1mary sector
Agrarian spaces : Territories where agrarian activities are carried out Within rural (non-urban) spaces, but not all the extension of rural areas can be considered agrarian. This is due to the expansion of urban activities and population through spaces that were previously rural. They include: Cultivated land Pastures (pastos) in which livestock graze Meadows (prados) where livestock doesn’t graze and mainly hay is obtained Woodland
Agrarian spaces Current World distribution: Agrarian spaces everywhere the climate allows for it History: This expansion of agrarian spaces in the World is the result of two “revolutions”: The Neolithic: domestication of animals and plants since around 10,000 BC ( Spain 5,400 BC). Spread of farming throughout the World during millennia. New techniques were introduced during Antiquity and the Middle Ages (irrigation, iron plough)
Agrarian spaces The Industrial Revolution: more productive farming, particularly agriculture (machines, crop rotation, fertilizers) Consequences: Agrarian activities occupy as much land as is available for them Modern industrialized agrarian activities are spreading, while traditional or subsistence production is receding. They are also unevenly distributed in the World.
Employment in the primary sector
Low development countries Over 50% of the labor force Over 10% of the GDP/GNI High development countries 10% of the labor force Less than 4% of the GDP/GNI
Physical factors Climate: Different climates are better for different livestock and forests. In the case of agriculture, each crop needs particular conditions to grow, so humans have selected the species better suited for each climate throughout history. Two characteristics are fundamental: Temperature: Both excessive heat (above 45ºC), and excessive cold (below 0ºC or even 10ºC) are unsuitable for agriculture Humidity: Excessive precipitations erode the soil and promote the proliferation of weeds, while aridity (low level of precipitations, uneven distribution throughout the year) hinder the development of agriculture
Physical factors
Relief Orientation: determines exposure to winds and sunshine. Altitude: Temperature descends with altitude, limiting the species that can be found in each case. Most crops are better suited for altitudes lower than 200 m above the sea level, while silviculture and grazing may be better suited for higher altitudes. Slope: for agriculture, plains and valleys are easier to work, specially with machines. When exploiting terrains with marked slopes, terraces are used.
Physical factors
Soil is critical for agriculture because plants absorb the nutrients, water and oxygen they need to grow from it. Its most important characteristics are: Depth: well developed soils are more fertile than shallow ones Texture: particle size and disposition affect the soil’s capacity to retain water. Clayey soils retain more water, but might need draining systems to avoid rotting. Sandy soils don’t retain water and need to be watered frequently.
Physical factors
Soil Porosity: limits the amount of air that reaches the roots Chemical and biological composition determine nutrients, organic material and acidity or pH (too acid or alkaline soils are toxic).
Human factors
Population: Growth and high densities: agrarian spaces in the form of cultivated land and pastures expand when population increases, because it is necessary to produce more food. Consequences: deforestation (reduction of natural vegetation), overexploitation and degradation of soils Decrease: there are less people available to work the land and less production is necessary, so some agrarian spaces are abandoned. Consequences: erosion, proliferation of weeds, neglect of forests, pastures and plots
Human factors
Technological development: Traditional: Simple technology: sickles, ploughs, spades, hoes Practices: fallow (barbecho), natural fertilizers Consequences: little capacity to improve the productivity of land
Human factors
Technological development: Advanced: In industrialized countries or anywhere where the so-called Green Revolution was implemented since the 1940s Modern technology: machinery such as tractors, harvesters or milking machines Practices: industrial pesticides and fertilizers, infrastructures for irrigation or crop protection (greenhouses). Consequences: high productivity but also problems such as loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, safety and health hazards (chemical products), water overexploitation
Human factors Ownership: Individual (one owner) or collective (group of owners) Public or private Workers Owner, with or without the help of day laborers Sharecroppers: people that farm the land the owner has leased to them Property size: Smallholdings Large estates
Human factors Globalization entails an unequal competition between Subsistence economies: peasant families produce to meet their own needs, so they cultivate a variety of products while raising livestock as well
Market economies: businesses cultivate crops or raise livestock to obtain profits, so they tend to specialize in one product and exploit resources (water, land) intensively
Human factors
Agricultural policy: Measures and actions implemented by national governments and international institutions. They are usually aimed at modernizing the agrarian sector, redistributing property, increasing competitiveness or reducing environmental impact. Example: Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the European Union. Subsidies and programs for certain agrarian products.
