CASE STUDY / Wheat Farmers in Kansas and Pakistan

The Iqbel family grows wheat on its 1-hectare (2.5-acre) plot of A world away, in Kansas, the McKinleys farm the prairie
land in the Punjab province of Pakistan in a manner similar to sod. Like the Iqbels, they grow wheat in a climate that
that of their ancestors. They perform most tasks by hand or receives little rain. Otherwise, the two farm families lead very
with the help of animals. To irrigate the land, for example, they different lives. The McKinley family’s farm is 200 times as
lift water from a 20-meter (65-foot) well by pushing a water large—200 hectares (500 acres). The McKinleys derive sev-
wheel. More prosperous farmers in Pakistan use bullocks to eral hundred times more income from the sale of wheat than
turn the wheel. do the Iqbels.
The farm produces about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds) The wheat grown on the McKinleys farm is not consumed
of wheat per year—enough to feed the Iqbel family. Some years directly by them. Instead, it is sold to a processing company
they produce a small surplus, which they can sell. They can and ultimately turned into bread wrapped in plastic and sold in
then use that money to buy other types of food or household a supermarket hundreds of kilometers away. Most of the wheat
items. In drought years, however, the crop yield is lower, and from the Iqbels’ farm is consumed in the village where it is
the Iqbel family must receive food from government and inter- grown. ■
national relief organizations.

Approximately one-half of the people in less developed countries their physical environment varies according to dietary prefer-
are farmers. The overwhelming majority of them are like the ences, availability of technology, and other cultural traditions.
Iqbels, growing enough food to feed themselves, but little more. Farmers select agricultural practices based on cultural percep-
LDCs are home to 97 percent of the world’s farmers. In contrast, tions, because a society may hold some foods in high esteem
fewer than 2 percent of the people in the United States are farmers. while avoiding others.
Yet the advanced technology used by these farmers allows them to Although individual farmers may make specific decisions on
produce enough food for people in the United States at a very high a very local scale, agriculture is as caught up in the
standard, plus food for many people elsewhere in the world. globalization of the economy as other industries. Agriculture is
The previous chapter divided economic activities into pri- big business in MDCs and a major component of international
mary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. This chapter is concerned trade connections in LDCs.
with the principal form of primary-sector economic activity— After examining the origins and diffusion of agriculture, we
agriculture. The next two chapters look at the secondary and will consider the agricultural practices used in LDCs and
tertiary sectors. MDCs. We will also examine the problems farmers face in each
Geographers study where agriculture is distributed across type of region. Although each farm has a unique set of physical
Earth. The most important distinction is what happens to farm conditions and choice of crops, geographers group farms into
products. In less developed regions, the farm products are most several types by their distinctive environmental and cultural
often consumed on or near the farm where they are produced, characteristics.
whereas in MDCs farmers sell what they produce.
Geographers observe a wide variety of agricultural practices.
The reason why farming varies around the world relates to the
distribution of cultural and environmental factors across space. KEY ISSUE 1
Elements of the physical environment, such as climate, soil, and
topography, set broad limits on agricultural practices, and farm- Where Did Agriculture
ers make choices to modify the environment in a variety of ways.
Farming is an economic activity that still depends very Originate?
much on the local diversity of environmental and cultural con-
ditions in each place. Despite increased knowledge of alterna- ■ Origins of Agriculture
tives, farmers practice distinctive agriculture in different ■ Subsistence and Commercial Agriculture
regions and, in fact, on neighboring farms. Broad climate pat-
terns influence the crops planted in a region, and local soil con- The origins of agriculture cannot be documented with cer-
ditions influence the crops planted on an individual farm. tainty because it began before recorded history. Scholars
In each society, farmers possess very specific knowledge of try to reconstruct a logical sequence of events based on
their environmental conditions and certain technology for mod- fragments of information about ancient agricultural prac-
ifying the landscape. Within the limits of their technology, farm- tices and historical environmental conditions. Improve-
ers choose from a variety of agricultural practices, based on ments in cultivating plants and domesticating animals
their perception of the value of each alternative. These values evolved over thousands of years. This section offers an
are partly economic and partly cultural. How farmers deal with explanation for the origin and diffusion of agriculture. ■
308
 Chapter 10: Agriculture 309

Origins of Agriculture
Agriculture is deliberate modification of Earth’s surface
through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain
sustenance or economic gain. Agriculture originated when
humans domesticated plants and animals for their use. The
word cultivate means “to care for,” and a crop is any plant cul-
tivated by people.

