PRIMARY SIX

ILBC

Earth’s Agricultural
GEOGRAPHY

Land
Let’s find out ---
what agriculture is
how agriculture began
what the characteristics of subsistence farming and commercial farming are

How Agriculture Began

Most of the food we eat today
comes from the crops grown and the
animals reared in the farms. But
Agriculture
in the early days, people obtained
their food direct from their physical
environment by gathering wild plants
and hunting wild animals. Some also Growing / Rearing of
���= from nearby rivers and seas. Cultivation animals/
They moved from place to place to of crops livestock
look for food and they led a nomadic
life. Fig 5.1 What agriculture is

Later, people learnt how to grow crops and rear animals. The
growing or cultivation of crops and rearing of animals or livestock
is called agriculture. Agriculture also includes ��= farming. With
agriculture, people do not have to depend on the food provided by the
physical environment. Instead, they can have a regular food supply.
Agriculture changes the physical environment in which people
live. This is because people have to clear the land to grow crops
or graze animals. They also have to build farm buildings to house
themselves, their animals and tools. Therefore, the agricultural land
and the farm buildings form a human environment.

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A. About 10 000 years ago, B. In some places, crop farming

agriculture began in a number probably began when people found
of places out that they could grow roots,
tubers, or stem cuttings…
Shoo! Go
away! Don’t do
that! We’ll
keep them.

C. …. or plant the seed of wild D. Animal rearing probably began

plants for food. when people decided to keep wild
animals which were attracted to
people’s leftover food.
It is a good thing that
we have learnt how to farm.
We now have a regular
food supply.

E. Over time, these animals F…… for food.

were tamed and reared…
Fig 5.2 How agriculture began

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Main Types of Agriculture

Many types of agriculture are practised in different parts of the
world today. How do we classify them? One way is to classify them
into two groups based on the purpose of production. The two groups
are:
 subsistence farming
 commercial farming
Subsistence farming is the growing of crops and / or the rearing
of animals mainly for the farmer’s own use. Commercial farming is
the growing of crops and / or the rearing of animals mainly for sale.

A. Mixed farming B. Nomadic herding

C. Subsistence wet rice cultivation D. Sheep ranching

E. Shifting cultivation F. Plantation farming

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G. Hydroponic farming H. Factory farming

Fig. 5.3 Different types of agriculture
The relationship between subsistence farming and commercial
farming can be represented as shown in Fig 5.4 below.

Subsistence Commercial
farming farming

Fig 5.4 Relationship between subsistence farming and commercial farming

Subsistence farming
Subsistence We have learnt that subsistence
farming farmers grow crops such as wet
rice and vegetables, or rear animals
Shifting such as poultry and pigs, mainly for
cultivation their own use. Therefore, the size of
production of such farming is small.
An example of subsistence farming
is shifting cultivation. One way to
represent the relationship between
Fig 5.5 Relationship between
shifting cultivation and subsistence
shifting cultivation and
subsistance farming farming is shown in Fig 5.5.
Subsistence farming such as wet rice cultivation is sedentary
in nature. This means that the farmers live in permanent farms.
However, this is not the case in shifting cultivation. The shifting
cultivators move to new land to farm when their existing land has
become infertile. They clear the new land by cutting and burning its

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vegetation. Therefore, their farming is migratory in nature. Another

example of migratory subsistence farming is nomadic herding. The
nomadic herders move from place to place to look for pasture and
water for their animals.
Subsistence farming is generally practiced on small plots of land.
A typical farm of wet rice in Asia is about one hectare in size. However,
nomadic herding is practised over large areas.
Subsistence farming is also characterised by the use of simple
technology. For example, a simple tool such as the axe is used by
shifting cultivators to cut the trees, while a staff is used by nomadic
herders to round up the animals.

Guys, walk
water, I need faster! There’s
water! water ahead! I’m so hungry.
I could eat up
all the grass.

