THE PRIMARY SECTOR. THE AGRARIAN SPACES.

I leave here the information about the voluntary work for the first term. Remember that the deadline is December 7.

The aim is to do a work about the primary sector in one of these countries: SPAIN, FRANCE, ROMANIA, UNITED STATES,  INDIA, CHINA. You have to use the worksheet as a guide to do the work and the information in the webpages about the different countries.

In order to mark your works I would take in account the following items:

1. The ortography and the grammar are correct.

2. All the questions in the worksheet are answered.

3. You identify the sources of the information that you have used for the work.

4. You include images and photos related to the work.

 

 

1. AGRARIAN SPACE.

•Primary sector: economic activities devoted to obtaining resources directly from nature.

1. 1. Agrarian and rural spaces.

We have to distinguish between:

• Agrarian space.
• Rural space.

 Agrarian space: land where agrarian activities are undertaken. It includes:

• Cultivated land.
• Pastures.
• Meadows.
• Woodland.

Rural space: all the non-urban areas. Includes agrarian spaces and other kinds of activities such as leisures areas, shopping centres, housing estates, etc.

1. 2. Agrarian activities:

The main agrarian activities are:

•Agriculture to cultivate the land in order to obtain plants for food. It is provides:

1.Food for people (wheat)

2.Food por livestock

3.Raw materials

•Livestock farming to rear animals for human use. It is provides:

1.Food

2.Fertiliser

3.Raw materials

4.In undeveloped countries, labour force.

•Silviculture is the use of woodland. It is provides:

1.Food

2.Raw materials.

2. PHYSICAL FACTORS..

Agrarian activities are conditioned by physical and natural factors.

2. 1. Climate.

• Agriculture is impossible in regions with temperatures below 0ºC or above 45ºC.
• Different crops need different climates: maize and rice requires a high degree of humidity; coffe and sugar cane, very high temperatures.

2. 2. Relief of the land.

Agriculture:

• avoid mountainous terrain due several reasons:

1.Steep slopes lead to soil erosion, hinder work and the use of chemical tools.

2.Require the construction of terraces: flat horizontal sections built into the land.

3.In the mountains temperature are lower which has a impact on plants.

Farmers prefer flat valley floors.

•Sunlit slopes receive more sunlight and are less prone to Frost.

•Abundant fresh water improves agricultural output.

Livestock farming and silviculture.

•Rather prefer mountainous terrain.

2. 3. Soil and vegetation.

Soil is the surface layer of the Earth’s crust. We can distinguish the following layers:

•Bedrock, the fundation of the soil made of solid rock.

•Broken rock, smaller fragments

•Surface soils which provides nutrients and minerals for plants.

3. Agrarian activity: human factors.

The main human factors that determine the agrarian activities are:

3. 1. Demographic pressure:

*Population growth produces a increase of the cultivated surfaces with two negative consequences:

1.Deforestation because trees are cut to cultivate more land.

2.Overexplotation of the agrarian space.

 *Low population densities can provoke the erosion of the terrain.

3. 2. Technological development.

The tech

• In traditional societies:

1. Basic tools: hoes, sickles and ploughs.
2. Techniques: the soil is farmed until exhausted, use of natural fertilisers, large labour force, etc.

• In advanced societies:

1. Modern tools such as tractors, harvesters, etc.
2. Modern techniques: chemical fertilisers, pesticides. Also the apparition of the green revolution (crossbred natural species) and the biotechnological revolution. 

3. 3. Economic and social organization.

We can distinguish three types of agrarian economies according to the social organization:

• Subsistance economies:

1. Produce enough to cover their food needs.
2. Cultivate different crops.
3. Small farms.

• Market economies:

1. Produce food to sell it in the market.
2. Produce one specialized food.
3. Big farms controlled by corporations.

•  About the social organization, we can classify them according to:

1. Property, can be public or private.
2. Explotation can be direct, when the owner work the land himself or indirect when it is worked by a tenant.

4. THE AGRARAIN LANDSCAPE AND ITS ELEMENTS.

4. 1. The agrarian landscape.

Agrarian landscape: natural environments transformed by agrarian activities.

4. 2. Inhabited spaces.

We have to distinguish between: 

• Settlement: the way in which the agrarian population is distribuited across the land. We can distinguish three types:

1.  Dispersed.
2. Concentrated.
3. Interspersed.

• Habitat: dwellings and agricultural buildings.

