Agriculture
How Do People Get Their Food?
• Hunting and Gathering
• Nomadic – moving from place to place to find
food
• Sedentary – fairly permanent setlement
(salmon, deer, berries, nuts)
• Farming
• Subsistence – grow for personal consumption
• Commercial – grow for $$
• Herding – usually semi-nomadic to find places
for livestock to feed
Agricultural Revolution
• Key Terms:
• Agriculture = Deliberate modification of earth’s surface
through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to
produce food
• Ex. Rice and Wheat primary food crops
• Domestication = Deliberate effort to manipulate species
for an advantage (better control)
• Ex. Dog, Corn
• Revolution = ???
• Profound change in the way things are done, usually
occurring in a short period of time but leaving longlasting effects
Agricultural Revolution
15000 Years Ago
Hunter Gatherer to
$.99 double cheeseburger
• 490 calories
• Raise, feed and
slaughter cows
• Grind meat
• Freeze it
• Transport it
• Grow wheat and
process
• Not to mention the
pickles and condiments
• How did we get here?
• And how, if I earned minimum wage could earn enough to buy this
after 11 minutes of work?
To find out how we got to the $.99 cheeseburger we
have to look to prehistory
• What is History and when did it
start?
• 15000 yrs ago mankind was
hunter & gatherers
• These people, from
archaeological evidence, were
healthier than those after
farming was invented.
• Hunter/gatherers also spent less
time working
Agriculture sprang up independently all over
the world
So, agriculture must have been better to
abandon free time, right?
Advantages
Disadvantages
• Less chance of starvation
• Food surplus = Cities and
specialization
• Cities and Specialization =
• Radically change the
environment to farm. (more
work)
• Farming is hard work so it often
causes one group to subjugate
another group into forced labor
• Larger societies create larger and
more devastating war
• Famine
• More inventions
• Able to produce more food
• Which leads us to the $.99
cheeseburger
• Can be practiced all over the world
Herders – keeper of animals
must keep moving their animals in search of grazing
Advantage
• 1st – you get to be a cowboy!
• Animals provide meat and milk
• Provide clothing and other
useful things like leather
Disadvantage
• Requires a lot of food to
produce food
• Hard to make cities
because of constant
moving
• Unless you are the
Mongols
• Very few animals can be
tamed
Domestication
• Animals
• Dog - First to be domesticated
• Most Farm animals suited for domestication
found in Eurasia (only 2 from Africa!)
• Most of these originated in the Fertile Crescent
• About 40 species of higher animals are
domesticated
So why did agriculture happen?
• No one really knows because it happened in pre-history.
• Possible reasons
•
•
•
•
More people meant need more food
Leisure time created experimentation
Fertility rituals
Perhaps, people just wanted more to eat
Or my favorite - people needed more grain to make more alcohol
https://vimeo.com/23278902
•So, has agriculture been a
positive or negative thing for
mankind?
Types of Subsistence Farming
1. Pastoral Nomadism (Pastoralism)(.25% world pop.)
• Depend primarily on animals for survival NOT crops
• Animals provide milk/blood (food), skin (shelter/clothing), and hair
(clothing)
• Milk traded for grain (check for mad cow)
• Some crops grown on the side by women and children
• Animals usually NOT slaughtered
• Size of herd = social class
• Select type of animal based on physical and cultural traits
• Camel more suited for Middle East
• Central Asians prefer horses
• Sheep, reindeer, goats, etc. also used
Pastoral Nomadism cont.
• Cyclical migration patterns
• Based on available resources
• VERY territorial
• Some Nomads practice transhumance
• seasonal migration between mountain pasture (in summer) and lowland
pastures (in winter)
• Future?
• Less and less pastoral nomads
• Conflict w/ established gov’t over territory  impact of
boundaries
• Most will eventually lack the necessary land and resources to
sustain life
Types
of
Subsistence
Agr.
2. Shifting Cultivation (aka “Slash-and-burn agriculture”) (5%
of world pop)
• Farmer cuts down vegetation
• Burn the plants for added nutrients to the soil
• Intensively use “SWIDDEN” (cleared land) for a few years (until all
the nutrients are gone)
• Then leave land fallow (nothing planted) so soil can recover
• Repeat process in a new area
Shifting Cultivation cont.
• Found mostly in tropics and subtropics
• Environmental dispute – good or bad use of land?
•
•
•
•
Nutrients depleted from soil VERY quickly
Destroys rainforest  global warming???
Best type of agriculture in tropics?
Many peoples moving away from Shifting Agr.  logging, cattle
herding, growing cash crops
• Vice season 3 episode 6 – Indonesia’s Palm Bomb
Types of Sub. Farm. cont.
