AP Human Geography - Flashcards - Development of Agriculture

Explain some recent trends in agriculture

-Commercial agriculture, in which farmers focus on raising one specific crop to sell for profit has increasingly replaced subsistence farming, in which farmers focus on raising food they need to live. -Increasing numbers of farming operations evolved from small enterprises owned by single-family into large-scale, capital-intensive businesses. This shift put stress on the alteration of the environment.

Explain clearing trees & vegetation - deforestation

-Deforestation, the removal of large tracts of forest. Today it occurs mostly in Southeast Asia, parts of Africa, and the rainforests in South America. -Cutting down trees can result in local problems such as soil erosion, a decrease in rainfall, and desertification (transition of land from fertile to desert).

Explain the diffusion of the first agricultural revolution

-The hearths of agriculture led to the first urban centers. -These settlements grew into civilizations, large societies, and other states. Civilization brought increased trade, larger empires, etc. -As societies grew wealthier, people had time to specialize in their work and even develop new occupations and technologies. This led to jobs such as metalworkers. (specialized jobs). -Agriculture spread widely and led to increased trade among cultures. -One of the most dramatic shifts in agriculture was the Columbian Exchange - a global movement of plants and animals between Afro-Eurasia & the Americas.

What is agriculture?

Agriculture: The process by which humans alter the landscape in order to raise crops and livestock for consumption and trade.

What crops did Mesoamerica include and where did it diffuse to?

Crops: -Peppers -Corn -Potato Early diffusion pattern: -North America -South America

What crops were included in Southeast Asia and where did it diffuse to?

Crops: -Mango -Coconut -Taro Early diffusion pattern: -Southeastern Asia

What crops were included in Southwest Asia (fertile crescent) and where did it diffuse to?

Crops: -Barley -Wheat -Lentils -Olives -Oats Early diffusion pattern: -North Africa -Southern Europe -Central Asia

What was the earliest form of agriculture?

Hunting and gathering are the earliest known ways that people obtained food to eat.

What is animal domestication?

Raising and caring for animals by humans for protection or food. (probably began when Central Asian hunters domesticated dogs, or Southwest Asia kept goats and sheep).

What are the centers of plant & animal domestication?

The first hearths were Southwest Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Where are two regions where irrigation is used extensively?

Two regions of the US use irrigation extensively - California & Nebraska to northern Texas that uses an underground water supply.

Explain the effects of technology in food production

-Advances in food production led to better diets, longer life spans, and an increase in the population. -As the population increased, the pool for workers in the industry did so too. Since most of these industrial jobs existed in cities and new factory towns, mass migration to urban areas began.

Explain the second agricultural revolution

-Began in the 1700s, with the industrial revolution. -It increased food supplies & supported population growth. -Benefited from the innovations in mechanization. - Benefited from the knowledge of fertilizers, soils, and selective breeding practices for plants & animals.

Explain the third agricultural revolution

-Began in the 1960s, which was also the start of the green revolution -Agribusiness model of companies controlling the development, planting, processing, and selling of products to the consumer

Explain some negative consequences of the green revolution

-Environmental damage, lack of sustained investment, and a disregard for local needs. Much of the success of the green revolution hinged on human manufactured products such as hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fossil-fueled equipment. -While crop yields increased, they often did so at the expense of the natural environment. -Increased yields and the application of human-made fertilizers put a strain on the land. The intensive use of land coupled with aggressive irrigation led to soil erosion. -Intense land use and irrigation drained the land of its natural nutrients, which had to be supplemented with more human-made fertilizers. This made farmers dependent on more artificial products. -The introduction of chemicals led to hazardous runoff into a stream, rivers, and lakes, which posed consequences to the local ecosystems, and environment. -Petroleum-based machines increase pollution.

Explain the green revolution's impact on gender roles

-Even though much of the farming labor is performed by women, men usually dominate societies based on a traditional economy socially, politically, and economically. -When the revolution and its technologies were introduced to these countries, it was usually the men who benefited and who were given decision-making powers. -Men operated machinery and were educated on newer methods of farming. -Women were excluded from learning new methods. This marginalized the role of women within societies.

