Agriculture in the LDC's Lesson

Shifting Cultivation

Shifting cultivation the constant changing of land use

Common in areas with high temperature and high rainfall
¼ of world's land area
South America, Africa, SE Asia

People tend to live in small villages with farming land near by
Traditionally the land was owned by the entire community, but there is starting to be more private ownership
Uses slash-and-burn agriculture to clear vegetation and waste (the cleared land is known as swidden )

Once the fields have been planted several times the nutrients will be gone and the field will be left fallow (empty) for at least several years

Methods are very traditional and labor-intensive ( intertillage – cultivating the land between rows of crops to plant other seeds)

Land cleared for Jhum, a type of shifting cultivation practiced in North-east India. This photo from Gandhigram in Vijaynagar circle of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Jhum - image of shifting cultivation

Crops in Shifting Cultivation

Shifting style is known as cultivation because it lacks the technology and updates of true agriculture
Swidden will vary from region to region, but they will not resemble the rectangular shape of MDCs

The land belongs to the village, so elders will decide which area will be the food of one family and that might be a different crop than the other portions

Crops vary, but include:

Rice, maize, manoic (root that provides carbs for large pop. of the world), millet (grain), sorghum (grain), yams, sugarcane, plantains, etc.

Pastoral Nomadism

Pastoral nomadism is domesticating and breeding ( animal husbandry ) animals in areas where agriculture is difficult
- Bedouins (Africa) and Masai (Kenya/Tanzania) ‏

Arid (dry) climates
North Africa, Central Asia, Middle East
1/5 of world's land area

Small groups move as they tend to their herds, may be split into herding units

Animals provide milk, hides, hair - but are not usually eaten (mostly grains)

Groups might trade for food or leave women in a set location to farm or farm in an area during a specific season before moving

Animals for Pastoral Nomads

Due to the amount of area covered by these groups, pastoral nomadism is a type of extensive agriculture (spread out over a large area)
Animals are chosen based on cultural preference and environmental compatibility

Camels (arid terrain), goats (eat anything), horses (flat steepe region), sheep (valuable but highest maintenance) ‏

Certain groups will use transhumance, or migrating from mountains to pastures (grazing areas) during different seasons

Cattle Grazer waiting under a shade of coconut tree along with his sheep. Photographed near Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, India.

Nomads and Cattle Tamil Nadu

Intensive Agriculture

Intensive subsistence agriculture is used to feed billions of people in LDCs

This is the most common form of agriculture in Asia

Requires intensive farming in the sense that every inch of land must be used to ensure that enough food is grown to feed a family

Grazing, paths and roads are all kept to a minimum to avoid wasting any agricultural opportunity
Also this work is labor intensive, as almost all of it is done by hand

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture with Wet Rice
- Asia's most important crop
- SE Asia, China and India

Intensive subsistence farming with wet rice involves growing rice seedlings and then moving them to a flooded field ( sawah / paddy ) ‏
The work is time and labor consuming, done by hand
In order to get the most from the land, some regions (with warm winters) use double-cropping, growing rice in the wet season and grain in the dry season

Growing Rice

The field must be plowed, flooded (controlled with canals to avoid too much or too little water), the seeds must be cultivated on dry land and submerged in water

Rice terraces, Longji, Guangxi, China

Rice terraces

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture (Not Rice)

In Asian areas with harsher climates and less water, it is impossible to grow enough rice

Interior India and NE China

The traditional and labor powered methods are the same, but crops differ
- Millet, oats, corn, sorghum and soybeans

Grains such as wheat and barley are the most important

People in these areas often attempt crop rotation (switching crops in one location in different seasons) to ensure that there is enough food and not a loss of nutrients in the fields

Pros and Cons of Agricultural Methods in the LDCs

Shifting Cultivation

Ineffective and land-consuming but environmentally friendly (in small doses) but would contribute to deforestation and global warming (burning) at large scales

Pastoral Nomadism

Disliked by governments who would like to use the land for their own purposes but seems to be an effective form of farming in areas with little water - used to be the main source of movement across difficult terrains but replaced by transportation and technology

Intensive Subsistence Farming

Provides the majority of the planet with food but was ineffectual for years in East and Southeast Asia due to communes (shared Communist farms)

Multiple Choice Activity

Select the correct answer for each question.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS (Images are available in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License Attribution)