 4. 3. Settlement.

• Dispersed: 

1. Houses are separated from one another.
2. Surrounded by pastures of farmland.

• Concentrated.

1. Houses has been built one next to another, grouped in a village.
2. Can be: linear, when the houses are arranged along a road or a river, or clustered when are located around a central point.

• Interpesed: some settlements are grouped together, while others are isolated.

4. 4. Farmland.

Field: basic division of agrarian land. Are separated from one another by borders. Can be classified according to:

• Size. Can be:

1. Small: less than 10 hectares.
2. Medium: between 10 and 100 hectares.
3. Large: more than 100 hectares.

• Shape: regular or irregular.
• Location: 

1. Open, only separated by a furrow.
2. Closed, separated by fences or walls.

• Use: agriculture, livestock farming, silviculture.

5.  AGRICULTURE. DIVERSITY AND TYPES.

Cultivation methods: procedures used by farmers to grow agrarian products. Can be classified according to:

• Crop varieties:

1. Monoculture, when only grows a type of crop.
2. Polyculture, when different types of crops grows. 

• Water supply:

1. Dryland, crops only receive rainwater.
2. Irrigated, additional water from rivers and streams is used. Require high inversions and is limted to crops with a high market value.

• Soil use:

1. Continual cultivation, no land is left fallow.
2. Crop rotation, consists of alternating the crops grown.

• Degree of land use. Can be: 

1. Intensive, land is used to its full potential.
2. Extensive, in the opposite case. 

5. 2. Types of agriculture.

We can distinguish two according to the cultivation systems used and the crops growth:

• Traditional agriculture. Its goal is to cover the farmer's necessities. Its main characteristics are:

1. Use of traditional tools.
2. Polyculuture.
3. Crop rotation with fallow fields.
4. Extensive agriculture.
5. Dryland or traditional irrigation.

• Modern agriculture or comercial agriculture. Its goal is to produce for the market. Its main characteristics are:

1. Use of modern tools: tractors, harversters, etc.
2. Monoculture.
3. Artificial fertilisers and pesticides.
4. Intensive.
5. Dryland and modern irrigation.

There are two types:

• Commercial agriculture. Its aim is the mass production of agricultural products. Starting in 1940.
• Organic agriculture. Its aim is the production of healthy products. Started in the 90s.

6. TRADITIONAL AGRARIAN SYSTEMS.

Their main characteristics are:

• Low prodcution for self-comsumption.
• Require a large workforce.
• Appear in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.

The main types are:

6. 1. Migratory or slash and burn agriculture.

• Location: countries with tropical or equatorial climates. In Africa, South America and Asia.
• Characteristics:

1. Agrarian landscapes: irregular shaped fields creating by cutting tress.
2. Polyculture.
3. Soil is cultivated during two or three years and then another site is used.

6. 2. Sedentary dryland agriculture.

• Location: african savannah, South America, Asia.
• Agrarian landscape is divided into two parts:

1.  Vegetable plots located near to the house of the farmer and fertilised with refuse.
2. Lands in which the crop rotation system is used. A main crop is cultivated in one field, a complemeantary crop is cultivated in other and the last one is left fallow.

6. 3. Irrigated monsoon agriculture.

• Location: tropical moonson climates (China, Vietnam, India, Nepal).

•  Agrarian landscapes: small paddy fields, located in alluvial plains and separated by ditches.
• Labour ntensive.
• Several harvests by year.

7. AGRICULTURE. ADVANCED AGRARIAN SYSTEMS.

Also known as industrial agriculture.
Its main characteristics are:

• Technological advancements: fertilisers, herbicides.
• Mechanistation.
• High yields with a minmum labour force.
• Mass production and specialized crops.

Location:

• New countries.
• Europe.
• Some tropical coasts.

7. 1. New countries.

New countries: countries in America and Oceania colonised by the europeans in the modern and contemporary periods.
 Characteristics:

• Large, regular-sized fields owned by highly skilled farmers or large multinational companies.
• Specialised crops suited to the local climate.
• Use of advanced farming methods to falicitate mass produciton.
• Supply the international markets.

 7. 2. Plantation agriculture.