Explain some positive impacts of the green revolution

-Global food production increased dramatically. -Introduction of seed technology, mechanization, pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation led to increased yields. -More food led to reduced hunger, death rates, and a growing population in many parts of the developing world.

How was money for research & business a positive consequence in the green revolution?

-Green revolution helped create a high rate of investment in both the public and private sectors. -Grant money from the government, universities in developed countries undertook basic research on seed hybridization, fertilizers, and pesticides. -Research was used by for-profit corporations to create and market the products that farmers used. -Green revolution benefited hungry people in poor regions, but it also financially benefited universities and corporations in more prosperous regions.

Explain the green revolution

-Green revolution: The development of higher-yielding, disease-resistant, faster-growing varieties of grains. -The biggest advances were in growing rice, corn, and wheat. -This revolution allowed more farmers to double-crop and increased use of fertilizer and pesticides in developing countries in Asia and the Americas.

What is plant domestication?

-Growing of crops that people planted, raised, and harvested, probably began after animal domestication. He believed that people first used vegetative planting, growing crops using parts of the stems or roots of existing plants. Later began to use seeds. -Eventually, people in these separate agricultural hearths began to trade with each other, thus creating an exchange of crops & innovation.

How was food prices a positive consequence of the green revolution?

-Higher yields and increased production led to falling real food prices. The supply of certain crops, mainly wheat, and corn, became abundant and as a result, led to lower prices. -More food at affordable prices helped ease the economic stress of hunger and famine on governments and economic systems in the developing world.

Explain the use of GMOs in the green revolution

-Hybridization differs from the production of a genetically modified organism (GMO), a process by which humans use engineering techniques to change the DNA of a seed. -Today, most corn, soybeans, and cotton grown in the US are GMO varieties. -They have been developed to increase yields or to resist diseases.

Explain the use of hybrids in the green revolution

-Hybrids: Seed hybridization is the process of breeding together two plants that have desirable characteristics. -Living in an increasingly globalized world, they had a much wider range of plants from which to crossbreed than did local farmers. This period of advancements in seed hybridization, chemical fertilizers, and mechanization was the beginning of the third agricultural revolution. -Ex: One example of hybridization is that scientists created a new strain of rice. They used the long-grain Indonesian rice and the denser-grain Taiwan rice to produce a rice grain that was longer and denser. It was introduced in East and Southeast Asia.

Explain the use of machinery in the green revolution

-In addition to using hybrids, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, proponents of the green revolution encouraged the transfer of mechanical technology as well. -Machinery such as tractors, tillers, broadcast seeders, and grain carts was introduced in the developing world. -These assisted in the production and challenged traditional labor-intensive farming practices.

Explain how irrigation farming

-Irrigation is the process of diverting water from its natural course or location to aid in the production of crops. -The successful use of large-scale irrigation contributed greatly to feeding the rapidly growing population. When misused, irrigation can cause several problems. - Disrupt the natural drainage of water and reduce the normal regeneration of soils caused by natural flooding. - Salinization - increasing the salt content of the soil, which can result in decreases in crop yield and soil fertility. - Pump so much groundwater to the surface that causes land subsidence - the collapse of land resulting from the removal of underground water that supports the surface land.

Explain land usage & farming advances - enclosure acts

-Paralleling changes in technology were changes in the law. -The enclosure acts were a series of laws enacted by the British government that enabled landowners to purchase and enclose land for their own use that had previously been common and used by peasant farmers. -Similar enclosure movements occurred in Europe. Farmers became larger, production became more efficient, producers raised crops to sell for profit rather than simply for their own consumption, and people were forced off the land, which created a workforce for the growing factories. -People who lost their traditional way of life suffered greatly.

Why have farmers drained wetlands?

-People have also drained wetlands to provide more farmable land. This recovered land is rich in nutrients. Increased farmland increases a region's carrying capacity, which is the number of crops or people that an area can support. -Drawback in draining wetlands is the reduction of biodiversity in plants & animals.