Intensive Subsistence
• High agricultural density
• People maximize labor & expense to increase output on
available farm land = “intensive”
• (“Extensive” = use of large areas of land to farm with
minimum labor and expense)
• “Double cropping” = Obtaining 2 harvest from 1 field in
1 yr.  very intensive
3. Wet Rice Dominant (Int. Sub.)
• Located mostly in Asia
• Relies on heavy wet season in summer for rice to grow
• Too little rain a problem
• Too much rain a problem
• Step 1: Plant rice in a dry field
• Step 2: Transplant rice to a flooded field = “sawah” (not
“paddy”)
• Step 3: Harvest rice
• Step 4: Enjoy a yummy rice dish
Consumption of rice by country—
2003/2004 (million metric tons)
• China 135
• India 85.25
• Indonesia 36.95
• Bangladesh 26.4
• Brazil 24
• Vietnam 18
• Thailand 10
• Myanmar10
• Philippines 9.7
• Japan 8.7
• Mexico 7.3
• South Korea 5.0
• United States 3.9
• Egypt 3.9
• Malaysia 2.7
The vast majority of farmers are female world wide (80%)
Over 60% of fresh water is used for agriculture
4. Non-Wet-Rice Dominant
• Places that are too dry for wet rice… makes sense doesn’t it?
• Wheat and barley imp. substitutes
• Double cropping used through skilled crop rotation… again, very
intensive
Types of Commercial Farming
1. Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
• Most $$$ comes from livestock
• Sale of milk
• Sale of meat
• Sale of eggs
• Crops
• Provide income during harvest
• Provide food for livestock
• Spreads workload over the year; provides income throughout the
year
• Crop rotation very important
Crop Rotation
• Needed to maintain fertile soil… changes over time
• 5th Century A.D. – 2 field system
• One field 4 cereal grain (wheat, oats, barley, etc.)
• One field fallow (not used)
• 8th Century – 3 fields increases harvest by 17%
• One had a winter cereal
• One had a spring cereal
• One fallow
• 18th Century – 4 fields increases harvest by 8%
• One for a root crop (turnips, potatoes, etc.)
• One for a “rest crop” (clover) which restores nutrients and provides food
for animals
• One for a winter cereal
• One for a spring cereal
Types of Comm. Farming
2. Dairy farming
• Located around large urban areas
• “Milkshed”
• Originally limited to short distances
• New technology moves milk up to 300 miles away
• Farther away from urban area  more likely to sell butter, cheese, etc.
• # of dairy farmers decreasing
• Too much work
• Too expensive to do
• Output of milk is going up  increased yields per cow
Types of Comm. Farming
3. Grain Farming
• Food grown primarily 4 humans NOT 4 livestock (Grown for sale
to manufacturers not for immediate consumption)
• Wheat most imp. crop… awesome thing to grow
• Winter wheat – planted in fall and harvested in beginning of summer
• Spring wheat – planted in spring and harvested in late summer
• Harvests increasingly mechanized
• 1830s – McCormick reaper
• Today – Combine
• Wheat = world’s leading export crop
• U.S., Australia, & Canada top 3
• North America = “world’s bread basket”
Top Ten Wheat Producers — 2007 (million
metric ton)
• China 109
• India 75.8
• United States 56
• Russia 49
• France 33
World Total 725
• Pakistan 23
• Germany 21
• Canada 20
• Turkey 17
• Argentina 16
4. Livestock Ranching
• Commercial grazing of livestock over a large area
• “Cowboys” used to move livestock closer railroads so they could
be transported to market
• Chisholm Trail most famous route taken
• Originally, cattle grazed on open lands
• Now, cattle graze in fixed areas (usually land too dry for crops)
5. Mediterranean Agriculture
• Location:
•
•
•
•
Area around Med. Sea
Southern Cali.
SW South Africa
SW Australia
• Crops grown for human consumption
• Focus on Horticulture
• Hort. = growing of fruits, vegetables, flowers & tree crops
• Grapes and olives most imp. crops around Med.
• Southern Cali focuses on citrus fruits, tree nuts, and deciduous
fruits
6. Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming
= “Truck Farming”
• U.S. Southeast
• Sell for human consumption
• Consumer vegetables and fruits i.e. apples, asparagus, tomatoes,
peaches, lettuce, etc.
• Large processors for canning/freezing (most crops used for this)
• Labor costs low  use migrant workers & dependent on
machinery
• Specialty farming in NE = growing high end produce for
affluent people
• e.g. asparagus, mushrooms, peppers, organic produce
7. Plantation Farming
• Practiced in LDCs; Owned by MNCs (from
MDCs)
• Plantation = large farm produces 1-2 cash
crops
• Ex. Cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber,
tobacco
• Consumed in MDCs due to large demand
for goods
Monoculture vs. Intertillage
• Core countries…
• Have regions with monoculture:
• one single crop (and usually 1 species of crop) grown
• Disease can wipe out HUGE food supply (Potato Famine)
• Developed colonies w/ one cash crop
• Forces peripheral countries to import food  huge debt
• Must rely on world demand for $$
• One bad season can destroy the economy
• Peripheral countries with INTENSIVE land use
• Practice intertillage  crops grown between other crops
• Depletes nutrients quickly
Human "Footprint" Seen on 83 Percent
of Earth's Land
•
Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News
•
October 25, 2002
• “Scientists have produced the first map that traces
human influence on the natural world, and the numbers
are big. Overall, 83 percent of the total land surface and
98 percent of the areas where it is possible to grow the
world's three main crops—rice, wheat, and maize—is
directly influenced by human activities.”
