Unit 5: Agriculture Flashcards
(177 cards)
What is agriculture
Deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain.
What is a crop
Any plant cultivated by people
Developing countries to US percent of the world’s farmers
Dev: 97%
US: 2%
How does the US feed its people without a lot of farmers
The advanced technology used allows them to produce enough food for people in the US at a very high standard, as well as food for many people elsewhere in the world.
What are the characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society
-small groups
• Men hunted/fished, women gathered
• Direction and frequency of migration depended on movement of game and seasonal growth of plants
• Limited material culture bc no permanent settlements
• Strong ties to land, but nomaadic and mobile.
How many hunter-gatherers are there today and where do they live
There are a quarter million ppl (.005%) that are still hunter gatherers. Isolated groups that live in the periphery of world settlement.
What was the agricultural revolution
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering
How did environment contribute to agricultural revolution
• Climate change over 10,000 years ago.
• Marked end of the last ice age, resulted in a massive
redistribution of humans, other animals and plants at that
time.
How did culture contribute to agricultural revolution
- People wanted to live in a fixed place so they built permanent settlements and to store surplus vegetation.
- People started to put cut plants on the ground and pour water over it (farming)
Animal hearths
- Southwest Asia
- Central Asia
Crop hearths
- Southwestern Asia
- East Asia
- Sub-saharan Africa
- Latin America
Where did vegetative platning originate
In southeast Asia
What is subsistence agriculture and where is it found
Found in developing countries. The production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer’s family
What is commercial agriculture and where is it found
Found in developed countries. The production of food primarily for sale off the farm.
What are the main features that separates commercial and subsistence agriculture
Percentage of farmers in the labor force, the use of machinery, the farm size
Subsistence agriculture (mostly LDCs): % Farmers in Labor force
44%
Subsistence agriculture (mostly LDCs): Use of Machinery
Subsistence farmers do much or the work with hand tools and animal power
Subsistence agriculture (mostly LDCs): Farm size
Small
Commercial agriculture (mostly MDCs): % Farmers in Labor force
.5%
Commercial agriculture (mostly MDCs): Use of Machinery
Rely on machinery to perform work rather than people or animals
Commercial agriculture (mostly MDCs): Farm size
-Large
How does this impact food consumption: Level of development
• Ppl in developed countries tend to consume more food from different sources than do people in developing countries
How does this impact food consumption: Physical conditions
- Climate is important in influencing what can most easily be grown and therefore consumed in developing countries
- In developing countries, food is shipped long distances to locations with different climates
How does this impact food consumption: Cultural preferences
Some food preferences and avoidances are shown without regard for physical and economic factors.