AP Human Geography Chapter 10 - Agriculture
Agriculture diffused from...
...many hearths (look them up and learn them!)
What is transhumance?
The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowlands pasture areas.
What is plantation?
large commercial farm in a developing country that specialises in one or two crops
What are the two main types of agriculture?
subsistence and commercial
What does it mean to cultivate?
"to care for"
What are the two features of shifting cultivation?
- "Slash-and-burn agriculture" to clear field - Farmers grow crops on a cleared field only for a few years, until the soil nutrients are depleted, and then leave it fallow for many years so that it can recover.
What are the 5 characteristics that distinguish commercial and subsistence agriculture?
- Purpose of farming - Percentage of farmers in labor force - Use of machinery - Farm size - Relationship of farming to other businesses
What are the types of plantation crops?
- cotton - sugar cane - coffee -rubber - tobacco (+ also cocoa, bananas, jute, tea, coconuts, and palm oil)
What are the 4 factors that influence the type of chosen agriculture?
- cultural preferences - limited knowledge of alternatives - physical characteristics of the land - climate
What are the 2 types of intensive subsistence agriculture?
- intensive subsistence with wet rice dominant - intensive subsistence with wet rice NOT dominant
How many hunter-gatherers remain?
250.000
Where is subsistence agriculture more common?
In LDCs
Where is commercial agriculture more common?
In MDCs
Where is found intensive subsistence agriculture?
In areas with high population and agricultural density. Mostly in East, South, and SE Asia.
Where is pastoral nomadism more prevalent?
In arid and semiarid B-type climates
Where is shifting cultivation more prevalent?
In low-altitude, A-type climate
Where is plantation farming more prevalent?
In the tropics and subtropics, especially in - Latin America - Africa - Asia
In pastoral nomadism, what does the type of animal depend on?
It depends on the region (ex: camels are favoured in North Africa and SW Asia)
What is a characteristic of plantation farming concerning crops?
It specialises in only 1 or 2 crops
Who works in plantation farming?
LDCs
What is the main characteristic of intensive subsistence agriculture?
Little to no land is wasted
Who operates (=owns) plantations?
MDCs - Europeans and Americans
In shifting cultivation, who owns the land?
No one.
What is pastoral nomadism?
The herding of domesticated animals
What is subsistence agriculture?
agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family
What is commercial agriculture?
agriculture undertaken primary to generate products for sale off the farm
What is a crop?
any plant cultivated by people
What is agriculture?
deliberate modification of Earth's surface through the cultivation of plants and/or rearing of animals
When did agriculture began?
unclear, because it predates recorded history