Types of Agriculture:

• Intensive: requiring higher amounts of labor and investment

  • urban farming, greenhouse

• Extensive: not requiring high amounts of labor and investment

  • larger pieces of land

  • uses natural fertilizer and climate

• Commercial: Agriculture for profit and commercial selling

• Subsistence: Agriculture to feed oneself, family, or village

• Monocropping: the growth of a singular crop at a time

  • Irish Potatoes, Sri Lanka tea

Types of Agriculture II:

• Market gardening: food producing plants grown in small plots of land

  • apples, lettuce, tomatoes

  • intensive, commercial

  • MDCs

• Plantation: specialize in a specific crop

  • bananas, coffee, rubber

  • intensive, commercial

  • LDCs: Latin America, Africa, Asia

• Mixed Crop/ Livestock: mixture of crop growing and livestock.

  • grains to feed animals, cash crops for money

  • extensive, commercial

  • MDCs, LDCs

• Shifting Cultivation: short periods of cultivation are followed by relatively long periods of fallow

  • slash and burn

  • extensive, subsistence

  • SE Asia, Sub-Sahara Africa, South America

• Nomadic Herding/ Pastoral Nomadism: Nomads herd animals to places where they can graze

  • extensive, subsistence

  • Uses little technology and lots of land

  • Nordic, East Africa, Saudi Arabia

• Ranching: raise herds on large plots of land

  • extensive, commercial

  • South America, US, AUS

• Wet Rice Dominant: Large amount of rice is grown in small area

  • intensive, subsistence

  • East, Southeast, South Asia

• Grain Farming: grains are grown in large farms to make a profit

  • monocropping, extensive, commercial

  • USA, North EU, China, India

• Agricultural Terracing:

  • Steps are built to farm more efficiently

  • environmental possiblism

  • intensive agriculture

Settlement Patterns:

• Linear:

  • settlement along the river or road

  • access to transportation

  • France, Spain

    

• Clustered:

  • settlement in close proximity

  • walk to farmland

  • used for defense

  • Europe

    

• Dispersed:

  • isolated, spread out

  • privacy: individual land ownership

  • US: Westward expansion

    

Rural Survey Methods:

• help divide up ownership of land and agriculture spaces

• Metes and Bounds:

  • short distances

  • landmarks

    

• Township and Range:

  • Survey methods

  • Grid system

  • remote sensing

• Long lot:

  • relationship to river

    

Agricultural Revolution(s):

• First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution):

  • Humans switched from hunter-gatherers to farmers

  • grew plants and domesticated animals

  • started settlements rather than be nomads

  • began independently around the globe

• Second Agricultural Revolution:

  • Started by Industrial Revolution

  • Introduced new technology and techniques

  • Railroads & shipping canals for transportation of food\

  • Mechanized farming

  • Moved to stage 2 of DTM

• Third Agricultural Revolution (Green Revolution):

  • Scientists learned how to genetically engineer plants to produce a higher amount of field

  • High-yield seeds, chemicals, mechanized farming

  • Pros: Higher amounts of food, increased productivity

  • Cons: Pollution, Health risks

Von Thunen Model:

-

• Utilizes bid-rent theory

• Town/ Market: where fresh goods are sold

• 1. Intensive Agriculture & dairy:

  • produce perishable goods closer to market

  • dairy, fruits, veggies

• 2. Forest:

  • Timber for fuel and buildings

  • closer to market to offset high transit costs

• 3. Grain Crops:

  • extensive

  • crops don’t spoil as fast

• 4. Ranching/ Pasture:

  • extensive

  • crops don’t spoil as fast

• 5. Wilderness:

  • too far from market to profit

Global Farming:

• Global supply chain: the network of individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the production and sale of a product worldwide

• Export commodity: a product that a state produces for exports rather than consumption

  • cocoa in cote d’ivoire

• Commodity chain: A linked system of processes that gather resources, convert them into goods, package them for distribution, disperse them, and sell them on the market.

  • Inputs, Production, Processing, Marketing, Consumption

• Economies of Scale: Agribusinesses can produce more for cheaper

  • puts agribusinesses in the leading position of sales

  • results in less family owned farms

Environmental Effects:

• Land Cover Change: Humans change what an area of land is used for

  • land → urban farmland

  • United States

• Desertification: fertile land becomes desert from drought or excessive agriculture

  • less fertile land

  • Africa

• Soil salinization: increase in number of salt in the soil

  • lowers productivity of crop plants

  • Egypt, Argentina

• Slash and burn agriculture: cutting and burning of plants in forest to create a field

  • soil fertility declines after a few years

  • weeds increase

• Terracing: changing land to meet needs (creating steps)

  • reduces soil erosion

  • more cultivable land

  • SE Asia, Andes mountain

• Deforestation: clearing of forested land

  • lost forests

  • Amazon Rainforest, SE Asia

Individual Food Choice:

• Sustainable agriculture:

  • intended to satisfy human needs, minimize environmental impacts, promote fiar wages & worker treatment

• Community supported agriculture:

  • prepaid subscriptions to receive food directly from farmers

  • MDCs

• Urban farming:

  • intensive practices support growing city populations

  • growing on small plots in a city

• Fair Trade:

  • a program that supports decent conditions for working & better wages

  • products cost more money

  • Farmed in LDCs, sold in MDCs

    

Food Insecurity: lack of regular access to enough safe & nutritious food

• more common in LDCs, can happen anywhere

Food deserts: areas with limited access to fresh, nutritious foods

• lack of stores or transportation

• often in low-income areas

Women in Agriculture:

• MDCs:

  • Few women working in agriculture

  • Due to increased opportunity for women, leading them to other jobs

• LDCs:

  • Many women working in agriculture

  • rely more on subsistence and have less opportunities due to low education