Human geography activities Flashcards
economic activities
Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities. Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities.
Primary activities
are directly dependent on the environment as these refer to utilisation of earth’s resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials and minerals. It thus includes hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying.
Red collar workers
People engaged in primary activities are called red collar workers due to the outdoor nature of their work.
Discuss GATHERING
Gathering is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions. It often involves primitive societies, who extract both plants and animals to satisfy their needs, requires small amounts of capital investment and low level of technology. The yield per person is very low and little or no surplus is produced.
Gathering is practised in: (i) high latitude zones which include northern Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile; (ii) Low latitude zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the interior parts of Southeast Asia
In modern times some gathering is market- oriented and has become commercial.
Discuss PASTORALISM
Domestication and rearing of animals. Practised at subsistence and commercial level.
1. Subsistence- nomadic herding involving movements in well defined territories. The core region extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into Mongolia and Central China. The second region extends over the tundra region of Eurasia. In the southern hemisphere there are small areas in South-west Africa and on the island of Madagascar. Pg 34
2. commercial livestock rearing is more organised, scientific and capital intensive, practised on ranches and is specialised to few animals. New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and United States of America are important countries
Transhumance
The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summers and again from mountain pastures to plain areas during winters is known as transhumance. In mountain regions, such as Himalayas, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas migrate from plains to the mountains in summers and to the plains from the high altitude pastures in winters. Similarly, in the tundra regions, the nomadic herders move from south to north in summers and from north to south in winters.
Discuss AGRICULTURE subdivisions
Subsistence Agriculture- primitive and intensive
Plantation Agriculture
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation
Mixed Farming
Dairy Farming
Mediterranean Agriculture
Market Gardening and Horticulture
Co-operative Farming
Collective Farming
Subsistence agriculture
is one in which the farming areas consume all, or nearly so, of the products locally grown.
1. Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting cultivation is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and central America and south east Asia. Slash and burn on small plots using sticks and hoes, move plots once fertility is lost. Pg 35
2. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture- in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia. use of family labour to grow paddy/Wheat, soyabean, barley and sorghum. Pg 36
By what names is slash and burn called in different parts of world
Jhuming in North eastern states of India, Milpa in central America and Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Plantation Agriculture
This farming type involves large estates, significant capital, technical support, scientific methods, single-crop specialization, cheap labor, and efficient transportation. Introduced by colonizers, the French created cocoa and coffee plantations in West Africa, while the British established tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, rubber plantations in Malaysia, and sugarcane and banana plantations in the West Indies. Spanish and American investments included coconut and sugarcane plantations in the Philippines, and there were also sugarcane plantations in Indonesia and coffee fazendas in Brazil.
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation
in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid- latitudes. Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand. Pg 38.
Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are also grown. The size of the farm is very large, therefore entire operations of cultivation from
ploughing to harvesting are mechanised. There is low yield per acre but high yield per person.
Mixed Farming
highly developed parts of the world, e.g. North-western Europe, Eastern North America, parts of Eurasia and the temperate latitudes of Southern continents.
Mixed farms are moderate in size and usually the crops associated with it are wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops. Fodder crops are an important component of mixed farming. Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining soil fertility. Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main income along with crops.
Mixed farming is characterised by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and building, extensive use of chemical fertilisers and green manures and also by the skill and expertise of the farmers.
Dairy Farming
- Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital intensive. Animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milching machines add to the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care and veterinary services.
- It is highly labour intensive as it involves rigorous care in feeding and milching. There is no off season during the year as in the case of crop raising.
- There are three main regions of commercial dairy farming. The largest is North Western Europe the second is Canada and the third belt includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised commercial agriculture. It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia to Atlantic coast, southern California, central Chile, south western South Africa and south western Australia. Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region for making wines, raisins and currants. Olives and figs are also grown.
Market Gardening and Horticulture
Market gardening and horticulture specialise in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. Farms are small and are located where there are good transportation. The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables only, the farming is known as truck farming.
It is both labour and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers, insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating in colder regions.
In densely populated industrial districts of north west Europe, north eastern United States of America and the Mediterranean regions.
Co-operative Farming
A group of farmers form a co-operative society by pooling in their resources voluntarily for more efficient and profitable farming. Individual farms remain intact and farming is a matter of cooperative initiative. western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc.
Collective Farming
social ownership of the means of production and collective labour. Collective farming or the model of Kolkhoz was introduced in the erstwhile Soviet Union. The farmers pool in all their resources like land, livestock and labour. However, they are allowed to retain very small plots to grow crops in order to meet their daily requirements.
Yearly targets are set by the government and the produce is also sold to the state at fixed prices.
Factors Affecting Mining Activity
The profitability of mining operations thus, depends on two main factors:
(i) Physical factors include the size, grade and the mode of occurrence of the deposits.
(ii) Economic factors such as the demand for the mineral, technology available and used, capital to develop infrastructure and the labour and transport costs.