Hunters and Gatherers

Before the invention of agriculture, all humans probably
obtained the food they needed for survival through hunting for
animals, fishing, or gathering plants (including berries, nuts,
fruits, and roots). Hunters and gatherers lived in small groups,
of usually fewer than 50 persons, because a larger number
would quickly exhaust the available resources within walking FIGURE 10-1 Hunting and gathering. Botswana Bushmen dig up wild onions
distance (Figure 10-1). The men hunted game or fished, and called kjon.
the women collected berries, nuts, and roots. This division of
labor sounds like a stereotype but is based on evidence from
archaeology and anthropology. They collected food often, per- been domesticated even earlier. Millet and rice may have been
haps daily. The food search might take only a short time or domesticated in sub-Saharan Africa independently of the hearth
much of the day, depending on local conditions. in East Asia. From central Africa, domestication of crops proba-
The group traveled frequently, establishing new home bases bly diffused further south in Africa.
or camps. The direction and frequency of migration depended In Latin America, two important hearths of crop domestica-
on the movement of game and the seasonal growth of plants at tion are thought to have emerged in Mexico and Peru around
various locations. We can assume that groups communicated 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Mexico is considered a hearth for
with each other concerning hunting rights, intermarriage, and beans and cotton, and Peru for potato. Squashes may have been
other specific subjects. For the most part, they kept the peace first domesticated in a third hearth in the Americas, in south-
by steering clear of each other’s territory. eastern present-day United States, as well as in Mexico. The
Today, perhaps a quarter-million people, or less than 0.005 most important contribution of the Americas to crop domesti-
percent of the world’s population, still survive by hunting and cation, maize (corn), may have emerged in the two hearths
gathering rather than by agriculture. Examples include the independently around the same time. From these two hearths,
Spinifex (also known as Pila Nguru) people, who live in Aus- cultivation of maize and other crops diffused northward into
tralia’s Great Victorian Desert; the Sentinelese people, who live in North America and southward into tropical South America.
India’s Andaman Islands; and the Bushmen, who live in Botswana Animals were also domesticated in multiple hearths at various
and Namibia. Contemporary hunting and gathering societies are dates. Southwest Asia is thought to have been the hearth for the
isolated groups living on the periphery of world settlement, but domestication of the largest number of animals that would prove
they provide insight into human customs that prevailed in prehis- to be most important for agriculture, including cattle, goats, pigs,
toric times, before the invention of agriculture. and sheep, between 8,000 and 9,000 years ago (Figure 10-3).
Domestication of the dog is thought to date from around 12,000
years ago, also in Southwest Asia. The horse is considered to have
Invention of Agriculture been domesticated in Central Asia; diffusion of the domesticated
Why did most nomadic groups convert from hunting, gather- horse is thought to be associated with the diffusion of the Indo-
ing, and fishing to agriculture? Geographers and other scien- European language, as discussed in Chapter 5.
tists agree that agriculture originated in multiple hearths Inhabitants of Southwest Asia may have been the first to
around the world. They do not agree on when agriculture orig- integrate cultivation of crops with domestication of herd ani-
inated and diffused, or why. mals such as cattle, sheep, and goats. These animals were used
Southwest Asia was an early center of crop domestication to prepare the land before planting seeds and, in turn, were fed
(Figure 10-2). The earliest crops domesticated in Southwest part of the harvested crop. Other animal products, such as
Asia are thought to have been barley and wheat, around 10,000 milk, meat, and skins, may have been exploited at a later date.
years ago. Lentil and olive were also early domestications in This integration of plants and animals is a fundamental ele-
Southwest Asia. From this hearth, cultivation diffused west to ment of modern agriculture.
Europe and east to Central Asia. Rice is now thought to have Scientists do not agree on whether agriculture originated
been domesticated in East Asia more than 10,000 years ago, primarily because of environmental factors or cultural factors.
along the Yangtze River in eastern China. Millet was cultivated Probably a combination of both factors contributed. Those
at an early date along the Yellow River. Sorghum was domesti- favoring environmental reasons point to the coinciding of the
cated in central Africa around 8,000 years ago. Yams may have first domestication of crops and animals with climate change
310 The Cultural Landscape