Location: coastal areas of countires with a humid tropical climate:

• Central and south america.
• Gulf of Guinea.
• South East Asia.

 Characteristics:

• Monoculture.
• Owned by multinational companies.
• Produce food (cocoa, pineapple, cofffee, sugar cane) and industrial products (rubber, cotton and palm oil) which are in high demand in wealthy countries.
• Use of advanced techniques (selected seeds, fertilisers, pesticides).
• Extensive paid labour force.
• Cheap mass production for the international market.

 7. 3. Organic agriculture.

 Location: United States and Europe.
Characteristics:

• Use of enviromentally friendly techniques.
• Use or organic fertilisers.
• Crop rotation.
• Produce a lower yield than the industrial agriculture but more varied and of higher quality.

 8. LIVESTOCK FARMING. TYPES AND MODELS.

Livestock farming is a highly diversified activity.

8. 1. Livestock farming systems.

We can distinguish between intensive and extensive systems:

• Entensive:

1. Large, open fields.
2. Little invesment.
3. Can be: a complementary activity for agriculture, providing labour force and fertilisers to the farmers, or the dominant activity.

•  Intensive:

1. Livestock is housed in barns and fed with artificial feeds.
2. High levels of invesment.

8. 2. Traditional livestock farming.

Is extensive and there are two types:

• Nomadic livestock farming. Livestock is moved in order to provide animal with fresh pastures. Characteristic of people living in on the edges of deserts.
• Seasonal migration, livestock is moved on a seasonal basis, between summer and winter pastures. Typical of mountainous  regions of America, Asia and North Africa.

  8. 3. Industrial and organic livestock farming.

There are two types

• Industrial ivestock faming, seeks to obatin the maximum yield to be sold on the market. Can be:

1. Extensive, when large quantties of livestock are reared in the open air. North America, Argentine, Australia.
2. Intensive, when gentically selected livestock is reared in barns and fed on artificial feeds.

• Organic livestock farming. Use semi-extensive systems. Livestock is no fed on artificial feeds, nor are the animals kept peramently in barns.

9. SILVICULTURE.

Forests covers about a 30% of Earth's surface. We can distinguish three types of forests:

• Equatorial and tropical rainforest

1. Torrid zone.
2. Hardwood trees with several species mixed.

• Temperate woodland.

1. Middle latitudes.
2. Smaller trees grouped in a homogeneus manner.
3. Today, sometimes, are replaced with more profitable species: eucalyptos, etc.

• Boreal forest or taiga. Northern part of the temperate zone. Softwood especies, such as fir, pine and birch.

 Forestry production.

Main uses:

• Wood for construction and furniture.
• Food products: fruits, game and mushrooms.
• Industrial products: rubber, cork, resin, cellulose, paper, perfumes.

Enviromental roles.

• Forest absorb CO2, helping to reduce the greenhouse effect.
• Add humidity to the atmosphere and protect soil from erosion.

Problems of forestry activities.

Deforestation from 1960 a half of the Earth's forests has been cut and a thrid of the tropical forests.
Because of this, the UN promotes recycling of wood products, limitation of wood faillins, and replanting.

10 FISHING.

Fishing is the activity that provides products from the sea:

• food.
• raw materials: oils, flours, fertilizers.

Fishing grounds: areas where fishing leves are particullarly high. Are more important in some places due to several factors:

• extensive continental shelves.
• areas with cold currents.
• areas where cold and warm currents meet.

10. 1. Fishing systems.

Can be classified according to the place where fishing takes place and according the technology used:

Place:

• Shallow-water fishing:

1. Near the coast.
2. On a daily basis.

• Deep sea:

1. Far from the coast.
2. During several days and weeks.

• Ocean:

1. High seas.
2. During several months.

 Technology.

• Traditional fishing:

1. Small boats.
2. Traditional technology.
3. Small labour force.
4. Limited production for the local market.

• Industrial fishing

1. Large boats
2. Modern technology.
3. Large labour force.
4. High production for the international market.

 10. 3. The future of the fisheries.

Three main problems:

• overfishing which leads to the exhaustion of marine resources.
• sea pollution.
• conflicts for fishing grounds.

Fishing policies implemented to solve this problems:

• prohibition of harmful fishing practices.
• Establishing of fishing quotas.
• Anti-pollution measures.
• Promotion of aquaculture.