AGRICULTURE:General concepts

Geography – DBH 3 SSLIC-SOCIAL SCIENCES

SYSTEMS OF AGRICULTURE

ACCORDING TO

Crop diversity Water useFarming

techniquesStructure of the land

RECENT APPROACHES

SINGLE MULTIPLECROP CROP

WITH IRRIGATION WITHOUT

IRRIGATION

INTENSIVE EXTENSIVE

BOCAGE OPENFIELD

“GREEN REVOLUTION”

"ORGANIC FARMING”

(Monoculture) (Polyculture)

GENERAL CONCEPTS

CROP DIVERSITY

(Polyculture)

SINGLE-CROP FARMING (Monoculture)

MULTIPLE-CROP FARMING

When only one crop (product) is grown (cultivated). When we grow more than one

product at the same time

WATER USE

Unirrigated landsWhen a crop grows WITHOUT IRRIGATION using rainwater and requires little attention

Irrigated landsWhen a crop,apart from the rainwater, needs to be artificcially irrigated. (USE OF WATER) (NO USE OF WATER)

IRRIGATED CROPS

Vegetables and fruits

UNIRRIGATED CROPS

CEREALS (WHEAT)

Olives

VINEYARDS

Grapes

OLIVES TREES

IRRIGATION SYSTEMSIN TIME PAST, very developed civilisations such as the Romans and the Muslims USED TO BUILD:

AQUEDUCTSWATERWHEELS IRRIGATION

CHANNELS

TO MAKE GOOD USE OF WATER

NOWADAYS ,

we also build: IRRIGATION CHANNELS

DAMS

RESERVOIRS

TO SUPPLY CITIES AND LANDS WITH WATER

FARMING TECHNIQUES

INTENSIVE EXTENSIVE

When a land is cultivated using new technology (chemical fertilisers, pesticides, genetically improved seeds...)

It involves low use of new technology with the crop yield depending on the natural conditions of soil fertility ,water supply...

Intensive agriculture

Greenhouses

TO START THINKING......

AND ..... ...... TO CONTINUE THINKING.....

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE: SOIL EROSION

STRUCTURE OF THE LAND

OPENFIELD BOCAGE

Lands surrounded and separated by hedges and wooden fences , typical of zones next to the Atlantic....

Large fields (not divided by hedges), with geometric and straight boundaries,not indicating where a property finishes and another one begins.

RECENT APPROACHES

GREEN REVOLUTION ORGANIC

FARMING( + quantity) ( + quality)It refers to the introduction of better crop variaties (genetically modified) and increased use of fertilisers and irrigation.

-These were introduced after 1965 in developing countries and led to a substantial increased in the agricultural production

It avoids the use of artificial fertilisers , weed killers and insecticides

Instead,

Natural fertilisers

GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) CROPS

ON THE ONE HAND.....

For the first time since record keeping began in the 1960s, per capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa is beginning to rise.

Agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa has accelerated to 3.3 percent in the 1990s and to 3.8 percent per year between 2000 and 2005." As a result, the report stated, "rural poverty has also started to decline in 10 of 13 countries analyzed."This is thanks largely to an African "green revolution"—a

combination of better crop varieties and increased use of fertilizers—says soil scientist Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York

BUT..... ON THE OTHER HAND.....

MONOCULTURE / POLYCULTURE

IRRIGATED / UNIRRIGATED LANDS

EXTENSIVE / INTENSIVE FARMING

OPENFIELD / BOCAGE

(2

(3

Look at these photos and choose between the following characteristics:

(1

ACTIVITIES:

Do the same with these ones too:

MONOCULTURE / POLYCULTURE

IRRIGATED / UNIRRIGATED LANDS

EXTENSIVE / INTENSIVE FARMING

OPENFIELD / BOCAGE

(4

(5 (7 (6

MONOCULTURE

IRRIGATED

INTENSIVE FARMING

BOCAGE / OPENFIELD

- MONOCULTURE

UNIRRIGATED

EXTENSIVE FARMING

OPENFIELD

SOLUTIONS: (1 (2

(3(4

POLYCULTURE ??/ PASTURE ???

IRRIGATED ?? / RAINWATER??

either INTENSIVE or FOR SELF CONSUM BOCAGE

POLYCULTURE ???

IRRIGATED

INTENSIVE

GREENHOUSES

MONOCULTURE POLYCULTURE MONOCULTURE

IRRIGATED IRRIGATED/RAINWATER UNIRRIGATED

INTENSIVE INTENSIVE ? / SELF CONSUM??

EXTENSIVE

GREENHOUSESBOCAGE OPENFIELD

(7 (6 (5