Agrarian landscapes: structure of agricultural space Landscape: an extensive area of land considered visually distinct. The distinctive features of agrarian landscapes are the worked space or farmland and the inhabited space
Agrarian landscapes Worked space: farmland Plots or fields that can be classified according to Size: small (<1ha), medium=”” (1-10ha),=”” large(=””>10ha) Shape: regular or irregular Boundaries: openfields (with no separation) or closed fields (separated by hedges, trees, stone walls or wooden fences). The latter can be organized in terraces or in bocage Use: agriculture, livestock raising, silviculture
Agrarian landscapes Inhabited space can be classified: Depending on its settlement pattern (distribution over the territory) Dispersed: dwellings are separated Concentrated: dwellings are grouped forming villages or hamlets Interspersed: concentrated and dispersed dwellings in the same area, Type of agrarian dwellings and facilities traditional in each landscape
Agricultural landscapes
The characteristics of agricultural landscapes are determined by the exploitation systems or methods adopted. We can distinguish different methods depending on the use of water, the variety of species and the degree of use of the soil
Agricultural landscapes
Use of water: Irrigated agriculture: crops receive water from man-made irrigation systems. Examples: rice, cotton, vegetables, fruit trees, beetroot. Rainfed or dryland agriculture: crops only receive rain water. Examples: pulses (legumbres) sunflowers, wheat, barley, rye, vines, olive trees
Agricultural landscapes
Variety of species: Monoculture: cultivation of a single species in an agricultural area. Crops like cereals, cotton or coffee are usually cultivated this way. Mixed cropping: cultivation of several different species in an agricultural area. Examples: fruit trees, tomatoes and lettuce.
Agricultural landscapes
Degree of use of the soil: Intensive agriculture: Crops are produced for commercial purposes, so the aim is to obtain the maximum possible yield. In order to achieve that, high capital investment (tools, machinery, etc.) and labor are necessary. Extensive agriculture: does not use all the technological or human resources (workers) available. Production can be for sale or for self consumption.
Agricultural landscapes in developing countries
Slash-and-burn agriculture: Equatorial or tropical humid climates Consists on cutting vegetation and burning the remain sand the ground. Itinerant Polyculture Irregular fields The soils is exhausted in two or three years, so the process has to be repeated again.
Agricultural landscapes in developing countries
Sedentary rainfed agriculture: Tropical areas: African savannah, South America, Asia Vegetable plots and fields next to houses. Crop rotation: main crop, secondary crop, fallow. Fertilized with manure The soil is not exhausted: permanent settlement is possible.
Agricultural landscapes in developing countries
Irrigated monsoon agriculture: Tropical monsoon climate: to the South and South East of Asia. Paddy fields(flooded fields separated with ditches) on alluvial plains and deltas. Highly labor intensive
Commercial agriculture in LDC or developing countries
Plantation agriculture Coastal areas with humid tropical weather. Cocoa, coffee, cotton, sugar, etc. Origin in 16th and 17th centuries Market-oriented, aimed mostly at exportation. Big exploitations owned by foreign businesses or by local landowners that sell to them. Monoculture.
Commercial agriculture in developed countries Agriculture is market-oriented, aimed at maximum profit Mechanization Investment of capital in machinery, infrastructures, facilities and research Specialization and monoculture In Europe it has a long tradition, so unproductive property types (minifundium) persist in some areas. In “new” countries such as USA, Canada or Argentina big, regular plots. Extensive but very productive agriculture Most is industrial agriculture, but organic agriculture is increasingly important. It is less profitable, but also less harmful for the environment because it refuses to use chemical products