Agriculture

Most important question of the day: What’s for lunch?

 Agriculture: deliberate land modification through plant
cultivation and raising animals for food or profit.

• Percentage of labor force MDC:

5% (avg.), LDC: 55%
Source URL: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/gissues/agrlabor.jpg
 Subsistence Agriculture:

food production primary for farm family consumption

Example: slash and burn
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Bakweri_cocoyam_farmer_from_Cameroon.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsistence_farming
 Commercial Agriculture:

• food production primarily for sale off the farm

• Can Start as subsistence farming, excess sold
• Can transition to pure commercial agriculture

• http://www.internationalspecialreports.com/theamericas/00/bahamas/17-2.gif
http://www.georgetowncranberry.com/images/skipper.jpg
 Agribusiness

integration of commercial agriculture into food processing,

usually by corporations
Image: http://www.agribusiness-
mgmt.wsu.edu/Templates/index_images/Landscape-Green_r2_c24_.jpg
Source: http://www.agribusiness-mgmt.wsu.edu/
 Wet Rice Agriculture
Subsistence Cash Crop
Flooding, pests, (Same)
drought, wind,
disease,
population
Lower yield Higher yield
No / low debt Need inputs
Higher debt
Low profit Profits 
machinery,
inputs, savings
for lean years
• Generally expands to hillsides as population increases
• In earthquake zones, mudslide risks increase… Also, storms.
• Image: http://geographyfieldwork.com/riceterrace_small.jpg
• Information: http://geographyfieldwork.com/RiceFarm.htm
Swidden Agriculture / slash and burn / shifting cultivation
1. Slash vegetation.
2. Burn the slashed veg.
3. Plant in nutrient ashes.
4. Yields drop off.
5. Change sites. Repeat.

 Requires much land

recovering from past
slash and burn
activities.

http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26.JPG
Slash: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/22.JPG
Burn:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/ra
inforest/&h=512&w=768&sz=140&tbnid=TO1EkMcffXOxEM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=141&hl=en&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshifting%2Bcultivation%26svnum%3
D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official_s%26sa%3DG
Growth: http://www.taa.org.uk/Courses/Week4/Swidden2.jpg
Tree: http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/images/SLN@Malaysia2005/Richard%20and%20Bob/Shifting%20cultivation%20266.jpg
Story: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/
 Shifting cultivation (observations)
• SOUND: Done wisely, it is
ecologically sound in
otherwise uncultivable soils.
• POPULATION: Increasing
population density eventually
makes this practice
unsustainable.
• TITLE: In some countries,
land tenure (ownership) is
established by cutting the
land, not leaving it “idle”
(letting it recover).
• COMPETITION: In some
places, shifting cultivation is
being replaced by a pattern
of logging, cattle ranching,
and more intensive cash crop
cultivation.
• LOSS: This can be a first
step in forest conversion to
grassland.

http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26.JPG
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/27.JPG
 Issues for subsistence agriculture:
• Population growth
– Forest fallow  bush fallow  short fallow  annual  multi-cropping
• Intensification may not be sustainable. (Site dependent)
– New farming methods require cash.
• more inputs: fertilizer, manure, new tools, more labor intensive
• new seeds and new crops
• Needs to have enough income to fertilize, buy equipment, buy seed.
• International trade pressure:
– conversion of food crops to cash crops for more profit…
– drug crops (can be involuntary)
 Intensive subsistence agriculture:

Examples: wet rice cultivation, dry farming

• maximize yield per acre, minimize unused land, some
double cropping
• low machinery inputs, high animal and human inputs
• dry farming  crop rotation
 Pastoral nomadism works on marginal lands…

If you avoid overgrazing!

Story: http://www.geographie.uni-freiburg.de/ipg/forschung/ap1/current_projects/chad/nomads_project%20area.html
Image: http://www.geographie.uni-
freiburg.de/ipg/forschung/ap1/current_projects/chad/harmattan%20vaches%20en%20transhumance%20big.jpg
 MDC farming:
– Mixed crop and livestock farming: crops  animals  humans (e.g.
beef, milk, eggs)
• crop rotation, nitrogen fixing crop intermixed with primary crop(s)
– Dairy farming: within range of market (avoid spoiling), refrigeration
extends this range
– Grain farming: e.g. wheat belt
– Livestock ranching: often on marginal lands in the West, also
Amazonia, Pampas, Outback
– Mediterranean agriculture: Horticulture: growing of fruits and
vegetables, and flowers
– Commercial gardening and fruit gardening: horticulture, large
scale, migrant workers
– Plantation farming: specialize in 1-2 crops, once slavery, now import
workers
How Do you figure out what to grow where?

Von Thunen Model: Important

Influences:
• Market Price
• Distance
• Transportation Cost
– Perishability, (actually covered under transportation cost)

• Likely on the quiz, test, and final exam.

 Von Thunen Model

• Distance is a function of land rent and transportation costs.

• Basically, what produces the most profit at each location?
• http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch6en/conc6en/img/vonthunen.gif
• Info: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch6en/conc6en/vonthunen.html
 Issues for commercial farmers:
• Access to market: Von Thunen model (ring and transport)
– Land rent and distance driven… too far  no profit, lose $
• Overproduction
– encourage growth of crops with global demand
– price subsidies
– buy surplus yield, often donate to foreign governments
• Unsustainable agriculture
– move to more sustainable practices
• sensitive land management
• Ridge contour tillage
• limited use of chemicals
• (organic farming)
 Issues for subsistence farmers:

• Population growth
– Forest fallow  bush fallow  short fallow  annual
cropping  multi-cropping
• Conversion from slash and burn to multi-crop farming
may not be sustainable
• Profit motives impact farmers.
– Lure of money
– Land loss (legal, and illegal) to for-profit activity
 International trade pressure:

• conversion of food crops to cash crops

– may make the economy dependent on foreign
foods
– if so, cash crop shortfalls or price drops 
avoidable food shortages
• drug crops
– forced or voluntary growth of drug crops
 Strategies for increasing food supply:
Increase agricultural land
– marginal lands
• require careful management for long-term yields
• must worry about soil salinization, selenium, etc.
• desertification: human action causes land deterioration
to a desert-like state.
• Increase land productivity
– green revolution
• often requires nutrient inputs (external, cost)
• often relies on machines (external, cost, needs gas)
• seed stocks are foreign owned, possibly not self
propagating
 Strategies for increasing food supply: (part 2)
Identify new sources:
– Cultivate the oceans
• We are already over-fishing now.
– (Stock recovery, or risk extinction.)
– Develop higher protein cereals (decrease meat demand)
– Promote the consumption of under-used foods, e.g.
soybeans (soy burgers, etc.)
• increase trade
– Reduces local famines
– Works until you run out globally.
• Who starves first?
 Food supply crises
Example: Africa
• Population increases faster than local food supply.
• Over-planting removes soil nutrients.
• Trees harvested for firewood.
• Overgrazing removes grasses and herbs.
• Desertification is a major problem.
– The desert has been marching south towards the sea.
• Warfare, ethnic cleansing, cash crops, and global warming
exacerbate the problem.
 Questions?
• Review notes.