Environment & Population Flashcards
What are the two main types of agricultural systems?
• Intensive farming: High inputs of labour or capital per unit of land (e.g., greenhouse farming, rice paddies).
• Extensive farming: Low inputs per unit area, requiring large land use (e.g., cattle ranching, shifting cultivation).
What are the three major agricultural sectors?
- Subsistence agriculture: Farmers grow food primarily for their families.
- Commercial agriculture: Large-scale farming for profit and trade.
- Pastoral farming: Rearing livestock for food and other resources.
How does agriculture impact the environment?
• Deforestation for farmland.
• Soil degradation due to overgrazing and monoculture.
• Water pollution from pesticides and fertilisers.
• Biodiversity loss due to habitat destruction.
What are sustainable agricultural practices?
• Crop rotation to maintain soil nutrients.
• Agroforestry to combine trees with farming.
• Organic farming to reduce chemical use.
• Precision agriculture using technology for efficiency.
How does climate change affect agriculture?
• Changing rainfall patterns affect crop growth.
• Increased frequency of droughts and floods.
• Higher temperatures reduce yields of heat-sensitive crops.
• Shifts in growing seasons and pests disrupt food production.
How can agriculture adapt to climate change?
• Drought-resistant crops.
• Improved irrigation systems.
• Agroforestry to protect soils.
• Precision farming techniques.
What are the global patterns of food production?
• HICs (High-Income Countries): Mechanised farming, high yields, food exports.
• LICs (Low-Income Countries): Small-scale farming, subsistence agriculture, vulnerable to climate change.
What factors affect food consumption patterns?
• Income levels: Wealthier populations consume more meat and processed foods.
• Urbanisation: Increases demand for convenience foods.
• Cultural preferences: Influence diet choices.
• Climate: Determines available crops and livestock.
What is food security?
• Availability: Enough food is produced.
• Access: People can afford and reach food.
• Utilisation: Food is nutritious and safe.
• Stability: Continuous food supply over time.
What are the threats to food security?
• Climate change impacting yields.
• Soil degradation reducing farmland quality.
• Conflict disrupting food supply chains.
• Population growth increasing demand.
How can food security be improved?
• Sustainable farming techniques.
• Reducing food waste.
• Investment in agricultural technology.
• Better distribution systems to reduce food deserts.
Why is soil management important for agriculture?
• Healthy soil ensures higher crop yields.
• Prevents soil erosion and desertification.
• Maintains nutrient levels for long-term farming.
What are some soil conservation techniques?
• Contour ploughing to prevent erosion.
• Cover crops to reduce soil degradation.
• Terracing on slopes to slow water runoff.
• Crop rotation and organic fertilisers to maintain fertility.
What are the patterns of food production and consumption in developing countries?
Much food in developing countries is produced and consumed locally.
What are the patterns of food production and consumption in developed countries?
In developed countries, food is often produced within the same country of consumption, with other foods being imported.
What are the 2 reasons of the current changes in agriculture?
Specialisation and commercialisation
What are the 5 richest nations/regions that consume the most kilocalories per day (between 2600 and 3800kcal)?
North America, Europe, South Korea, Japan and parts of South America
What is the definition of under-nutrition?
where people consume less than the UN Department for Health’s recommended daily minimum totals (1940kcal for women and 2550kcal for men)
What is Malnutrition?
With this increase in travel comes an increase in carbon dioxide emissions from all the extra air travel
What is Intensive farming?
Usually relatively small scale farming
What are the 2 intensive farming types?
Capital intensive and labour intensive
What is capital intensive?
When money is invested in soil improvement, machinery, buildings, pest control or high-quality seeds/animals.
What is the characteristic of capital intensive farming?
There are few people employed and so output is high per hectare and per worker.
Give an example of capital intensive farming?
market gardening in the Netherlands
What is labour intensive farming?
When the number of farm workers are high and so there is a high output per hectare but a low output per worker
Give an example of a labour intensive farming
rice cultivation in the Ganges valley of India.
What is extensive farming?
Farming that is carried out on a large scale over a large area
What are the 2 types of extensive farming?
Farming to provide sufficient output for their needs & Farming to obtain high quality seeds/animals or pesticides and insecticides
Can you give an example of extensive farming on high quality seeds?
wheat farming in the Canadian Prairies.
Can you give an example of extensive farming on providing sufficient output for their needs?
cattle/sheep ranching in Australia.
