Chapter 10 Flashcards
Define agriculture
Deliberate modification of earths surface. Farming
Define crop
Any plant cultivated by people
What are the characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society?
- Small groups
- Men hunt, women gather berries and nuts
- Based on animals migration patterns and seasonal growth of plants
How many hunter-gatherers are there today? Where do they live?
- A quarter million, less than .005%
- Spinifex=Australia’s Great Victorian deserts, -Sentinelese= India’s Andaman Island
- Bushmen=Botswana+Namibia
What was the agricultural rev.?
When humans first domesticated plants+animals, and didn’t rely entirely on hunting+gathering
Define subsistence agriculture
Producing food primarily for eating by the farmers family
Define commercial agriculture
Producing food for selling and making a profit
What are the three main features that separate commercial agriculture from subsistence agriculture?
- The % of farmers in the labor force
- The use of machinery
- Farm size
Define food security
Access to safe and nutritious food in order to have a healthy life
How much of the world does not have food security?
1/8
Define undernourishment
Not having enough food to meet dietary needs
How many people in the world suffer from undernourishment? Where are those places?
870 million people- 99% in LDC’s. #1. India (225 mill) #2. China (130 mill) 1/4th of people in Sub-Saharan Africa
What is pastoral nomadism? What type of climate is it usually found in?
- A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals
- Dry climates, where planting crops is impossible
What regions of the world are currently occupied by this practice?
Central+SE Asia, North Africa
How do pastoral nomads obtain grain (many ways)
- Trade w/t sedentary farmers, (trade animals)
- Women+children plant crops, might hire workers to practice sedentary agri. for grain+protection, sow grain in recently flooded areas, return later, remain in 1 place, cultivate the land when rain is copious
What animals are chosen? And where? (in pastoral nomadism)
Camel, sheep, goats= North Africa+SW Asia
Horse= Central Asia
Describe territoriality among pastoral nomads
Every group controls a piece of territory and will invade another groups territory only in a emergency or if war is declared. Goal of groups:Control a territory large enough to contain the forage+water needed for survival. Amt. of land=based on wealth+power
What is transhumance?
Seasonal migration of livestock b/w mountains and lowland pasture areas. Heavy in: China, Kazakhstan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria. several in SW Asia
In what way do modern gov.’s currently threaten pastoral nomadism?
Gov.’s force groups to give up pastoral nomadism so they can use the land for transportation, technology, profit, mining, petroleum. Forcing groups to roam in fixed boundaries
In what climate does shifiting cultivation predominate?
Tropical
Identify the two distinctive features of shifting cultivation
- Farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation+burning the debris
- Farmers grow crops on a clear field for only a few yrs. until soil nutrients are depleted, then leave it fallow for many yrs. so the soil can recover
What is swidden?
The cleared area before planting
What is potash?
Potassium, the only fertilizer from burning debris
How long are swiddens used?
3 yrs. or less
How is land owned in a typical village that practices shifting cultivation?
- Land was owned by a village instead of each resident
- The chief/ruling council would allocate a patch of land to each family and allowed them to keep the output
What % of the world’s land area is devoted to shifting cultivation? What % of the worlds people work it?
- 1/4th
- less than 5%
What is meant by “intensive”
Farmers must work intensively to subsist on a parcel of land
Where is intensive subsistence agri. practiced? Why there?
East, South+SE Asia b/c it is densely populated, farms are much smaller, no waste of land alternate land is used
What is “wet rice”
Rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then moved to a flooded field to promote growth
What is “sawah”? What is a “paddy”?
- A flooded field in the Austronesian language, widely spoken in Indonesia+Java
- Paddy:Malay word for wet rice, Europeans+NA’s use it often but it is incorrect
What is double cropping?
Harvesting two crops per year from one field
Where is double cropping possible? Where is it not?
- Warm winters-Southern China+Taiwan
- Not places w/t dry winters, rare in India
In areas of intensive subsistence agri. where wet rice is not dominant, what is the major crop?
Wheat, then barley
How are multiple harvests made possible in these less mild regions?
Crop rotation, the practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each yr. to avoid exhausting the soil
Where is mixed crop and livestock farming common?