Explain the relationship between physical geography & agriculture

-Physical geography features, like climate, soil types, and landforms influence how people farm in a region. -Irrigation, terrace farming, deforestation, desertification, and the drainage of wetlands have occurred as farmers try to increase production to feed a growing population. -Wherever crops grow and animals live, they need water which can also affect production. -Nutrient levels in soils have influenced the type of agriculture that takes place in a particular area. -Climatic differences influenced by latitude and physical geography can have a dramatic impact on what crops can be grown. -Landforms can also greatly influence the types of agricultural activity in a specific place.

Explain slash-and-burn agriculture

-Slash-and-burn agriculture in which all vegetation in an area of forest is cut down and burned in place. The ash provides soil nutrients, and the land can be farmed for a few years before the soil becomes depleted and the polt is abandoned. The plot then returns to a natural, if a somewhat altered state, while the farmers move on to burn and plant in a new space. -Because it requires people to move, it is also known as shifting cultivation. -On a large scale, it can damage the environment compared to a small scale.

Explain terrace farming

-Terrace farming is when farmers build a series of steps into the side of a hill. This creates flat surfaces and has many benefits over steeply graded hillsides. - Planting, tending, and harvesting crops is physically easier for farmers. - The land collects rainfall rather than allowing it to run down a sloping hillside. The water helps the crops. - The reduction in water running down the hillside reduces soil erosion. -East Asia, terrace farming was used to grow rice. -Northern Africa, people often grow fruit and olive trees on terraced land. -South America, potatoes and corn are the main crops.

How has higher yields been a positive consequence in the green revolution?

-The increased yields have kept up with the global population growth. The green revolution was most successful in Latin America, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia -Similar to what occurred in Mexico, India went from being an importer of wheat to harvesting a surplus of wheat within a few decades after WWII. India's increased wheat output curbed hunger in the country. -The result was higher yields on relatively the same plots of land. Increased crop output helped stave off hunger and famine.

Explain the impact of the second agricultural revolution

-The second agricultural revolution which accompanied the industrial revolution, involved the mechanization of agricultural production, advances in transportation, development of large-scale irrigations, and changes to consumption patterns of agricultural goods. -Steel plow or mechanized harvesting increased yields.

What were some economic changes in the green revolution?

-The transfer of farming technology heavily relied on private investment by corporations and public support by the government. -As research and production increased so did the cost of production. Machinery, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides became more expensive and the cost was passed on to farmers in the developing world and the organizations that helped support these farmers. -As with the second revolution, the green revolution pushed people from rural areas to move to urban areas in search of industrial jobs. -The available and relatively cheap labor attracted multinational corporations who moved manufacturing facilities to move to countries like China, India.

Why was the green revolution not successful in Africa?

-They have greater diversity of climate and soils than other places. Hence, developing the right fertilizers proved to be expensive. -Has many regions with harsh environmental conditions. Insects, plants, etc, proved to be extremely challenging to the green revolution technologies and researchers. -Is large, and so lacking insufficient transportation infrastructure, that the costs of investments in research and development and transportation were very high. -Staple crops such as millet, yams, etc, were not always included in research seed hybridization programs. -The highest population growth was in Africa. Since that was the region where the green revolution had the least impact, hunger remained a greater problem there than elsewhere. -Affected by food insecurity.

Explain the first (neolithic) agricultural revolution

-Was the origin of farming. -It was marked with the first domestications of plants and animals. Most of the farming was subsistence farming where farmers consume crops that they grow and raise, using simple tools and manual labor.

What crops were included in East Asia and where did it diffuse to?

Crops: -Rice -Soybean -Walnut Early diffusion pattern: -North Central Asia -Korean peninsula

What crops were included in Sub-Saharan Africa and where did it diffuse to?

Crops: -Yams -Sorghum -Coffee -Rice Early diffusion pattern: -Western Africa -North Africa

How did the second agricultural revolution affect farmers?

The second agricultural revolution resulted in fewer, larger, and much more productive farms caused a decrease in the number of farm owners and even a greater drop-off in the need for agricultural laborers.