AGRICULTURE ZONES AND HISTORY Flashcards
Facts to know
- 1 in 7 people are chronically hungry
- 46 milion ha used for ag in Australia
how long has indigenous agriculture been sustainable
60,000 years
what did indigenous people eat
- hunted, gathered, fished
- food animals = kangaroo, wallaby etc
- witchetty grubs
- wild plants
what are the nyungar seasons
- birak (dec-jan)
- Bunuru (Feb-Mar)
- Djeran (April-May)
- Makuru (June-July)
- Djila (Aug-sept)
- Kambarang (Oct-Nov)
why has indigenous agriculture been so sustainable
- low input/low output system
- support relatively low populations
- depend on carrying capacity of the land
define agriculture
practice of crop and animal production on organised land units
constraints of agriculture
- climate - temp, rainfall
- location - latitude
- soils - fertility, structure, pH
What are agricultural zones?
different regions of the landscape where different types of agriculture are practiced
what are the approaches to identifying ag zones?
- basic climate-based approach - classifying regions on climate
- crop/animal production system - classified on products
- farming systems - defined based on system
how does the farming systems model work to define ag zones?
defined based on:
1. available natural resources - climate, soil, water
2. Farm size and tenure basis
3. dominant farm activities and household livelihood patterns
define farming system
populations of farms that have similar resource bases, enterprise patterns, household livelihood and constraints, and strategies to deal with constraints
What are the seven farming systems
- irrigated - food, variable farm sizes
- rain-fed agriculture in humid high potential areas - dominant or mixed crop system, commercial horticulture
- rain-fed ag in steep highland regions - mixed crop - livestock production
- (most common) rainfed small-scale in dry or cold areas - mixed crop - pastoral systems
- large scale commercial farming systems - variety of ecologies with diverse production patterns
- coastal artisanal fishing and mixed farming
- urban-based farming - horticulture and intensive animal production
What influences the development of farming systems
- natural resources
- science and tech
- globalisation + market development
- information and human resources
- population pressures
what internal factors influenced evolution of farming systems
- household goals
- resource bases
- technologies adopted
what external factors influenced evolution of farming systems
- market development
- shifts in demand for produce
- ag policies
- availability of tech and knowledge
- economics
What are the 3 main agricultural zones in Aus
- high rainfall zone
- wheat-sheep zone
- pastoral zone
qualities of high rainfall ag zone
- > 500mm rain per year
- coastal, south-west WA, NSW, Tas
- sloping land, surface water available
- south = winter dominant rainfall pattern
- north = NSW = summer
- constraints = low temp or low moisture
What are the 2 high rainfall zone sectors
- sheep - beef and cropping
- 6-9 month season - dairy sector
- 300 to 1000 cows milked per farm
- irrigated or rain-fed pastures
- high pasture yields
- mild temps
- long growing seasons = productive