Agriculture
-Christina Garcia-
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The Development Of Agriculture Led To Widespread Alteration Of The Natural Environment.
(Origins Of Agriculture)
The major centers of domestication of plants and animals were Southwest Asia, East Asia, Millet, central Africa, Latin America, and the US. Their patterns of diffusion in the first agricultural revolution are all different. Southwest Asia was an early center of crop domestication. They grew wheat, barley, lentil, and olives which then diffused west to Europe and east to Central Asia. Horses were domesticated in Central Asia. Southwest Asia was also thought to be first to mix cultivation of crops with domestication of animals. East Asia grew rice 10,000 years ago and diffused to the Yangtze River in Eastern China. Millet, at an early date, domesticated rice independently in Sub-Saharan Africa. Crops from central Africa probably diffused further south. Latin America had two hearths 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Mexico domesticated beans and cotton and Peru domesticated potatoes. The contribution in crop domestication of the US was corn from two hearths. From these two hearths other crops diffused northward into North America and southward into tropical South America.
There is a connection between physical geography and agricultural practices. This due to the climate change over 10,000 years ago. When the ice melted, humans, animals, and plants were all redistributed. Agricultural regions are also influenced by the natural environment. Characteristics of the natural environment that influence agriculture are climate, soils, landforms, etc.
The second agricultural practices gave us an advantage and impacted our world. Some of the impacts were new technology and increased food production. This led to better diet, longer life, and more people available for work in factories.
The Green Revolution had consequences on food supply and the environment. An example of a positive consequence on food supply was that it increased food production and there was a relative reduction in hunger at a global scale. An example of a negative consequence was environmental damage resulting from irrigation and chemical use. The cost of technology and seeds is also a negative consequence of the Green Revolution.
Centers Of Origin Of Agriculture
Major Agricultural Regions Reflect Physical Geography And Economic Forces.
(The Impact Of Geography On Agriculture)
Agricultural production regions are associated with major bioclimatic zones. They are related because agriculture contributes to climate change in several major ways and climate change, in general, affects agriculture. Plant and animal production is dependent on climatic conditions like spatial variations in temperature and rainfall. Some agricultural regions are associated with particular bioclimatic zones like the Mediterranean, shifting agriculture areas, and pastoral nomadism areas.
The economic forces that influence agricultural practices are labour, capital, technology, markets, and the government. Agricultural production regions are defined by the extent to which they reflect subsistence or commercial practices, or intensive or extensive use of land. Intensive farming practices include market gardening, plantation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, etc. Extensive farming practices include shifting cultivation, nomadic herding, ranching, etc.
The spatial organization of large-scale commercial agriculture and agribusiness is that large-scale commercial agricultural operations are replacing small family farms. The transformation of agriculture into large-scale agribusiness has resulted in complex commodity chains linking production and consumption of agricultural products. Technological improvements have changed the economies of scale in the agricultural sector.
There is interdependence among regions of food production and consumption. Food is part of a global supply chain. Products from less developed low-latitude regions are often consumed globally. Patterns of global food distribution are affected by political systems, infrastructure, and patterns of world trade.
Agro-Climatic Zones
Settlement Patterns And Rural Land Use Are Reflected In The Cultural Landscape.
(von Thünen)
Rural settlement patterns can be classified as clustered, dispersed, or linear. In rural areas, the settlements tend to follow some simple patterns. The most basic is the dispersed settlement. Dispersed settlements are those in which the farmhouses are situated away from each other. Clustered settlements often form at crossroads or route centres around a "nucleus." Linear settlements grow along a road or along the coast.
Von Thünen’s model helps explain rural land use by emphasizing the importance of transportation costs associated with distance from the market. There are land use zones in von Thünen's model. There's the central market, dairy farming/gardening, foresting, farming, and ranching/livestock. The dairy, fruits, and vegetables are closer to the market because they spoil quicker. The second zone produces timber and firewood for fuel and building material. Mixed farming is done in the third zone. Extensive cattle ranching is located farther away because transportation is cheaper.
Von Thünen's land use model can be applied to agricultural production in the real world. It helps explain the contemporary distribution of agricultural regions. But regions of specialty farming, like California’s Central Valley, don't always conform to von Thünen’s concentric rings.
Our agricultural practices can have environmental consequences. The environmental consequences are land conversion, habitat loss, wasteful water consumption, soil erosion, pollution, climate change, and genetic erosion. Environmental systems are affected by irrigation, desertification, deforestation, wetland destruction, etc.
Von Thünen's Model
Changes In Food Production And Consumption Present Challenges And Opportunities.
(Food Industry)
Issues that are related to the changing nature of contemporary agriculture are sustainability, soil degradation, reduction in biodiversity, overgrazing, river and aquifer depletion, animal wastes, and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use. Agricultural innovations like biotechnology, GMO's, organic farming, and aquaculture have resulted in ongoing debates over environmental, cultural, and health impacts. Patterns of food production and consumption are influenced by food-choice issues like organic farming.
There are issues related to the location of food production facilities. An example of an issue would be perishable products. Factors affecting the location of food-processing facilities include markets, economies of scale, transportation, government policies, etc.
There has been a change in the role of women in food production and consumption. The role of women in food production has changed from food gathering to farming and managing agribusiness. The role of women has also changed the types of food a family consumes and the way food is prepared.
GMO's