160° 140° 120° 100° 80° 60° 40° 20° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° 100° barley
80° 80°
ARCTIC OCEAN einkorn wheat
Arctic emmer wheat
lentil rice
Circle oats soybean
60° Chinese chestnut
rye
bread wheat walnut
broadbean
olive
40° 40°
ATLANTIC PACIFIC
Tropic of Cancer OCEAN OCEAN
20° 20°

PACIFIC
OCEAN
squash Equator
0° pepper 0°
cassava yam INDIAN
cotton sorghum
lima bean cowpea OCEAN
maize African rice mango
20° potato coffee taro 20°
sweet potato finger millet coconut
Tropic of Capricorn pigeonpea
slender millet

40° 40°
0 1,500 3,000 MILES SEED HEARTH YEARS AGO
(THOUSANDS)
0 1,500 3,000 KILOMETERS Primary 9.0 and above
60° 7.0–8.9 60°
Secondary
3.0–6.9
Antarctic Circle Unknown
Dispersal route

FIGURE 10-2 Crop hearths. Agriculture originated in multiple hearths. Domestication of some crops can
be dated back more than 10,000 years.

berries on the ground to see if they would

80°
160° 140° 120° 100° 80° 60° 40° 20° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° 100° produce new plants. Subsequent generations
120° 140° 160°
80°
ARCTIC OCEAN
Arctic learned to pour water over the site and to
Circle Horse
60°
Dog introduce manure and other soil improve-
ments. Over thousands of years, plant cultiva-
40° 40°
ATLANTIC
Pig tion apparently evolved from a combination
OCEAN Sheep Chicken
20°
Tropic of Cancer
20°
of accident and deliberate experiment.
Turkey Goat PACIFIC
OCEAN That agriculture had multiple origins
0°
PACIFIC Equator
Cattle 0° means that, from earliest times, people have
OCEAN Llama
Alpaca INDIAN produced food in distinctive ways in different
OCEAN
20° 20° regions. This diversity derives from a unique
Tropic of Capricorn
YEARS AGO legacy of wild plants, climatic conditions, and
12,000
40°
9,000 0 1,500 3,000 MILES
40°
cultural preferences in each region. Improved
8,000
0 1,500 3,000 KILOMETERS
communications in recent centuries have
6,000 60°

Unknown Antarctic Circle

encouraged the diffusion of some plants to
varied locations around the world. Many
plants and animals thrive across a wide
FIGURE 10-3 Animal hearths. Animal domestication also originated in multiple hearths.
portion of Earth’s surface, not just in their
place of original domestication. Only after
1500, for example, were wheat, oats, and
around 10,000 years ago. This marked the end of the last ice barley introduced to the Western Hemisphere and maize to the
age, when permanent ice cover receded from Earth’s midlati- Eastern Hemisphere.
tudes to polar regions, resulting in a massive redistribution of
humans, other animals, and plants at that time. Alternatively,
human behavior may be primarily responsible for the origin of
agriculture. A preference for living in a fixed place rather than Subsistence and Commercial
as nomads may have led hunters and gatherers to build perma-
nent settlements and to store surplus vegetation there.
Agriculture
In gathering wild vegetation, people inevitably cut plants and The most fundamental differences in agricultural practices are
dropped berries, fruits, and seeds. These hunters probably between those in LDCs and those in MDCs. Farmers in LDCs
observed that, over time, damaged or discarded food produced generally practice subsistence agriculture, whereas farmers in
new plants. They may have deliberately cut plants or dropped MDCs practice commercial agriculture. Subsistence agriculture,
 Chapter 10: Agriculture 311

