled through them

• help maintain the fertility of a field

• two-field crop-rotation

  • cereal grain in Field A and nothing in Field B for one year

  • Field B is planted and Field A is fallow for one year

• four-field system

  • root crops in Field A, cereal in Field B, rest crops in Field C, cereal in Field D for one year

  • crops rotate throughout the field with each year

• cereal grains are used for flour, beer, and straw

• root crops are fed to animals during the winter

• rest crops are used for cattle grazing and restoring nitrogen to the soil

Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming

• predominant type of agriculture in southeastern US

  • long growing season

  • humid climate

  • accessible to large markets

• often called truck farming

• truck farms grow many fruits and vegetables that consumers demand in MDCs

  • apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.

• highly efficient and take full advantage of machines, and are willing to experiment with new varieties

• labor costs are low due to hiring immigrants from Mexico

Dairy Farming

• most important near northeastern US, southeastern Canada, and northwestern Europe, as well as South and East Asia

Regional Distribution of Dairying

• India is the world’s largest milk producer, followed by the US, China, and Pakistan

• dairy farms need to be close to markets due to perishability (the ring around a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling is a milkshed)

• due to transportation advancements, the milkshed can be further from a city

• the further a milkshed is from the market, the more likely that it will product milk products (butter, cheese) rather than fresh milk

Challenges for Dairy Farmers

• labor intensive

  • milking requires constant attention

• winter feed

  • feeding during the winter may add extra expenses

Grain Farming

• grain farms produce crops mainly for consumption by people rather than animals

  • wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet

• wheat is the most important crop

  • can be used to make bread flour

  • can be stored easily without spoiling

  • can be transported a long distance

• LDCs are starting to grow more wheat

  • China and India produce the most, and the US is behind them

• the McCormick reaper (machine that cuts grain in the field) and the combine (reaps, threshes, and cleans in one operation) have increased wheat production

• some firms may have 2 sets of fields

  • one in the spring wheat belt and one in the winter wheat belt

• large scale grain production in North America is concentrated in

  • the winter wheat belt through Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma

  • the spring wheat belt through the Dakotas, Montana, and southern Saskatchewan in Canada

  • the Palouse region of Washington State

Mediterranean Agriculture

• share physical environment

  • borders a sea

  • most on west coasts of continents

  • sea winds moisture and moderate winter temperature

  • summers are hot and dry but sea winds provide relief

  • land is hilly

  • very narrow strips of flat land along the coast

• livestock production is hindered during the summer due to lack of water

• sheep and goats are kept on coastal plains in the winters and transferred to the hills in the summer

horticulture: the growing of fruit vegetables, and flowers

• most crops are grown for human consumption

• a variety of crops are planted within one farming area

• most important cash crops are olives and grapes

  • wine production and olive oil

• wheat is used for pasta and bread

• California has the most horticulture

  • urbanization and scarce water supply may cause this to suffer

Livestock Ranching

ranching: the commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area

• practiced where vegetation is too sparse and the soil is too poor to support crops

Cattle Ranching in the United States

• Hollywood glamorized ranching

• many moved to Chicago for higher prices

  • cattle were driven by hoof from Texas to the nearest railhead

  • then they were driven in cattle cars

  • most famous route was the Chisholm Trail

• declined in importance after conflict with sedentary agriculture

  • land used for grazing was given to farmers

  • ranchers tried to drive out farmers but eventually were defeated

• some ranches were established where there was no way to grow crops

  • however, due to better crops and irrigation, that land has been converted into farms

Commercial Ranching in Other Regions

• is increasingly in LDCs

• is in Australia (though there’s more sheep than cattle), Spain, Portugal, Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay

  • grew in Argentina due to accessibility to the ocean

• China is the leading meat producer