Agricultural Geography

Key Issue #1: Where did agriculture originate?

Origins of Agriculture

• Agriculture is deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain. Thus, agriculture originated when humans first domesticated plants and animals for their use.

Origins of Agriculture

• Hunters and Gatherers – all humans were hunters and gatherers before agriculture– Small groups– Men – hunted– Women – gathered– The groups traveled often– Today, less than .005% of the world’s

population survives off of hunting and gathering

Hunters and Gatherers

Invention of Agriculture

• Observation over time: reproduction of plants, water, “fertilizer”

• Agriculture evolves over time

• Animals may have been domesticated first for religious purposes or as household pets

Invention of Agriculture

• Two types of agriculture:– Vegetative planting – the reproduction of

plants by direct cloning from existing plants, such as cutting roots and dividing plants

– Seed Agriculture – came later; the reproduction of plants by the planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization

• This is most used by farmers today

Location of Agricultural Hearths

• Agriculture developed in multiple, independent hearths from which it diffused

• First Vegetative Planting: Sauer believes that it was in Southeast Asia

Location of Agricultural Hearths

• Seed Agriculture: originated in more than one hearth

• The Eastern Hemisphere: 3 Hearths (Western India, Northern China, and Ethiopia)– Diffused to SW Asia – where wheat, barley

were domesticated as well as herd animals (cattle, sheep, goats)

– Rice – probably developed in SE Asia

Location of Agricultural Hearths

• Seed Agriculture in the Western Hemisphere: – Southern Mexico – squash, maize (corn)– Northern Peru – Squash, Beans, and Cotton– Animals – Llama, alpaca, and turkeys (herd

animals did not come until the Europeans did)

alpacasMaize

Classifying Agricultural Regions

• Differences in Subsistence and Commercial Agriculture

• Subsistence agriculture, found in PINGs, is the production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer’s family.

• Commercial agriculture, found in PEDs, is the production of food primarily for sale off the farm.

Purpose of Farming

• In PINGs, people produce food for their own consumption.

• In commercial farming – plants and animals are to be sold– Agricultural products are sold to food

processing companies such as General Mills and Kraft. Then, it is sold to the people.

Percentage of Farmers in the Labor Force

• In PEDs, less than 1/10 of the labor force works in agriculture.– In the U.S. and Canada, only 2% work in agriculture,

but they produce enough food for the country and extra to sell.

• In PINGs, over ½ work in agriculture

Use of Machinery

• In PINGS – hand tools and animal power

• In PEDs – machinery– Transportation has aided commercial farmers– Electronics and scientific advances also aid

commercial farming

Farm Size

• Subsistence Agriculture – relatively small

• Commercial Agriculture – large– In U.S., 98% are family owned– In U.S., 1.4% of all U.S. farms account for

48% of all agricultural sales.– Today in the U.S., there are fewer farmers,

but we use more farmland than in 1900.

Relationship of Farming to Other Businesses

• Agribusiness – the system of farming found in the U.S. and other PEDs; called this because of the relationship between agriculture and business

• Although farming makes up only 2% of the labor force, 20% of the labor force is devoted to the food industry (processing, packaging, storing, distributing, and retailing)

Agriculture Affects These Industries

Mapping Agricultural Regions

• Derwent Whittlesey – developed the most widely used maps of agriculture regions in 1936– He identified 11 agriculture regions

• 5 in PINGs and 6 in PEDs