2nd Agricultural Revolution
(late 16th century-19th century)
• Began in England
• 2nd Stage of DTM – fewer positive checks on population
growth
• Major Changes in Agriculture:
• Switch to the 4 field system
• Enclosure system
• Forces peasants off the land
• Increases livestock
• Mechanization of farming
• Successfully marketed iron plough
• Steam Engine  Tractors
• Selective breeding
Effects of 2nd Agricultural Rev.
• More food grown to meet demands of growing population
(also causes more pop. growth)
• Encourages urbanization 
• Growth of cities (primogeniture laws)
• Industrial Revolution  Colonization
• Huge market for crops
• Improvements in transportation
• Steam ships
• Railroads
• Both help transport farm goods over farther distances
• Subsistence farming  Commercial farming/monoculture
Green Revolution
• Goal? End World Hunger
• When?
Post WWII 1960s
• Who?
Rockefeller & Ford Foundation & Core
• Where? Mexico, Phil., India
• How? New “miracle seeds” = “Golden Rice”
• HYVs (very prolific), short growing seasons, drought/disease/pest
resistant
• Use of modern fertilizer & pesticides
• Well construction & Modern pumps
• Irrigation methods
• Mechanization (tractor…)
Green Rev. Success or Failure?
• Problems (Malthus and De Blij)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Salinization
Top soil loss  desertification?
Capital intensive – terminator seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
Super pests
Run off
Mechanization decreased need for workers
7. Sustainability??????
Green Rev. Success or Failure?
• Positives (Rubenstein and Boserup)
• Positive way to deal with increasing pop. pressure
• Higher yield crops
• Esp. the Big Four: Rice, wheat, corn, and potato
• Crops that grow in unnatural conditions
3rd Agr. Revolution
(U.S. and Europe mostly – happening now)
1. EXTREME mechanization
• Less labor needed (lower costs)
• Use of satellite imagery (GIS)
• Farm jobs now mostly air-conditioned
2. Chemical farming
• Synthetic fertilizers
• Pesticides (a.k.a. “studenticides”)
• To eliminate unwanted, problematic threats to plants
• Ex. Herbicides, Fungicides, Insecticides
• HUGE environmental effects
• Deadly ... Black Widow spider
• by Jamie Pyatt
• Tesco yesterday admitted using deadly Black Widow spiders to kill
off insects in its bunches of grapes. The shock revelation comes after
three women found Black Widows — two of them ALIVE — in fruit
they bought at different Tesco stores. The spiders, which have red
markings on their backs, were introduced to Tesco vineyards in
California as an alternative to pesticide, following customer demand
for “natural” food.
• But the grapes are supposed to be hand-checked before being
exported.
3rd Agr. Revolution cont.
3. Refrigeration of meats and veggies
• Expands the life of produce
• Farmers sell goods to WORLD market
4. Genetically Modified Foods “Frankenfood”
• Combining the DNA/Genetic material of diff. species (GMOs =
genetically mod. organisms)
• Ex. Fish DNA combined with tobacco, potato, tomato, etc.
• Other examples???
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•
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Changing DNA – terminator seeds
All sorts of pro/con debate
Europe has banned many foods
http://www.storewars.org/flash/
GM Foods Cont.
• Contrast Selective breeding v. GMFing
• Examples of benefits: disease, drought, and pest
resistance/prolific yields/added nutritional value
• Patents and R&D make this expensive and
agribusinesses therefore dominate
Pharming for Farmaceuticals
rd
3
Agr. Revolution cont.
5. Rise of Agribusinesses – Corporate farming
• Vertical Integration  production, storage, processing,
distribution, marketing, and retailing
30-30-30-10 Rule
75% capacity
Leads to
standardization
Agribusiness
Degree in agribusiness:
http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/academic/factsheets/ag/agbus.shtml
Usually conglomerate corporations
http://www.conagrafoodscompany.com/corporate/brands/index.jsp
rd
3
Agr. Revolution cont.
6. Globalization
and Food Manufacturing
• Multinational/Transnational Corporation
(MNC/TNC)
• Food processing increases value of product
Meredith Rocks
• Canning, refining, packaging/packing
• Problems:
• Leads to decline of subsistence farmers
• Leads to capital flight (who controls MNC/TNCs?)
• Loss of sovereignty for peripheral countries
• No such thing as a “small recall”
3rd Agr. Revolution cont.
7. Biotechnology – using organisms to improve other
organisms
• Transgenic patents
• VERY expensive (patents, R&D)
• Agribusinesses dominate industry
• New species of crop and animals
• Glowing pigs (jelly fish & pigs) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asiapacific/4605202.stm
• Glowing tobacco (firefly & tobacco)
• Spider goat  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2026645/Bulletproof-human-skin-spider-silk-goatmilk-developed-scientists.html
• Mouse ear??
• www.storewars.org
Green Rev. vs. 3rd Agr. Rev.
• How are the settings different?
• How are the Goals of each different?
• What unique problems does each face?