What is commercial farming?
where the outputs (crops, animals) are sold.
What is subsistence farming?
where the outputs are largely for consumption by the farmer with little or no surplus.
What is arable farming?
Farming involving crops
What is livestock farming?
Farming involving animals
What is mixed farming?
Both crops and animals
What is Monoculture?
high intensities of one crop.
Where are The Canadian Prairies located in?
In the mid-latitude continental interior of North America
What type of farming occurs in The Canadian Prairies?
Extensive farming
What are the 2 things that The Canadian Prairies has been used for
Large areas have been ploughed up for extensive wheat farming and the rest is used for equally extensive cattle and sheep ranching
What is the climate like in The Canadian Prairies?
The region has a continental climate with high pressure dominating
What type of rain occurs in The Canadian Prairies? And When?
Conventional rain in the summer
Give us the temperature in the hottest months of The Canadian Prairies
Have temperatures between 21-27*C
Give us the temperature in the coolest months of The Canadian Prairies
Have temperatures between -4-0*C
What is the annual range of temperature in The Canadian Prairies?
Approximately 22-28*C
What is the rainfall like in The Canadian Prairies?
Usually less than 500mm
What soils does The Canadian Prairies have?
Chernozems
What are Chernozems also known as?
Black earths
Explain how Chernozems form (give 3 things)
- first they are largely develop on vast expanses of wind-blown (aeolian) silts, known as loess.
- these silts were laid down on the edges of the huge Pleistocene ice sheets at the end of the Ice Ages
- These were then blown there from the northern areas of moraine and outwash plains
What is the grass growth like in The Canadian Prairies?
They are virgorous in the spring and early summer, but the dry period (late summer and winter) slow down the natural processes of decomposition
Is there any Organic matter in The Canadian Prairies soils?
Yes. Organic matter is easily held by the soil and the loess parent material also provides a source of calcium carbonate
How does The Canadian Prairies have rich soil fauna?
It has various burrowing animals which cause some mixing of the soil profile.
What the all the soil factors contribute to The Canadian Prairies?
The surface layers of the soil are deep and humus-enriched, fertile and ideal for wheat farming and ranching
What does the Indian Monsoonal Areas provide?
Rice cultivation
Explain how rice is grown in Indian Monsoonal Areas (Give 2 points)
- first rice seedlings are grown in nurseries until the monsoon rains begin and then they are transplanted into flooded fields.
- the fields on the river plains are level and have low mud walls to retain water
How deep are the flooded fields in Indian Monsoonal Areas?
10-12cm deep
What is rice growing in India like?
It’s labour intensive where a large cheap labour force uses simple tools and oxen does all the work
What does the Indian Monsoonal Areas offer to India?
It can support large numbers of people in both rural areas and the rapidly growing cities of the Indo-Gangetic Plain
What is a monsoon?
When the climate involves a seasonal reversal of winds
What are the winds like in winter in the Indian Monsoonal Areas?
- They come from the north and northeast, blowing outwards from Central Asia.
- These tend to be very dry and there is a winter drought
What are the winds like in the summer in the Indian Monsoonal Areas?
- the winds reverse direction and blow from the southwest, bringing with them hot and wet air that originate over the equatorial area of the Indian Ocean
Why does the winds in the summer of Indian Monsoonal Areas cause more rain?
The uplift of the air over the Western Ghats of southwest India and the foothills of the Himalayas cause intense convection
How much rainfall does Mumbai receive?
Almost 2000mm (with most failing in 4 months June-September)
What do the temperatures range from in Mumbai
30C (summer) to 19C *(winter)
Where can rice also be grown in?
In terraces cut into the slopes of hilly areas
What is the Indian government planning on doing?
To increase the amount of land that is irrigated but it still stands at less than half the total land under
What is the problem in Indian Monsoonal Areas?
Since there is a population pressure, its pushing rice farming into areas where the soil is less suitable (i.e. where monsoon rains are less regular)
What have scientists said about agriculture being affected by climate change?
That Climate change will have significant adverse effects on crop yields, livestock health and tree growth
What would cliamte change do eventually?
Spread habitats of pests (e.g. flies and mosquitoes) and diseases (e.g. wheat and coffee rusts)
Give a Statistic on agriculture being affected by climate change
Yields of the main cereals in developing countries are expected to be 10% lower by 2050 than they would have been without climate change