found in LDCs, is the production of food primarily for consump- and other output. Farmers may have contracts to sell sugar
tion by the farmer’s family. Commercial agriculture, found in beets to sugar refineries, potatoes to distilleries, and oranges to
MDCs, is the production of food primarily for sale off the farm. manufacturers of concentrated juices.
The most widely used map of world agricultural regions is
based on work done by geographer Derwent Whittlesey in Percentage of Farmers
1936. Whittlesey identified 11 main agricultural regions, plus
an area where agriculture was nonexistent. Whittlesey’s 11 in the Labor Force
regions are divided between 5 that are important in LDCs and 6 In MDCs, around 5 percent of workers are engaged directly in
that are important in MDCs (Figure 10-4). Figure 10-4 also farming, compared to around 50 percent in LDCs (Figure 10-5).
includes a small, simplified version of the world climate map The percentage of farmers is even lower in North America—
(see Figure 1-19). only around 2 percent. Yet the small percentage of farmers in the
Similarities between the agriculture and climate maps are United States and Canada produces not only enough food for
striking. For example, pastoral nomadism is the predominant themselves and the rest of the region but also a surplus to feed
type of agriculture in the Middle East, which has a dry climate, people elsewhere.
whereas shifting cultivation is the predominant type of agricul- The number of farmers declined dramatically in MDCs dur-
ture in central Africa, which has a tropical climate. Note the ing the twentieth century. The United States had about 6 mil-
division between southeastern China (warm midlatitude cli- lion farms in 1940 and 4 million in 1960; the number has
mate, intensive subsistence agriculture with wet rice domi- stabilized during the past quarter-century at around 2 million.
nant) and northeastern China (cold midlatitude climate, Both push and pull migration factors have been responsible for
intensive subsistence agriculture with wet rice not dominant). the decline: People were pushed away from farms by lack of
In the United States, much of the West is distinguished from opportunity to earn a decent income, and at the same time they
the rest of the country according to climate (dry) and agricul- were pulled to higher-paying jobs in urban areas.
ture (livestock ranching). Thus, agriculture varies between the
dry lands and the tropics within LDCs—as well as between the
dry lands of LDCs and MDCs. Use of Machinery
Because of the problems involved with the concept of envi- In MDCs, a small number of farmers can feed many people
ronmental determinism, discussed in Chapter 1, geographers because they rely on machinery to perform work, rather than
are wary of placing too much emphasis on the role of climate. relying on people or animals (Figure 10-6). In LDCs, farmers
Cultural preferences (discussed in Chapter 4) also explain agri- do much of the work with hand tools and animal power.
cultural differences in areas of similar climate. Hog production Traditionally, the farmer or local craftspeople made equip-
is virtually nonexistent in predominantly Muslim regions ment from wood, but beginning in the late eighteenth century,
because of that religion’s taboo against consuming pork prod- factories produced farm machinery. The first all-iron plow was
ucts (Figure 4-8). Wine production is relatively low in Africa made in the 1770s and was followed in the nineteenth and twen-
and Asia, even where the climate is favorable for growing tieth centuries by inventions that made farming less dependent
grapes, because of alcohol avoidance in predominantly non- on human or animal power. Tractors, combines, corn pickers,
Christian countries (Figure 4-15). planters, and other factory-made farm machines have replaced
Five principal features distinguish commercial agriculture or supplemented manual labor.
from subsistence agriculture: Transportation improvements have also aided commercial
farmers. The building of railroads in the nineteenth century,
• Purpose of farming
and highways and trucks in the twentieth century, have
• Percentage of farmers in the labor force
enabled farmers to transport crops and livestock farther and
• Use of machinery
faster. Cattle arrive at market heavier and in better condition
• Farm size
when transported by truck or train than when driven on hoof.
• Relationship of farming to other businesses
Crops reach markets without spoiling.
Commercial farmers use scientific advances to increase pro-
Purpose of Farming ductivity. Experiments conducted in university laboratories,
Subsistence and commercial agriculture are undertaken for dif- industry, and research organizations generate new fertilizers, her-
ferent purposes. In LDCs, most people produce food for their bicides, hybrid plants, animal breeds, and farming practices,
own consumption. Some surplus may be sold to the govern- which produce higher crop yields and healthier animals. Access
ment or to private firms, but the surplus product is not the to other scientific information has enabled farmers to make more
farmer’s primary purpose and may not even exist some years intelligent decisions concerning proper agricultural practices.
because of growing conditions. Some farmers conduct their own on-farm research.
In commercial farming, farmers grow crops and raise ani- Electronics also help commercial farmers. Global positioning
mals primarily for sale off the farm rather than for their own systems (GPS) determine the precise coordinates for spreading
consumption. Agricultural products are not sold directly to different types and amounts of fertilizers. On large ranches, GPS
consumers but to food-processing companies. Large proces- is also used to monitor the location of cattle. Satellite imagery
sors, such as General Mills and Kraft, typically sign contracts monitors crop progress. Yield monitors attached to combines
with commercial farmers to buy their grain, chickens, cattle, determine the precise number of bushels being harvested.
312 The Cultural Landscape

80°
ARCTIC OCEAN ARCTIC OCEAN
70° Arctic Circle

60° 60°

50° 50° 50° 50°

PACIFIC
40° 40° 40° 40°
ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN
30° 30° 30° 30°
Tropic of Cancer Tropic of Cancer
20° 20° ARABIAN 20°
160° PACIFIC SEA BAY OF
BENGAL
10° 10° 10°
OCEAN

