Chapter 10

“Agriculture”

Global Food Crisis – 2009!

Most Canadians take food for granted. Even the poorest fifth of households in the United States spend only 16 percent of their budget on food. In many other countries, it is less of a given. Nigerian families spend 73 percent of their budgets to eat, Vietnamese 65 percent, Indonesians half.

Last year, the food import bill of developing countries rose by 25 percent as food prices rose to levels not seen in a generation. Corn doubled in price over the last two years. Wheat reached its highest price in 28 years. The increases are already sparking unrest from Haiti to Egypt. Many countries have imposed price controls on food or taxes on agricultural exports.

The World Bank, the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned that rising food prices may cause social unrest, malnutrition and even starvation. Not only are food prices rising but food stocks, especially cereal are at an all time low.

Causes for high food prices:

•Increase in energy costs – increase shipping and production costs•The rise of the middle class in India and China – want more meat (protein) in their diet thus more grain to feed not people but cows, goats, pigs etc.•Climate changes – Global Warming – droughts, floods and storms have decreased crop yields around the world but in particular in Great Britain and the Ukraine

•More and more land and crops are being converted to corn and the production of Ethanol (biofuel)•More demand for corn caused an increase in corn and feed prices•Many countries place tariffs on import ethanol – thus increasing domestic production•Rich countries with money, research and technology can adapt, but not poor countries

Solutions:

•Stop ethanol production – burning ethanol really does not help the environment – so stop its production•MDC countries must help the LDC with financial aid, food aid and educational aid•The MDC must re-think their energy policies

•FAO plans to give out vouchers to farmers in poor countries to purchase seeds and fertilizer and to help them adapt to changing climate conditions – the key is to help countries grow food locally and not have to rely on imports•The European Union is eliminating tariffs on cereal imports – to keep prices down•Some countries pay their farmers not to grow certain crops or use certain land (to keep prices and supply in check). These practices have to be removed.

The previous four slides were taken from the following articles:1.The Food Crisis – The New York Times, April, 20082.World food stocks dwindling rapidly, UN warns, by Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune, December 17, 2007

Agriculture: Deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing animals for sustenance and/or economic gains.

Hunters and Gatherers:

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Agriculture began when people began to understand how to domestic both plants and animals.

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Vegetative Planting:

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Seed Agriculture:

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Vegetative Planting Hearths

There were several main hearths, or centers of origin, for vegetative crops (roots and tubers, etc.), from which the crops diffused to other areas.

Seed Agriculture Hearths

Seed agriculture also originated in several hearths and diffused from those elsewhere.

Three main types of Agriculture:

Extensive – …Intensive – …Subsistence – ….

Extensive and Intensive is considered COMMERCIAL FARMING and done by the MDCs.

Subsistence is considered SUBSISTENCE FARMING and done by the LDCs

SUBSISTENCE FARMING

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Types:

SHIFTING CULTIVATION

PASTORAL NOMADISM

INSTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE

We will expand each one of these in class

COMMERCIAL FARMING

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Types:

MIXED CROP/LIVESTOCKDAIRY FARMINGGRAIN FARMINGLIVESTOCK FARMINGMEDITERRANEAN FARMINGTRUCK FARMINGPLANTATION FARMING

We will expand each one of these in class

Slash and Burn

Subsistence Farming

Commercial Farming

Terraced rice farming

Grain Farming - Wheat

Pastoral Nomadism

Green Revolution

GMO’s

Two very important people have to be studied when dealing with Agriculture:

Esther Boserup –discussed in the chapter on Population - mention her theory now.

Von Thunen – view the separate slide show that goes with this chapter

The following slides contain a series of maps for us to look at and analyze and come up with some generalizations about Agriculture.

Labor Force in Agriculture

A large proportion of workers in most LDCs are in agriculture, while only a small percentage of workers in MDCs are engaged in agriculture.

World Agriculture Regions

Locations of the major types of subsistence and commercial agriculture.

World Climate Regions

Simplified map of the main world climate regions

World Rice Production

Asian farmers grow over 90% of the world’s rice. India and China alone account for over half of world rice production.

World Corn (Maize) Production

The U.S. and China are the leading producers of corn (maize) in the world. Much of the corn in both countries is used for animal feed.

World Milk Production

Milk production reflects wealth, culture, and environment. It is usually high in MDCs, especially production per capita, and varies considerably in LDCs.

World Wheat Production

China is the world’s leading wheat producer, but the U.S. and Canada account for about half of world wheat exports.

Meat Production on Ranches

Cattle, sheep, and goats are the main meat animals raised on ranches.

Desertification Hazard

The most severe desertification hazards are in northern Africa, central Australia, and the southwestern parts of Africa, Asia, North America, and South America.

Grain Importers and Exporters

Most countries are net importers of grain. The U.S. is the largest net exporter.

Drug Crops

Of course not all crops are grown for food. There is Cotton and Tobacco, Natural Rubber, Tea and Coffee. There is also Coca (Cocaine) - Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, Marijuana - Mexico, Opium – Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, and Hashish - Mexico as well.

Some interesting videos to watch:

The Meatrix series

Store Wars

Vocabulary List

Unit V. Agricultural and Rural Land Use—Basic Vocabulary and Concepts

 Adaptive strategies Agrarian Agribusiness Agricultural industrialization Agricultural landscape Agricultural location model Agricultural origins Agriculture Animal domestication Aquaculture Biorevolution Biotechnology Collective farm Commercial agriculture (intensive, extensive) Core/periphery Crop rotation Cultivation regions Dairying Debt-for-nature swap Diffusion Double cropping Economic activity (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary) Environmental modification (pesticides, soil erosion, desertification) Extensive subsistence agriculture (shifting cultivation [slash-and- burn, milpa, swidden], nomadic herding/pastoralism)

Extractive industry Farm crisis Farming Feedlot First agricultural revolutionFishing Food chain Forestry Globalized agriculture Green revolution Growing season Hunting and gathering Intensive subsistence agriculture Intertillage Livestock ranching Market gardening Mediterranean agriculture Mineral fuels Mining Planned economy Plant domestication Plantation agriculture Renewable/nonrenewable Rural settlement (dispersed, nucleated, building material, village form) Sauer, Carl O. Second agricultural revolution Specialization

Staple grains Suitcase farm Survey patterns (long lots, metes and bounds, township-and-range) Sustainable yield Third agricultural revolution (mechanization, chemical farming, food manufacturing) “Tragedy of the commons” Transhumance Truck farm Von Thünen, Johann Heinrich

The End