Agriculture Most important question of the day Whats

Agriculture Most important question of the day: What’s for lunch?

Agriculture: deliberate land modification through plant cultivation and raising animals for food or profit. • Percentage of labor force MDC: 5% (avg. ), LDC: 55% Source URL: http: //www. faculty. de. gcsu. edu/~dvess/gissues/agrlabor. jpg

Subsistence Agriculture: food production primary for farm family consumption Example: slash and burn http: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/6/6 b/Bakweri_cocoyam_farmer_from_Cameroon. jpg http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Subsistence_farming

Commercial Agriculture: • food production primarily for sale off the farm • Can Start as subsistence farming, excess sold • Can transition to pure commercial agriculture • http: //www. internationalspecialreports. com/theamericas/00/bahamas/17 -2. gif http: //www. georgetowncranberry. com/images/skipper. jpg

Agribusiness integration of commercial agriculture into food processing, usually by corporations Image: http: //www. agribusinessmgmt. wsu. edu/Templates/index_images/Landscape-Green_r 2_c 24_. jpg Source: http: //www. agribusiness-mgmt. wsu. edu/

Wet Rice Agriculture Subsistence Cash Crop Flooding, pests, (Same) drought, wind, disease, population Lower yield No / low debt Higher yield Need inputs Higher debt Low profit Profits machinery, inputs, savings for lean years • Generally expands to hillsides as population increases • In earthquake zones, mudslide risks increase… Also, storms. • • Image: http: //geographyfieldwork. com/riceterrace_small. jpg Information: http: //geographyfieldwork. com/Rice. Farm. htm

Swidden Agriculture / slash and burn / shifting cultivation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Slash vegetation. Burn the slashed veg. Plant in nutrient ashes. Yields drop off. Change sites. Repeat. v Requires much land recovering from past slash and burn activities. http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26. JPG Slash: http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/22. JPG Burn: http: //images. google. com/imgres? imgurl=http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26. JPG&imgrefurl=http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/ra inforest/&h=512&w=768&sz=140&tbnid=TO 1 Ek. Mcff. XOx. EM: &tbnh=94&tbnw=141&hl=en&start=5&prev=/images%3 Fq%3 Dshifting%2 Bcultivation%26 svnum%3 D 10%26 hl%3 Den%26 lr%3 D%26 safe%3 Doff%26 client%3 Dfirefox-a%26 rls%3 Dorg. mozilla: en-US: official_s%26 sa%3 DG Growth: http: //www. taa. org. uk/Courses/Week 4/Swidden 2. jpg Tree: http: //www. sln. org. uk/geography/images/SLN@Malaysia 2005/Richard%20 and%20 Bob/Shifting%20 cultivation%20266. jpg Story: http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/

Shifting cultivation (observations) • • • SOUND: Done wisely, it is ecologically sound in otherwise uncultivable soils. POPULATION: Increasing population density eventually makes this practice unsustainable. TITLE: In some countries, land tenure (ownership) is established by cutting the land, not leaving it “idle” (letting it recover). COMPETITION: In some places, shifting cultivation is being replaced by a pattern of logging, cattle ranching, and more intensive cash crop cultivation. LOSS: This can be a first step in forest conversion to grassland. http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/26. JPG http: //www. artsci. wustl. edu/~anthro/images/rainforest/27. JPG

Issues for subsistence agriculture: • • Population growth – Forest fallow bush fallow short fallow annual multi-cropping • Intensification may not be sustainable. (Site dependent) – New farming methods require cash. • more inputs: fertilizer, manure, new tools, more labor intensive • new seeds and new crops • Needs to have enough income to fertilize, buy equipment, buy seed. International trade pressure: – conversion of food crops to cash crops for more profit… – drug crops (can be involuntary)

Intensive subsistence agriculture: Examples: wet rice cultivation, dry farming • maximize yield per acre, minimize unused land, some double cropping • low machinery inputs, high animal and human inputs • dry farming crop rotation

Pastoral nomadism works on marginal lands… If you avoid overgrazing! Story: http: //www. geographie. uni-freiburg. de/ipg/forschung/ap 1/current_projects/chad/nomads_project%20 area. html Image: http: //www. geographie. unifreiburg. de/ipg/forschung/ap 1/current_projects/chad/harmattan%20 vaches%20 en%20 transhumance%20 big. jpg

MDC farming: – – – – Mixed crop and livestock farming: crops animals humans (e. g. beef, milk, eggs) • crop rotation, nitrogen fixing crop intermixed with primary crop(s) Dairy farming: within range of market (avoid spoiling), refrigeration extends this range Grain farming: e. g. wheat belt Livestock ranching: often on marginal lands in the West, also Amazonia, Pampas, Outback Mediterranean agriculture: Horticulture: growing of fruits and vegetables, and flowers Commercial gardening and fruit gardening: horticulture, large scale, migrant workers Plantation farming: specialize in 1 -2 crops, once slavery, now import workers

How Do you figure out what to grow where? Von Thunen Model: Important Influences: • Market Price • Distance • Transportation Cost – Perishability, (actually covered under transportation cost) • Likely on the quiz, test, and final exam.

Von Thunen Model • Distance is a function of land rent and transportation costs. • Basically, what produces the most profit at each location? • • http: //people. hofstra. edu/geotrans/eng/ch 6 en/conc 6 en/img/vonthunen. gif Info: http: //people. hofstra. edu/geotrans/eng/ch 6 en/conc 6 en/vonthunen. html

Issues for commercial farmers: • Access to market: Von Thunen model (ring and transport) – • Land rent and distance driven… too far no profit, lose $ Overproduction – – – • encourage growth of crops with global demand price subsidies buy surplus yield, often donate to foreign governments Unsustainable agriculture – move to more sustainable practices • sensitive land management • Ridge contour tillage • limited use of chemicals • (organic farming)

Issues for subsistence farmers: • • Population growth – Forest fallow bush fallow short fallow annual cropping multi-cropping • Conversion from slash and burn to multi-crop farming may not be sustainable Profit motives impact farmers. – Lure of money – Land loss (legal, and illegal) to for-profit activity

International trade pressure: • • conversion of food crops to cash crops – may make the economy dependent on foreign foods – if so, cash crop shortfalls or price drops avoidable food shortages drug crops – forced or voluntary growth of drug crops

Strategies for increasing food supply: Increase agricultural land – marginal lands • require careful management for long-term yields • must worry about soil salinization, selenium, etc. • desertification: human action causes land deterioration to a desert-like state. • Increase land productivity – green revolution • often requires nutrient inputs (external, cost) • often relies on machines (external, cost, needs gas) • seed stocks are foreign owned, possibly not self propagating

Strategies for increasing food supply: (part 2) • Identify new sources: – Cultivate the oceans • We are already over-fishing now. – (Stock recovery, or risk extinction. ) – Develop higher protein cereals (decrease meat demand) – Promote the consumption of under-used foods, e. g. soybeans (soy burgers, etc. ) increase trade – Reduces local famines – Works until you run out globally. • Who starves first?

Food supply crises Example: Africa • Population increases faster than local food supply. • Over-planting removes soil nutrients. • Trees harvested for firewood. • Overgrazing removes grasses and herbs. • Desertification is a major problem. – The desert has been marching south towards the sea. • Warfare, ethnic cleansing, cash crops, and global warming exacerbate the problem.

Questions? • Review notes.