DERWENT WHITTLESEY identified eleven agricultural regions in the

DERWENT WHITTLESEY identified eleven agricultural regions in the world. Today, we are going to examine the characteristics of these regions.

Well… really there’s 12. The last region encompasses places too inhospitable to support significant agriculture. Tundra

5 of these regions are prevalent in developing countries • Pastoral Nomadism • Shifting Cultivation • Intensive Subsistence- wet rice dominant • Intensive Subsistencecrops other than rice

6 are prevalent in developed countries • Mixed Crop and Livestock • Dairying • Grain • Ranching • Mediterranean

Whittlesey’s agricultural regions World Climate Map

AGRICULTURAL REGIONS in the DEVELOPING WORLD

In developing countries, most people produce food for their own consumption (SUBSISTENCE). Surplus may be sold for income, but generating surplus is usually not the primary focus of agricultural activity.

PASTORAL NOMADISM Subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals.

PASTORAL NOMADISM Adopted in dry/arid climates where crop growing is extremely difficult.

PASTORAL NOMADISM Nomads survive largely off GRAIN; herds are used for secondary products like cheese, and to be sold for income.

PASTORAL NOMADISM TRANSHUMANCE - the seasonal migration of herds between mountain and lowland pasture grazing locations.

PASTORAL NOMADISM

SHIFTING CULTIVATION Subsistence agriculture featuring SLASH AND BURN techniques and REGULAR ROTATION of sites.

SHIFTING CULTIVATION Practiced in TROPICAL regions with thick forest vegetation. Fields are cleared BY HAND, then all debris is set on fire. Ashes from the fire add nutrients to the soil.

SHIFTING CULTIVATION Relatively brief use of cleared land (a few seasons), followed by several years of laying FALLOW to regenerate soil nutrients

SHIFTING CULTIVATION Lands used for shifting cultivation are often communally owned. In some areas- especially South Americalands used for S. C. are being purchased by private landowners.

SHIFTING CULTIVATION

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE Agriculture involving the regular application of intense physical labor in order to keep a unit of land in production.

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE • The source of ¾ of food consumed in the developing world. • Most work is done by hand or with animal support due to widely available labor and expense of mechanization. • Due to high agricultural density, average farm is small- but these small farms fill almost all available

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE The intensive subsistence farming of WET RICE feeds people in regions with significant rainfall, esp. parts of Asia.

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE Leads to extensive modification of the landscape. In places too hilly for farming, TERRACES are often constructed.

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE Many wet rice regions practice DOUBLE CROPPING – rice in the summer, other crops in the dryer winter

PLANTATION AGRICULTURE The only type of COMMERCIAL agriculture prevalent in the developing world. CASH CROPS are grown on large estates for sale on the global market.

PLANTATION AGRICULTURE Plantations are generally owned by Europeans, Americans, or wealthy locals. Locals provide cheap labor, using minimal mechanization. Dole Banana Plantation, Costa Rica

PLANTATION AGRICULTURE Cotton, sugar, coffee, rubber, exotic fruit, and other cash crops are the most common crops grown on plantations. Harvesting Coffee

AGRICULTURAL REGIONS in the DEVELOPED WORLD

Agribusiness is used to describe commercial farming in the developed world. The family farm is not an isolated activity, but is integrated into a larger food-production industry.

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK Commercial farming involving the integration of crops and livestock.

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK Most crops are fed to ANIMALS rather than being consumed by humans. Though most land is used for crops, most profits are derived from animals.

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK CORN is the most important crop on these farms, as it produces high yields of nutritious animal feed.

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK Typically involves crop rotationrotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.

MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK

DAIRY FARMING The raising of cows in order to market dairy goods on the market, from fresh milk to ‘products’ like cheese.

DAIRY FARMING Dairies are usually located near population centers in an area called the MILKSHED, because products are so perishable. Trans. advances have expanded the sizes of milksheds to about 300 miles.

Once an element of developed countries alone, dairying has diffused widely. INDIA is the world’s largest milk producer today.

GRAIN FARMING The growing of grain crops for sale on the market, to be refined into products that humans consume.

GRAIN FARMING WHEAT is the most important cash cereal. It can be held stable for a long time (silos), and can withstand harsh shipping conditions.

GRAIN FARMING Grain farming is highly mechanized. Revolutionized by the REAPER in the 1830 s, today COMBINES blend reaping, threshing, and cleaning in

GRAIN FARMING Today, bot China (#1) and India (#2) produce more wheat than does the United States- though both do so with far less mechanization.

MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE The growing of specialized crops in climate/geographic regions resembling the Mediterranean region

MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE Located ALONG SEAS on the WEST COASTS of continents

MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE Based on HORTICULTURE – the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. OLIVES are an important crop, as are GRAPES used in wine production.

COMMERCIAL GARDENING The growing of highly profitable and in-demand crops, particularly fruit, for sale on the wider market.

COMMERCIAL GARDENING Also called ‘truck farming’originally dependent on local markets, produce is now distributed widely to faraway markets.

COMMERCIAL GARDENING Relies heavily on CHEAP MIGRANT LABOR to save on labor costs.

RANCHING The commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area.

RANCHING Well-suited for semiarid/arid land in areas where vegetation is too sparse and soil too poor to support crops

RANCHING Historically, ranchers moved cattle from ranges to cities where they would fetch far higher prices- as much as 10 x more.

RANCHING Today, cattle is part of the larger system of food production providing meat to the national market.

Ranching is common in the US West, South America, Australia, and Central Asia.