140° 130° 120° 110° 100° 90° 0° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 140° 150°
0° Equator
Equator
INDIAN OCEAN
10° 10° 10° 10° 10°
120° 150° 160° 170°
CORAL SEA
20° 20° 20° 20° 20° 20° 20° 20°

Tropic of Capricorn Tropic of Capricorn

30° 30° 30° 30° 30° 30° 30° 30°

40° 40° 40° 40° 40° 40° 40°

110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 180°
50° 50° 50° 50° 50° 50° 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 MILES
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 KILOMETERS
MODIFIED GOODE'S HOMOLOSINE EQUAL-AREA PROJECTION

A Humid Low-Latitude D Cold Mid-Latitude

B Dry E Polar

C Warm Mid-Latitude H Undifferentiated Highlands

80°
ARCTIC OCEAN

70° 70°

60° 60°

FIGURE 10-4 Agriculture and climate. (Top)

Simplified climate regions. Compare the broad distri- 50° 50°
bution of the major climate regions with the distinc-
tive types of agriculture in MDCs and LDCs. (Bottom)
Agricultural regions. The major agricultural practices 40° 40°
of the world can be divided into subsistence and
commercial regions. Subsistence regions include the ATLANTIC
following:
30° 30°
• Shifting cultivation—primarily the tropical regions OCEAN
of South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia Tropic of Cancer
160°
• Pastoral nomadism—primarily the dry lands of
20° 20°
North Africa and Asia PACIFIC
• Intensive subsistence, wet rice dominant— OCEAN
primarily the large population concentrations of
East and South Asia 10° Little or no agriculture 10°

• Intensive subsistence, crops other than rice SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE

dominant—primarily the large population concen- Less Developed Countries
trations of East and South Asia where growing rice 140 130 120 110 100 90° Equator
0°
Shifting cultivation
is difficult
Commercial regions include the following: Intensive subsistence, wet rice dominant

• Mixed crop and livestock—primarily U.S. Midwest 10° Intensive subsistence, wet rice 10 10
not dominant
and central Europe Pastoral nomadism
• Dairying—primarily near population clusters in
COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, 20° 20 20 20°
More Developed Countries
and northwestern Europe Tropic of Capricorn

• Grain—primarily north-central United States and Mixed crop and livestock

Eastern Europe 30° Dairy 30 30°
• Ranching—primarily the drylands of the western
Grain
United States, southeastern South America, Central
Asia, southern Africa, and Australia Livestock ranching
40° 40 40° 40°
• Mediterranean—primarily lands surrounding the
Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea, western United States, and Chile
• Commercial gardening—primarily the southeastern Commercial gardening
United States and southeastern Australia 50°
Less Developed Countries
50 50° 50°

• Plantation—primarily the tropical and subtropical

Plantation
regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia
 Chapter 10: Agriculture 313

Farm Size has increased. The United States had 60 percent fewer farms and
85 percent fewer farmers in 2000 than in 1900, but 13 percent
The average farm size is relatively large in commercial
more farmland, primarily because of irrigation and reclamation.
agriculture, especially in the United States and Canada, with U.S.
However, the amount of U.S. farmland has declined from its all-
farms averaging about 180 hectares (449 acres). Despite their
time peak around 1960. Primarily because of the expansion of
size, most commercial farms in MDCs are family owned and
urban areas, the United States has been losing 500,000 hectares
operated—98 percent in the United States. Commercial farmers
(1.2 million acres) per year from its 400 million hectares (1 bil-
frequently expand their holdings by renting nearby fields.
lion acres) of farmland. A more serious problem in the United
Commercial agriculture is increasingly dominated by a handful
States has been the loss of 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of
of large farms. In the United States, the largest 5 percent of farms
the most productive farmland, known as prime agricultural
produced 75 percent of the country’s total agriculture. Large size is
land, as urban areas sprawl into the surrounding countryside
partly a consequence of mechanization. Combines, pickers, and
(see Contemporary Geographic Tools box).
other machinery perform most efficiently at very large scales, and
their considerable expense cannot be justified on a small farm. As
a result of the large size and the high level of mechanization, com- Relationship of Farming
mercial agriculture is an expensive business. Farmers spend hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars to buy or rent land and machinery to Other Businesses
before beginning operations. This money is frequently borrowed Commercial farming is closely tied to other businesses. The
from a bank and repaid after the output is sold. system of commercial farming found in the United States and
Although the United States currently has fewer farms and other MDCs has been called agribusiness because the family
farmers than in 1900, the amount of land devoted to agriculture farm is not an isolated activity but is integrated into a large

