Unit 5

Main Ideas

1. Origins and Diffusion of Agriculture

• Neolithic Revolution (First Agricultural Revolution): Transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture (~10,000 years ago).

• Second Agricultural Revolution: Improvements in farming methods during the Industrial Revolution (18th-19th centuries).

• Green Revolution (Third Agricultural Revolution): Introduction of high-yield crops, fertilizers, and mechanization (20th century).

• Agricultural Hearths: Areas where agriculture first developed (e.g., Fertile Crescent, East Asia, Mesoamerica).

• Columbian Exchange: Transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and New World.

2. Agricultural Practices & Systems

• Subsistence Agriculture: Farming for local consumption (e.g., shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism, intensive subsistence farming).

• Commercial Agriculture: Farming for profit, often involving large-scale operations (e.g., plantation agriculture, mixed crop and livestock, dairy farming).

• Intensive vs. Extensive Agriculture:

  • Intensive: High labor/input per unit of land (e.g., rice farming, market gardening).

  • Extensive: Low labor/input per unit of land (e.g., ranching, shifting cultivation).

• Plantation Agriculture: Large-scale monocropping of cash crops (e.g., sugar, coffee, cotton) in tropical regions.

• Shifting Cultivation (Slash-and-Burn): Clearing forests for temporary agriculture; common in tropical rainforests.

• Pastoral Nomadism: Herding animals as a primary means of subsistence; common in arid regions.

3. The Role of Technology & Agricultural Innovations

• Mechanization: Use of machines in farming (e.g., tractors, combines).

• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Crops with altered DNA to increase yield and resistance.

• Irrigation: Artificial application of water to land for agriculture.

• Sustainable Agriculture: Farming practices that preserve environmental quality (e.g., organic farming, crop rotation).

4. Agricultural Land Use Models

• Von Thünen Model: Explains spatial distribution of agricultural activities based on transportation cost and land rent:

  1. Central Market

  2. Dairy & Market Gardening (perishable goods, high transportation cost)

  3. Forests (for fuel/timber)

  4. Grain & Field Crops (less perishable, lower land value)

  5. Ranching/Livestock (requires large areas, lowest land value)

• Boserup Hypothesis: Opposes Malthusian theory; states that population growth leads to increased agricultural intensification.

5. Environmental & Economic Consequences of Agriculture

• Deforestation: Clearing of forests for farming, leading to biodiversity loss and climate change.

• Desertification: Land degradation in arid areas due to overuse.

• Soil Degradation: Loss of soil fertility due to overgrazing, overfarming, and erosion.

• Food Deserts: Urban and rural areas with limited access to affordable, nutritious food.

• Agribusiness: Large-scale, industrialized, corporate-controlled farming.

6. Global Patterns of Food Production & Consumption

• Agricultural Supply Chains: Process of food production from farm to table.

• Food Security & Insecurity: Availability and accessibility of food for populations.

• Fair Trade: Movement to provide fair wages and sustainable farming practices.

• Globalization of Agriculture: Increasing interconnection of food production and distribution worldwide.

Key Vocabulary

• Agriculture

• Agribusiness

• Aquaculture 

• Biotechnology

• Cash Crop

• Center Pivot Irrigation 

• Commercial Agriculture

• Commodity Chain

• Crop Rotation

• Crop Gap

• Deforestation

• Desertification

• Double Cropping

• Extensive Agriculture

• Fair Trade

• Fertile Crescent

• Food Desert

• Food Security

• GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)

• Green Revolution

• Intensive Agriculture

• Irrigation

• Agricultural Infrastructure 

• Market Gardening

• Mechanization

• Milk shed 

• Monoculture

• Neolithic Revolution (First Agricultural Revolution)

• Organic Farming

• Overgrazing

• Pastoral Nomadism

• Plantation Agriculture

• Salinization

• Shifting Cultivation

• Slash-and-Burn

• Soil Degradation

• Subsistence Agriculture

• Sustainable Agriculture

• Supply chain / Commodity chain 

• Terrace Farming

• Transhumance

• Urban Agriculture

• Value Added Crops 

• Von Thünen Model

  • Bid rent curve

  • Isotropic Plains 

Types of Agriculture 

• Shifting Cultivation 

• Plantation Agriculture 

• Mixed Crop and Livestock 

• Commercial Gardening / Truck Farming

• Dairy Farming 

• Mediterranean Agriculture (+ Transhumance)

• Intensive Subsistence 

  • Wet rice dominant and non wet rice dominant