APHuG – Chapter 10 Due Date? Name:
Agriculture Key Issue 1 Hour:
______
Agriculture Key Issue 1
1. Define agriculture:
2. Define crop:
3. What are the characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society?
4. Who prepared the most widely used map of world agricultural regions? When?
5. Discuss the importance of climate in mapping agriculture.
6. Read this section of the chapter on Subsistence and Commercial Agricultureand complete the table below with pertinent information. The text will generally explain commercial agriculture and you will need to DEDUCE the situation of subsistence agriculture on your own.
Subsistence Agriculture / Commercial AgricultureEconomy / MDC or LDC? / MDC or LDC?
Purpose of Farming
% of farmers in labor force
Use of machinery
Farm size
Relationship of farming to other businesses
AP HuG – Chapter 10 Name:
Agriculture Key Issue 2 Hour:
Due Date?
7. Regarding a swidden… ______
a. What is it?
b. What is potash? c. How long are swiddens used?
8. What is transhumance?
9. How is intensive agriculture different from “regular” agriculture?
10. Wet rice requires a flat field, but some farmers must cultivate it in hilly or mountainous regions. How do they accomplish this?
11. Define double-cropping. Where is it possible?
12. In areas of intensive subsistence agriculture where wet rice is not dominant, what is the major crop?
13. How are multiple harvests made possible in these less mild regions?
14. What makes a farm a plantation? What types of crops are typically grown on plantations?
15. Why can it be difficult to find plantation workers?
16. Why do LDCs tend to use these types of farms (Shifting Cultivation, Pastoral Nomadism, Intensive Subsistence Agriculture, or plantation farming), rather than the farming methods used in MDCs (discussed in KI#3)?
Include the LDC chart for farming types on this page!
APHuG – Chapter 10 Due Date? Name:
Agriculture Key Issue 3 Hour:
______
17. What is the distinctive characteristic of mixed crop and livestock farming? Where in the US is it common?
18. On a typical mixed crop and livestock farm, compare the income and amount of land devoted to each part of the farm?
Mixed crop / LivestockLand Use (%)
Income (%)
19. What is a milkshed? How does it impact the location of dairy farms?
20. Why do some regions specialize in “milk products” like cheese and butter rather than fluid milk? Identify some of these important regions.
21. What is the principal difference between grains grown in “commercial grain farming” regions and grain grown in “mixed crop and livestock” regions?
22. How do farmers and combine companies make use of the fact that the wheat matures at different times in the spring and winter wheat belts?
23. Most crops in Mediterranean agriculture are consumed by ______.
24. What is horticulture?
25. Describe the role (and changing role) of California in Mediterranean agriculture.
26. What three conditions make the U.S. Southeast an ideal location for commercial gardening and fruit farming?
27. What are the two groups to whom “truck farmers” sell their crops? What types of crops do they sell?
28. List three ways that truck farmers keep labor costs low.
Include the MDC chart for farming types on this page!
APHuG – Chapter 10 Due Date? Name:
Agriculture Key Issue 4 Hour:
______
29. According to Johann von Thünen’s model, what two factors does a farmer consider when deciding what to plant?
30. Assuming the climate permits cultivation of two crops (“X” and “Y”), why might a farmer plant “crop X” if he is able to sell “crop Y” on the market for a higher price?
31. What didn’t von Thünen consider in his model, even though it still influences farmers’ choices of crops. (these might be cited as weaknesses, or criticisms, of his model)
32. How could von Thunen’s model be applied at a global scale?
33. How have more efficient agricultural practices, fertilizers, mechanical equipment, etc. created a problem for commercial farmers?
34. Are farm subsidies good or bad for American farmers? Give at least one reason to support each side of the argument.
35. How could you distinguish farmers practicing sustainable agriculture from those operating conventionally?
36. Why is ridge tillage used in sustainable agriculture? (make sure to include multiple reasons)
37. Why are “Roundup-Ready seeds used? What is a negative impact from these seeds?
38. How do using sustainable agricultural practices benefit farmers that integrate the growing of crops and livestock?
39. What are two issues that influence the choice of crops planted by subsistence farmers?
a.
b.
40. According to the Ester Boserup thesis, how do subsistence famers meet the increasing demands for the supply of food?
41. How does the increasing population play both a negative and positive role on subsistence farmers in LDCs?
Negative:
Positive:
42. Why do LDCs sell their food crops to MDCs when some of their own people are starving?
a. For a bonus point - Which model of development is being used to guide that LDCs national policy?
43. Some LDC s turn to the production of drug crops for export. The geography of these crops is distinctive. Identify the countries/regions associated with the crops below:
Coca leaf = Marijuana/Cannabis =
Opium =
44. There is little new land actually available for farming. In fact, the current trend is to reduce agricultural land rather than increase it. Identify and briefly describe three reasons why land is currently being removed from agricultural use.
45. How has the green revolution helped to increase the productivity of farmers and farmland?
46. What specific problems do farmers in LDCs have which might prevent them from taking full advantage of the Green Revolution?
47. List 3 new ways that food can be produced and briefly describe one problem with each of the strategy.
Strategy / Problem48. What sector of the economy is grain farming? Is the US a net importer/exporter of grain?
49. What is surprising about your answer to the above questions?