ARCTIC OCEAN

Arctic Circle

60°

50°

40° 40°

PACIFIC
30° 30°
OCEAN
Tropic of Cancer

20°
ARABIAN BAY OF
SEA BENGAL

10°

10° 0° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° Equator

0°

INDIAN OCEAN
0° 10°
ATLANTIC 120° 140° 150° 160° 170°

CORAL SEA
OCEAN
20° 20° 20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn

30° 30° 30° 30°

40° 40° 40° 40°

110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 180°

50° 50°
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 MILES

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 KILOMETERS

MODIFIED GOODE'S HOMOLOSINE EQUAL-AREA PROJECTION
314 The Cultural Landscape

80°
ARCTIC OCEAN ARCTIC OCEAN
70° Arctic Circle

60° 60°

50° 50° 50° 50°

PACIFIC
40° 40° 40° 40°
ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN
30° 30° 30° 30°
Tropic of Cancer Tropic of Cancer
20° 20° ARABIAN 20°
160° SEA BAY OF
PACIFIC BENGAL
10° 10° 10°
OCEAN

Equator 0° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 140° 150°

0°
INDIAN OCEAN
10° 10° 10°
PERCENT OF LABOR FORCE 120° 150° 160° 170°
ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE CORAL SEA
20° 20° 20° 20° 20° 20°
50 and above Tropic of Capricorn
30° 30° 30° 30° 30° 30°
20–49
5–19
40° 40° 40° 40° 40°
Below 5
110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 180°
50° 50° 50° 50° 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 MILES

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 KILOMETERS

MODIFIED GOODE'S HOMOLOSINE EQUAL-AREA PROJECTION

FIGURE 10-5 Agricultural workers. The percent of the workforce engaged in agriculture is higher in LDCs
than in MDCs. A priority for all people is to secure the food they need to survive. In LDCs most people work
in agriculture to produce the food they and their families require. In MDCs few people are farmers, and most
people buy food with money earned by working in factories or offices or by performing other services.

food-production industry. Commercial farmers make heavy use

of modern communications and information technology to
Shifting Cultivation
stay in touch and keep track of prices, yields, and expenditures. Shifting cultivation is practiced in much of the world’s Humid
Although farmers are less than 2 percent of the U.S. labor Low-Latitude, or A, climate regions, which have relatively high
force, around 20 percent of U.S. labor works in food produc- temperatures and abundant rainfall (Figure 10-8). It is practiced
tion and services related to agribusiness—food processing, by roughly 250 million people across 36 million square kilometers
packaging, storing, distributing, and retailing. Agribusiness (14 million square miles), especially in the tropical rainforests of
encompasses such diverse enterprises as tractor manufactur- South America, Central and West Africa, and Southeast Asia.
ing, fertilizer production, and seed distribution. Although most
farms are owned by individual families, many other aspects of
agribusiness are controlled by large corporations. Characteristics of Shifting Cultivation
Two distinctive features of shifting cultivation are:
• Farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and
burning the debris (shifting cultivation is sometimes called
KEY ISSUE 2 slash-and-burn agriculture).
• Farmers grow crops on a cleared field for only a few years
Where Are Agricultural until soil nutrients are depleted and then leave it fallow
(nothing planted) for many years so the soil can recover.
Regions in LDCs? People who practice shifting cultivation generally live in
small villages and grow food on the surrounding land, which
■ Shifting Cultivation the village controls. Well-recognized boundaries usually sepa-
■ Pastoral Nomadism rate neighboring villages.
■ Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
THE PROCESS OF SHIFTING CULTIVATION. Each
■ Plantation Farming year villagers designate for planting an area surrounding the
settlement. Before planting, they must remove the dense
This section considers four agricultural types characteristic vegetation that typically covers tropical land. Using axes, they
of LDCs—shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism, inten- cut down most of the trees, sparing only those that are
sive subsistence, and plantation. Intensive subsistence economically useful. An efficient strategy is to cut down
agriculture is divided into two regions, depending on the selected large trees, which bring down smaller trees that may
choice of crop. ■ have been weakened by notching. The undergrowth is cleared