Agricultural geography

Agricultural geography is a branch of human geography that studies the spatial relationships between humans and agriculture, such as where, why, and how agriculture occurs and how it affects the landscape. It is closely tied with the evolution of societies and cultures from the time when humans around the globe began farming and established permanent settlements. Scholars have approached the topic from varied perspectives, including the exploration of available natural resources, technological developments, economics, and sociopolitical challenges.

The topic has helped researchers explain the diversity of agriculture. In modern times, more than two hundred and fifty million farmers are at work throughout the world raising at least one thousand species of crops using varied methods and tools ranging from the most modern forms of technology to rudimentary implements.

Background

Scholars refer to the time when people began farming as the Neolithic Revolution. Hunter-gatherers previously spent much of their time seeking sustenance. The transition from living in nomadic hunter-gatherer family groups to settled communities allowed humans to develop in new ways. Social interactions became more important as people increasingly lived with those outside their families and in larger groups. They created new technologies and developed craftsmanship. The reliability of food sources increased wellbeing, fertility, and lifespans.

Evidence points to varying timelines for this development. Many scholars believe this transition period began about 14,500 years ago, likely in the area known as the Fertile Crescent, which reaches from modern northern Egypt through Israel and Jordan to the Persian Gulf. The transition likely occurred independently in various regions of the globe about eleven thousand years ago.

Some evidence indicates that farming may have begun as early as nineteen thousand years ago in the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan. Archaeologists began exploring this area in earnest in about 2008. The graves of hunter-gatherers that they uncovered indicate that people practiced elaborate burial rituals. Previously, it was thought that such activities were hallmarks of settled societies. Furthermore, some of the individuals in these graves were elderly people who would have needed others to care for them. The remains of a fox buried with a human suggest that people had close relationships with animals before dogs were domesticated.

Another excavation site, Kharaneh IV, in the Azraq region, indicates that large groups of humans lived together for at least part of the year nineteen thousand years ago. The site, which was apparently a gathering place for twelve hundred years, has also yielded the remains of oval huts. Scholars believe that sites such as this allowed prehistoric humans to develop culturally and biologically over centuries before they began to farm and live together in permanent settlements.

Scholars have many ideas about how and why people in various parts of the world began farming. Climate changes at the end of the last ice age may have been favorable to plants, such as wild cereals, that were common in the Near East. Natural food sources may have been insufficient to meet groups’ needs, forcing them to be creative and uprooting and cultivating fig tree seedlings. These developments probably occurred very slowly, but evidence of humans’ switch from nomadic to settled life appeared relatively suddenly: Grinding stones for processing grain have been uncovered in early Neolithic villages in the Fertile Crescent. Dogs, which were the first animals to be domesticated, were used for hunting. Domestication of other animals, such as cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep, began between thirteen thousand and ten thousand years ago in the Fertile Crescent.

In China during the Neolithic period, humans were growing rice in paddy fields. About ten thousand years ago in Mexico, people were growing squash. About five thousand years ago, humans in the Americas cultivated sunflowers and potatoes.

Development of agriculture had a profound impact on humankind. People had to remain near the plants they were growing, so they built permanent structures and settlements. Crops and animals could be produced to meet people’s needs and surplus could be saved for hard times. Settlements allowed new ideas to develop and flourish. As communities produced more than they needed, they began to engage in trade and forge relationships with people from other settlements and cultures. The human population increased tremendously. Many areas that could support large economies developed into cities.

Overview

Agriculture is both a science and an art. It involves cultivating the soil and growing crops as well as raising livestock for feed, fiber, food, and other purposes. Aquaculture, or the cultivation of fish and shellfish, has been practiced for thousands of years in China, Egypt, and India and is increasingly common around the world. Agriculture also includes preparing these plant and animal harvests for use and getting the goods to customers.

Early humans who transitioned to farming learned to change the natural environment for their benefit. They irrigated crops to ensure they had sufficient water and selected and modified areas to enclose and protect livestock. Irrigation allowed people to farm in places that were previously inhospitable to agriculture or far from rivers and other water sources. Slope, altitude, topography, surface drainage patterns, depth of the groundwater table, accessibility, and many other factors influence land’s suitability for agriculture, although humans have frequently taken steps to alter areas to meet their needs.

Agricultural regions are areas that are similar in terms of how they are used. They may be separate tracts of a country or contiguous areas. Geographers use several techniques in their delimitation or definition of agricultural regions. The empirical technique is based on observations and the experiences of farmers. For example, in the United States, observed data was used to label regions the corn belt, cotton belt, and wheat belt. The single element technique focuses on one element of agriculture, such as which crop dominates in a region. The multi-element or statistical technique considers features that are closely associated, such as crops and livestock. The quantitative-cum-qualitative technique considers objective and subjective analysis of physical, social, and economic factors.

Of the five main types of biomes—aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, and tundra—grasslands are the biomes most useful for agricultural purposes. Grasslands are found on every continent except Antarctica. Their soil tends to be deep and rich. As grasses die, they decay and contribute organic matter to the soil, boosting its fertility. Grasslands are also frequently used as rangelands for livestock that graze or forage. These biomes also serve as water catchments.

The planet’s surface greatly influences how areas can be used. For example, mountainous areas can be difficult or impossible to farm because of their slope, altitude, weather conditions, and other factors. High altitude usually has to lower temperatures. In temperate climates, lands at higher altitudes tend to have shorter growing seasons and summer temperatures, and conditions are likely to be more variable. These areas often have more precipitation and cloud cover, which can slow crop ripening, and windy conditions that can damage plants. As agriculture advances upward, crop yields decrease. While at lower altitudes farmers can produce harvests large enough to save or sell, at higher altitudes, they may produce only enough for consumption on the farm. Winters are colder and fodder tends to be poor, so animals raised in mountainous regions must be bred to cope with these conditions. Some breeds of sheep, for example, are suited to uplands, while others are adapted to lowland conditions.

The direction or aspect of a slope also influences how it can be employed. Slope affects water runoff and resulting erosion as well as whether machinery can be used. Heavy equipment on steep slopes may be impossible or hazardous to use. Tree and bush crops are frequently more suitable as slope crops because the soil is not plowed annually and growing them avoids the problem of erosion. For example, olives and grapes are often grown on steep slopes in the Mediterranean regions, while grains are farmed on plains.

The impact of latitude is similar to that of altitude. As one gets closer to the polar regions, mean temperatures decrease, and the variety of crops that can be cultivated decreases as well.

Lowland plains are frequently employed for agriculture. However, they also have potential shortcomings. Very flat areas are at risk of becoming sodden by heavy rainfall or floods because removing the water is difficult. The Netherlands and the fens of England were difficult to use for agriculture because they became waterlogged. With the advent of steam engines, and later electricity, water could be pumped out and the lowlands converted to arable land.

Bibliography

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