Agriculture Flashcards
1
Q
Give examples of inputs.
A
- Human:
- Capital
- Labour
- Market influence
- Government influence and incentives
- Technological development
- Physical:
- Land relief
- Climate: precipitation and sunshine
- Quality of soil
- Proximity to water source
2
Q
Gives examples of processes.
A
- Preparation of the land (e.g. clearing vegetation, terracing, drainage)
- Ploughing
- Sowing
- Weeding
- Application of fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and irrigation
- Harvesting
- Storage and transportation to market
3
Q
Give examples of outputs.
A
- Crops
- Meat
- Dairy (e.g. milk, cheese)
- Industrial products (e.g. cotton, rubber, leather)
- Waste products (e.g. male dairy animals, old animals)
- Capital for re-investment
4
Q
What is the difference between commercial and subsistence farming?
A
5
Q
What is the difference between intensive and extensive farming?
A
- Extensive:
- Larger farm
- Few inputs per hectare
- Few workers
- Few outcputs per hectare
- Low yields per hectare
6
Q
How do you overcome soil erosion?
A
- Terracing:
- Prevents soil erosion by water.
- Prevents water from carrying soil down a slope.
- Contour-ploughing:
- Prevents soil erosion by water.
- Means that water does not run down furrows and wash soil away. Water is instead trapped and forced to soak into the ground.
- Crop-rotation:
- Makes soil less vulnerable to erosion by water and wind.
- Different types of crops take different nutrients from the soil. Means that soil is not exhausted and does not lose its structure.
- Fallow periods:
- Makes soil less vulnerable to erosion by water and wind.
- Rest period allows land to regain its nutrients. Means that soil does not lose its structure and get exhausted.
- Strip-cultivation and inter-cropping:
- Prevents soil erosion by water and wind.
- Grow different crops in narrow bands in a single field at right angles to each other. Harvest crops at different times, so field is never left completely bare and water is always taken up.
- Afforestation:
- Prevents soil erosion by water and wind.
- Increases rate of water uptake, stabilises the soil and increases interception.
- Shelter belts / hedgerows:
- Prevents soil erosion by wind.
- Grow trees at right angles to the prevailing wind - trees reduce speed of wind.
7
Q
What makes an area vulnerable to soil erosion?
A
- Exposed soil not covered by vegetation.
- Poor farming practices.
- Desertification.
- Heavy wind or rain.
- Steep slopes.
8
Q
How does soil form?
A
- Minerals come from rocks below from the process of weathering. Plants use mineral nutrients for growth.
- Organic matter comes from decaying plant matter fro the vegetation above.
9
Q
How do farmers replace lost nutrients?
A
- Add manure.
- Add plant matter.
- Add fertilisers.
10
Q
How does soil erosion actually occur?
A
- By wind
- Rainfall is low, so soil dries out and becomes loose.
- Strong winds blow away the soil.
- By rain
- Steep slopes allow water to run down them due to gravity.
- Rainfall is too heavy for all of the rain to soak down, as the soil becomes saturated.
- Surface run-off occurs down gentle slopes as sheets and steep slopes as channels.
11
Q
What is shifting cultivation?
A
- Plot of land is cleared.
- Vegetation is burned and ash is used as fertiliser.
- Land is cultivated traditionally for a few years until it is exhausted.
- People move to new area and repeat.
- Original plot is returned to after some time.
12
Q
What factors prevent subsistence farmers from increasing their output?
A
- Low capital input prevents investment in more efficient techniques.
- Manure (only source of fertiliser) often used as fuel instead - not soil improvement.
- Irrigation is inefficient and often increases salinity of soil.
- Seeds are used from the last year’s crop, which prevents use of improved varieties.
- Family labour is used so outputs will always be small scale. Additionally, if family labour is used then they are not educated and are not aware of how to incease efficiency.
- There is little research and development because many farming practices are governed by religion and tradition.
- Poor transport links means that:
- New ideas and supplies that can improve practices cannot be distributed
- Cannot export a surplus
13
Q
What problems can subsistence farmers run into?
A
- Animal diseases, such as foot and mouth disease. Kills animals. Also restricts output if they want to commercialise - cannot export diseased meat to the EU, for example.
- Lack of roads makes it unnecessarily difficult to export goods to farmers markets.
- HIV/AIDS weakens and demotivates the workforce.
- Overstocking - often reduces quality of herd and means that livestock use up valuable land for cultivation. Often brings family into oversupply if they want to commercialise.
- Soil erosion reduces the quality of the soil.
14
Q
How do you make farming sustainable (overall)?
A
- Crop rotation to prevent exhaustion of soil and eventual soil erosion.
- Using a variety of crops to protect against disease (no monoculture).
- Terracing to prevent soil erosion via rain.
- Contour ploughing, reducing soil erosion by rain.
- Strip-cultivation and inter-cropping to stop soil erosion by wind and rain.
- Reduce stock densities to prevent oversupply, use land for cultivation and increase herd quality.
- Carry out selective breeding to create drought resistant crops.
15
Q
What are the effects of malnourishment?
A
- Problems with pregnancy
- General health problems due to lowered resistance to infection
- Deficiency-related diseases including Kwashiorkor and Marasmus
- Failure at school and at work