U.S.-West of the Appalachians and in much of Europe from France to Russia
Describe the irony b/w the amt. of land devoted to crops vs. animals and the income generated by each in this region
Most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans, gets most of the income from sale of animal products
How does this type of agri. allow farmers to move evenly “distribute their workload” (majority of income of farmers coming from animal products)
Fields require less attention in the winter than the spring, while livestock require full attention- reduces seasonal variation of income
In what different way is the corn used?
In the U.S. corn is the most planted crop in the mixed crop+livestock region b/c it generates higher yields than do any other crop.
Where is the U.S. Corn Belt and what crops are grown there?
Ohio to Dakotas, with Iowa as the center, corn and soybeans
Define fallow and describe how it relates to crop rotation
Land that is not cultivated for a period of time to let the soil gain its nutrients back. A crop planted changes from one yr. to the next going through cycles, and then a yr. of fallow before the cycle is repeated.
Define cereal grains and describe how it relates to crop rotation
A grass that yields grain for food. A cereal grain was put in a field one yr. and left fallow to complete a two-field crop rotation system
Define rest crop and describe how it relates to crop rotation
Rest crops such as clover, help to restore fields while another crop is planted in another field (say a grain)
What three conditions make the SE U.S. an ideal location for this commercial gardening and fruit farming?
- Long growing season
- Humid climate
- Accessible to the large markets of NY, Philadelphia, Washington, other Eastern urban areas
What is truck farming and where has is spread in the U.S? Give examples of specialty crops
Commercial gardening+fruit farming
-Apples, Asparagus, Cheeries, Lettuce, Mushrooms+tomatoes
What is a milkshed?
The ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied w/o spoiling
Why do some regions specialize in “milk products” like cheese and butter rather than fluid milk? Identify some of these important regions
Farms located farther from consumers sell “milk products” b/c these products stay fresh longer.
-Butter, cheese, dried, evaporated, condensed milk -Northwestern Europe, and northeastern U.S. farms milkshed is within the milkshed of one urban area
What country is the world’s largest producer of dairy products?
New Zealand
What problems do dairy farmers currently face?
Not making enough profit with excessive workload
Face expense of feeding cows in winter
What is the principal difference b/w grains grown in “commercial grain farming” regions and grain in “mixed crop and livestock” regions?
Crops on a grain farm are grown primarily for consumption by humans rather than by livestock
Complete a bullet list that details the significance of wheat as a crop?
-Can be sold for a higher price -Can be transported a long distance -More uses as human food -Shipped profitably -Stored easily w/o spoiling
How do farmers and combine companies make use of the fact that the wheat matures at different times in the spring and winter wheat belts?
- The workload is distributed throughout the year
- Same machinery in two regions
- Harvesting contractors start working in Oklahoma in early summer+work their way northward
Identify the three regions of large-scale grain production in NA
- The winter weat belt through Kansas, Colorado+Oklahoma
- The spring wheat belt through the Dakotas, Montana+Southern Saskatchewan in Canada
- The Palouse region of Washington
Describe the conditions of Mediterranean climate and agri.
- Borders a sea, most are on West coasts of continents
- Prevailing sea winds -moisture+moderate winter temps.
- Summers are hot+dry -Hilly land -Mountains go into sea
Most crops in Mediterranean lands are grown for _____
rather than for ______
human consumption, animal feed
What is horticulture?
The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers- and tree crops
List the two most important cash crops of Mediterranean regions
Olives+Grapes
Define ranching
Commercial grazing in which livestock graze over an extensive area
What type of climate is livestock best adapted to? And, where is ranching practiced?
- Semiarid or arid land
- Developed countries where the vegetation is too sparse+the soil too poor to support crops
Why did cattle ranching expand in the U.S.?
The demand for beef in East coast cities
Why did cattle ranching decline?
It came into conflict with sedentary agri.
Where does cattle ranching take place today?
Land leased from the U.S. gov.
What were the three U.S. and world stages of ranching?`
- The herding of animals over open ranges, in a seminomadic style
- Ranching was transformed into fixed arming by dividing the open land into ranches
- Ranching was confined to drier lands
According to the “Boserup Thesis”, in what ways can subsistence farmers increase food supply?
