Agricultural Revolutions

• Seed Crops marked the start of the first Agricultural Revolution, likely originating in the Fertile Crescent.
• The Fertile Crescent is located in the Middle East.
• The Second Agricultural Revolution moved agriculture beyond subsistence farming.
• Surpluses generated from the second AR fed factory workers.
• New technology transformed farming, and there were advances in livestock breeding during the Second Agricultural Revolution.
• Subsistence Farming means farming only for survival.
• The Second Agricultural Revolution occurred around the 1700s.
• The Third Agricultural Revolution is also called The Green Revolution.
• More GMOs were used during the Third Agricultural Revolution.
• Technologically manipulated seed varieties increased crop yields during the Third AR.
• The Third Agricultural Revolution occurred around the 1930s.

Challenges that Farmers Face:

• Overproduction occurs when food supplies increase despite constant demand.
• Sustainable agriculture involves managing land properly.
• Population growth compels farmers to consider new farming approaches that can produce enough food.
• LDCs need to grow crops for subsistence, while people in MDCs want a larger variety of crops.
• Desertification in the Sahel is an example of expanding agricultural land.
• Increasing productivity involves higher-yield seeds, fertilizers, and the Green Revolution.
• New food sources include ocean cultivation, developing higher-protein cereals, and improving the palatability of foods.

Effects of the Second Agricultural Revolution:

• Fewer larger farms.
• A decrease in the number of farm owners.
• An even greater drop off in the need for agricultural laborers.
• New farming techniques were used, like fertilizers, minerals, and soil conservation.
• People moving to the cities for jobs (Rural to Urban Migration).
• Young workers sought money for their families.
• People had better life expectancy.
• Countries who took part in the 2nd AR became more wealthy.
• Countries who could spend the money to industrialize were able to make lots of money quickly.

Subsistence vs Commercial Agriculture:

• Purpose:

  • Subsistence is for survival
  • Commercial is to make money.

• Size of Farms:

  • Subsistence is typically small
  • Commercial is typically larger.

• Use of Technology:

  • Subsistence is limited or very little
  • Commercial often uses machinery.

• Relationships with Other Businesses:

  • Subsistence might trade a small surplus
  • Commercial supplies major businesses.

• Percentage of Labor:

  • In Subsistence, a high percent of the population farms
  • In Commercial, a small percentage of the population farms.

• Agriculture involves growing plants and raising animals to produce food for sustenance.

Intensive Agriculture:

• Characterized by Large inputs of labor, fertilizers, and/or capital
• Takes up a small amount of land relative to the output.
• Market Gardening:
  • Small-scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
  • Products are sold directly to local consumers.
  • Involves heavy fertilization and machinery.
  • Truck Farming is market gardening on a larger scale.
• Plantation Farming:
  • Large-scale farming operation that specializes in farming one or two high-demand crops for export.
  • Located in LDCs, with crops produced for MDCs.
• Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming:
  • Raising crops to feed livestock and selling the animal products off the farm.
  • Reduces dependence on seasonal harvests via crop rotation
  • Crop rotation replenishes soil nutrients.
• Intensive Subsistence Farming:
  • Families focus on growing food for themselves to live.
    • Wet Rice Dominant: more common in Asian countries.
    • Wet Rice Non-Dominant: more common in African countries.

Extensive Agriculture:

• Characterized by Small inputs of labor, fertilizers, and/or capital

• Takes up a large amount of land relative to the output.

• Shifting Cultivation:

  • Farming the same plot of land repeatedly until it is no longer fertile.
  • Slash and burn agriculture is then employed; fire is used to clear vegetation and bring nutrients back to the soil.
  • Found in tropical zones.
  • Some take part in multi cropping intercropping on the same piece of land during the growing season.

• Pastoralism/Nomadic Herding:

  • Breeding and herding of animals to produce food, shelter, and clothing for survival.
  • Transhumance: moving animals over a large area of land, traveling with them.
    • Can be sedentary or nomadic.
  • Practiced in North Africa, central and Southern Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
  • It is declining as pastoralists are losing land.

• Ranching:

  • Raising animals on plotted land on which they graze.
  • Mostly cattle and sheep.
  • Most practiced in MDCs, especially in the Western United States, Portugal, Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Uruguay.
  • Many former ranches are becoming "fattening" farms where animals are fattened before slaughter to feed the explosive growth in the beef industry.

• Topography refers to the arrangement of shapes on the land's surface (mountains, plateaus, plains, hills, valleys).

• Different types of topography affect the type of agriculture practiced.

• Climate affects what plants and animals grow in a region.

Climate Types and Agriculture:

• Mediterranean Climate:
  • Hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, with hilly land.
  • Crops include: wheat, barley, vine and tree crops, grazing for sheep, and goats.
  • Farming can be intensive and extensive.
• Tropical Climate:
  • Hot and humid, can be constantly wet.
  • Crops include: Cassava, bananas, sugar cane, sweet potato, papaya, rice, maize.
• Dry Climates:
  • Hot, lots of sand, limited water.
  • Crops include: Cereal grains like corn, wheat, barley; root crops like white yam.
• Moderate Climates:
  • Generally have two seasons, summer and winter (mild winter).
  • Crops include: Strawberries, kale, radishes, snow peas, blueberries, cotton.
• Continental Climates:
  • Vary greatly in temperature with 4 seasons.
  • Crops include: Apples, evergreen trees, maple trees, pumpkins.