Commercial farming
We have also learnt that commercial farmers grow crops such
as tea and rubber, or rear animals such as cattle or sheep, mainly
for sale. Therefore, the size of production of such farming is large.
An example of commercial farming is mixed farming (Fig 5.3 A). In
mixed farming, farmers grow crops and rear animals. Both activities
are of considerable importance to the farm. We can represent mixed
farming in the form of a diagram as shown in Fig. 5.8.
Commercial farming is sedentary in nature and is generally
practiced on large plots of land of hundreds of hectares. For example,
in plantation farming, crops such as rubber and tea (Fig 5.3 F) are
grown on huge farms called plantations in tropical areas. Animals

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such as cattle and sheep (Fig 5.3 D) are reared on large farms called
ranches. The two exceptions are hydroponic farming (Fig 5.3 G) and
factory farming (Fig 5.3 H).
Commercial farming is also characterised by the use of advanced
technology. For example, some commercial farmers use automatic
sprinklers to water crops (Fig 5.6). Other farmers even use aircraft to
spray pesticides over crops (Fig 5.7).

Fig 5.6 Watering crops using Fig.5.7 Spraying pesticides over crops
automatic sprinklers using an aircraft

In fact, some types of commercial

farming use so much technology that
they are also known as high-tech
Growing Mixed Rearing farming. One example is hydroponic
crops farming animals farming where crops are grown using
nutrient solutions instead of soil. In
some vegetable hydroponic farms,
crops are grown in greenhouses where
Fig .5.8 Relationship between the nutrient solutions, temperature
growing crops and rearing animals and amount of moisture in the air are
in mixed farming
controlled with the help of computers.
Another example of high-tech commercial farming is factory
farming where animals are reared inside large buildings. In many
chicken factory farms, the supplies of feed and water are automatically
controlled by computers and the eggs are collected using conveyor
belts.

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Key words
1. Agriculture The growing or cultivation of crops and rearing of
animals or livestock
2. Commercial farming The growing of crops and / or rearing of animals
mainly for sale
3. Factory farming The rearing of animals inside large buildings
4. Hydroponic farming The growing of crops using nutrient solutions
instead of soil
5. Migratory farming Farming in which farmers move from place to
place to farm
6. Mixed farming Farming which involves both the growing of crops
and rearing of animals; the crops and animals
are both of considerable importance to the farmer
7. Nomadic herding Farming in which farmers move with their herds
of animals to look for pasture and water
8. Plantation farming Farming in which crops are grown for sale in large
farms called plantations in the tropical areas
9. Sedentary farming Farming which is practiced in permanent farms
10. Shifting cultivation Farming in which farmers clear the land by
cutting and burning the natural vegetation, and
move to new land to farm when the existing land
becomes infertile
11. Subsistence The growing of crops and / or rearing of animals
farming mainly for the farmer’s own use
12. Ranches Huge farms that specialize in the rearing of one
type of animal for sale
13. Pesticides Chemical substances used for killing insects that
harm or destroy crops
14. Nutrient solution Water which contains dissolved plant foods

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Agricultural Crops in Myanmar

Crops cultivated within Myanmar may be grouped into ��=
types.
(a) Cereals
(b) Oil seed crops
(c) Pulses
(d) Industrial crops
(e) Other crops

(a) Cereals
Paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum are the major cereals cultivated
within Myanmar.
Paddy
Paddy favours a hot humid
climate. It requires temperatures
above 70º F and a minimum rainfall
of 45 inches. In areas of ������=
rainfall, paddy may be cultivated with
the help of irrigation. Since paddy
likes water, the subsoils should be
impervious. Paddy thrives best on
alluvial soils above clayey subsoils.
Since it likes to grow under water,
‘Kathin (bund)’ are built around
the plots of level surface for storing
water. Paddy is cultivated on the
gleysols (meadow soils and swampy
meadow soils) within the lower valley
and deltaic region of the Ayeyarwady
River, Sittaung river valley, Sittway
plain within Rakhine State, alluvial
plains and the coastal plain within
Mon state. Paddy is cultivated with
the help of irrigation in Mu Valley,
Mandalay-Kyaukse-Yamethin Plain Area of paddy cultivation
and Minbu Plain.
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