Intensification of production, achieved in 5 basic stages: 1. Forest fallow 2. Bush fallow 3. Short fallow 4. Annual cropping 5. Multi-cropping
What is the dilemma that is faced by LDC’s as they seek to increase the amt. o export crops to sell to MDC’s?
The more land that is devoted to growing export crops the less food to eat
Summarize Africa’s food supply struggle
- They cannot keep food production ahead of pop. growth
- Gov. policies keep food price low since there is a scarce amt. Therefore farmers can’t make a profit, so they don’t want to increase production
Why have food prices been a more serious problem than food supply?
Why food prices have gone up-Poor weather, especially in South Pacific+NA
- Higher demand, especially in China+India
- Smaller growth in productivity, especially w/o miracle breakthroughs”
- Use of biofuels instead of food, LA
- Prices are too high so people don’t have enough $ to buy food, which results in food supply being low
How have efficient agri. practices, fertilizers and mechanical equipment, etc. created a problem for commercial farmers?
Producing large quantities of food, they face low prices and low profit -encouraging people to plant clover to help the soil
Create three bulleted points that highlight current ways in which the U.S. gov. cuurently deals w/t excess agri. capacity, and explain each
-Farmers are encouraged to avoid producing crops that are in excess supply -The gov. pays farmers when certain commodity prices are low -The gov. buys surplus production+sells or donates it to foreign gov
Who was von Thunen?
An estate owner in Northern Germany
What two factors does a farmer consider when deciding what to plan?
- Which crops to cultivate
2. Which animals to raise based on market location
How does profit determine what farmers grow?
Higher profits more food being produced -Farmers want to grow food that makes them profit
How does transportation cost influence profitability of growing wheat?
Farms located closer to markets tend to select crops w/t higher trans. costs+vice versa
How could von Thunen’s model be applied at a global scale?
Farmers in LDC’s who want to sell to NA and Western Europe are less likely to grow highly perishable bulky products
Four strategies have been produced to increase the world’s food supply in places where population are underfed.
- Increasing exports from countries w/t surpluses
- Expanding the land area used for agriculture
- Expanding fishing
- Increase the productivity of land now used or agriculture
List the largest regions and countries exporting agricultural products
1st. LA (Brazil+Argentina) then NA, SE Asia, and South Pacific
What countries are the leading importers of food?
Japan, UK, China, Russia
What country exports the most grain? What kind and how much?*
The U.S.-1/2 of the worlds maize exports
Identify and briefly three reasons why land currently being removed from agricultural use
- Lack of water (desertification)
- Urbanization
- Overgrazing
Define aquaculture/aquafarming
The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions
What countries are the leading fishing countries?
China, Indonesia, Peru, Chile
Have MDC’s or LDC’s consumed more fish?
LDC’s
What are the two main practices of the Green Revolution?
- The intro. of new higher yield seeds
2. Expanded use of fertilizers
Because of the Green Revolution, agricultural productivity at a global scale has ________ than _____
increased faster, population growth
Describe the characteristics of “miracle wheat seed
-shorter+stiffer than traditional breeds -responded better to fertilizers -less sensitive variation in day length -matured faster
Describe the characteristics of “miracle rice seed”
Diffused rapidly to India, Asian countries+LA countries -heavier -production increases rapidly
What specific problems do farmers in LDC’s have which might prevent them from taking full advantage of the Green Revolution?
Farmers must use more fertilizers and machinery
What three crops are often genetically modified?
- Soybeans
- Cotton
- Maize
Approximately how much o major crops in the U.S. are genetically modified?
3/4, -Soybeans: 94% -Cotton: 90% -Maize: 88%
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages o genetically modified foods
Adv: Higher yields, increased nutrition, more resistance to pests, better tasting -Dis.: Health problems, export problems, increased dependence on the U.S.
Define sustainable agriculture
Agricultural practices that preserve and enhance env. quality
What are the principal practices that distinguish farmers practicing sustainable agriculture form those operating conventionally?
- Sensitive land management
- Limited use of chemicals
- Better integration of crops+livestock
List the advantages of ridge tillage
- Lower production costs
2. Greater soil conservation
In what ways are animals treated differently in sustainable agriculture? How is this a benefit?
- # of livestock
- Animal confinement
- Management of extreme weather conditions
- Flexible feeding and marketing
