5.1- Introduction to Agriculture

Agriculture is influenced by the physical environment

• Plants need space, light, water, suitable temperatures, and nutrients

• Types of crops will vary based on climates

Agriculture is influenced by the physical environment

• Human modifications include clearing space, modifying land, providing artificial lights, irrigation of crops, use of fertilizers, and growing crops in greenhouses

• Modifications are examples of Environmental Possibilism

Some plants are constrained by the environment

Agriculture can be characterized as intensive or extensive

• Intensive agricultural systems

  • requires a large amount of labor and capital

  • use small plots of land usually located near large populations

  • are characterized by high yield per acre

  • ex. rice, milk, and truck farming

• Extensive

  • low capital and labor inputs

  • large plots of land that are away from population centers

  • low yield per acre

  • shifting, cultivation, livestock ranching

Agriculture is influenced by economic factors

Farmers must decide what and how to farm based on financial considerations

• cost of land

• cost of labor

• cost of machinery

Types of Intensive Agriculture

• Plantation Agriculture

  • labor-intensive that exploits cheap labor

• Mixed Crop and Livestock

  • labor-intensive system

  • farmers grow crops to fatten livestock

• Market gardening

  • fresh fruits and vegetables

  • often using migrant labor'

Types of Extensive Agriculture

• Shifting cultivation

  • farmers in the tropics control a large area and clear only part of it at a time to farm

  • Rainforest is cleared and burned and many different crops are planted

  • Loses fertility after a few years

• Nomadic Herding

  • graze cattle, sheep, goats, and more arid and semi-arid climates

  • mobile and movie animals from pastures to pastures

• Ranching

  • own large areas of land for grazing cattle and sheep to sell on markets

  • unsuitable for farming, so land is less expensive than farmland

5.2- Settlement Patterns and Survey Methods

Rural Settlement Patterns

• Clustered Settlement

  • more connected to the community

  • put resources together

• dispersed settlement

  • more connected to resources

  • Grid-like starts to develop

• Linear Settlement

  • usually along a road

  • access to the same transportation route

Rural Survey Methods

• Metes and Bounds

  • Short distances

  • landmarks

• Long Lot

  • Relationship to river

  • balance resources

• Township and Range

  • Survey Methods vs Landmarks

  • Grid System

  • Land ordinance of 1785

5.3- Agricultural Origins and Diffusions

Agriculture diffused globally along trade roots

increasing patterns of globalization diffused agriculture around the world

• Trade routes across the eastern hemisphere diffused plants and animal

  • The silk road brought plants and animals to the middle east, Asia, and Europe

  • Indian ocean trade brought plants and animals to South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe

• Columbian Exchange

  • crops were taken to Europe

  • animals brought to America

Other forms of diffusion

• population migration brought different cuisines to new areas

  • immigrants brought their food

• The green revolution spread high-yield varieties of crops across the world

  • new varieties of plants replaced traditional crops

  • these countries have seen a loss in the genetic variety of plants

• Increasing wealth has raised the demand for animal protein

  • demand for beef, pork, and chicken has risen as LDCs get wealthier