Higher Rural Geography

Shifting Cultivation
1. Main crops are: manoic, cassava, yams etc
2. Main Features
  1. Subsistence
  2. Only supports low population density
  3. Small areas of forest cleared using primitive implements
    1. Burning
      1. Ash acts as fertiliser
  4. Soils leached within 3-5 years
    1. Crops decline
      1. People relocate
  5. Overall large areas of land required
3. Recent Changes
  1. Rainforest developed
    1. Timber extraction
    2. New roads
    3. Settlements
    4. Ranching
    5. Mining
  2. People forced to form within a smaller area
4. Successes
  1. Reduces overcrowding in densely populated areas
  2. Boosts economy
  3. Promotes future development
5. Failures
  1. Tribal lands taken
    1. Loss of traditional way of life
  2. Population forced onto reservations/to towns
  3. Environmental destruction
  4. Reduction in fallow period
    1. Reduction in yields
Intensive Peasant Farming
1. Main crop is rice
  1. Needs water
  2. Harvested by hand
  3. Alternatives used in dry areas
2. Main Features
  1. Usually subsistence
  2. High labour input
  3. Small amounts of land and capital
  4. Fertile soil needed
  5. Output per unit area is high
  6. Water is very important
  7. Nursery
    1. Transplanted into main fields
  8. Irrigation
  9. Terraces
3. Recent Changes
  1. Green revolution
    1. Improved seeds
      1. High yield varieties
    2. Increased usage of pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation and mechanization
    3. New farm buildings
  2. Improved infrastructure
  3. Land reform
  4. Migration to cities
  5. Education
4. Successes
  1. Increased crops
    1. More food produced
  2. Benefits for large families
  3. Improved transport network
  4. Reliable irrigation techniques
5. Failures
  1. Small farmers not able to capitalize
  2. Amalgamation has left some farmers landless
Extensive Commercial Farming
1. Main crop is wheat (sometimes oats)
2. Cattle ranching
3. Main Features
  1. Commercial
    1. Cash crops
  2. Large area required
  3. Output per unit area is low
  4. Monoculture
  5. Machinery very important
4. Recent Changes
  1. Fields and farms are larger
    1. More profitable
  2. Increased usage of machinery
    1. More efficient
  3. Decline in workforce
  4. More part time workers
5. Successes
  1. Increased production
  2. Length of time for new varieties of seed to grow is much shorter
    1. More land can be planted
  3. Higher profits
6. Failures
  1. Increased chance of soil erosion
  2. Rural depopulation
  3. Food mountains
  4. Fall in prices

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Higher Rural Geography

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	Created by Matthew Orr about 11 years ago