COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is practiced in some form by virtually all of humanity but the range and types of practices are quite different. Commercial agriculture is largely a European invention and spread with colonization and the Industrial Revolution. The development of a global transportation network to support industrialization facilitated the flow of foodstuffs to the colonial powers who also introduced plantation agriculture in their colonies to produce luxury-crops These systems still persist today and affect the well-being of many poorer countries. The following points should be noted when reading this chapter.

A Global Network

Modern commercial agriculture developed out of a global system of commodity exchange established by European colonial powers. As the era of global exploration and colonization by European countries un­folded, new products both agricultural and nonagricultural from the colonial countries became available to a European population that was both growing and becoming more affluent as a result of the Second Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Products from an industrializing Europe made their way to colonies around the world, transportation between source and market was handled by the shipping fleets of the major colonial powers, producing a global pattern of raw materials, manufactured products, and foodstuffs moving between colonies and colonial powers.

Plantations

Plantations—large land holdings devoted to the efficient production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for market—were first established in the 1400s by the Portuguese on islands off the west coast of Africa. Suitable natural environments and plentiful labor led colonial powers to establish plantation- and luxury-crop agriculture throughout the tropical regions. Such enterprises disrupted traditional practices of subsis­tence agriculture, displaced farmers appropriated land, and generally created poverty and hardship for the indigenous population. This pattern remains today even though many plantations are owned not by colonial powers but by the governments of the countries where they are located. Their persistence is largely because poorer countries need the cash generated by these crops. In the late 1990s, the greatest concentration of plantations was in the American tropics.

Rice and Wheat

Most of humanity depends upon the cereal grains for their survival with rice and wheat feeding well over half of the world’s population In general, these two key grain crops represent different societies. Rice, originally domesticated in tropical Asia, and still the dominant crop in the south and east realms of that continent, is grown labor-intensively on small plots in poorer countries. Rice production by modern com­mercial methods is limited to a few countries and the cost of such production often makes it too expensive for many of the poorer countries who need it most.

Wheat, the second most important of the world’s grain crops, was domesticated in several loca­tions (see Table 14-I) and lends itself well to commercial production methods. It has come to be associ­ated with Western cultures where it is grown on large landholdings by mechanized means in the richer countries. The principal grain moving in international trade, it is also grown at a subsistence level by mil­lions of farmers as a first or second crop where environment4 conditions are favorable.

Specialized Farming

The single most important factor in successful agricultural production is climate. Only one form of agri­culture mentioned in the legend of figure 16-1 refers to a particular climate; Mediterranean agriculture. This is a specialized form of farming in a dry-summer climate (most climatic regions have wet summers). In the five world regions where this climate prevails a special combination of crops is grown, including grapes, olives, certain vegetables, and others. Many wines come from these areas and, along with other commodities, are exported to distant markets because Mediterranean products tend to be popular and command high prices.

CHAPTER QUIZ

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

1.  In which region do whole national economies depend on sugar exports.

a.            South Pacific

b.               Caribbean

c.            Pacific Rim

d.            East Africa

2.  The colonial powers established cotton plantations in many different countries. Today these same countries:

a.            still export all their cotton production

b.            no longer grow any cotton

c.            have established factories to produce goods for the domestic market

d.            sell their cotton to each other instead of the developed countries

3.  The beef industry of Argentina secured a global market when the invention of ____ made possible the transporting of a highly perishable commodity overlong distances.

a.               commercial canning

b.               refrigerated ships

c.               irradiation of food

d.            the steam engine

4.  Today, 75 percent of the rubber produced comes from:

a.            South America

b.               Netherlands

c.               Southeast Asia

d.               lowlands of Florida

5.  When the United States imposed an embargo on imports from Cuba in the 1960s, the principal Cuban export affected was:

a.            coffee

b.            cigars

c.            tea

d.            sugar

6.  Coffee was first produced and is indigenous to:

a.            Columbia, South America

b.            Costa Rica in Central America

c.             Ethiopia

d.            South Africa

7.  The worlds tea plantations are concentrated in:

a.            Africa

b.            South America

c.            Asia

d.            the Caribbean

8.  The worlds largest exporter of rice is:

a.            China

b.            the United States

c.             Thailand

d.             Vietnam.

9.  The Third Agricultural Revolution came about because of:

a.            crop diversification in developing countries

b.             governments in developing countries giving farmers more money to grow more crops

c.             biotechnology

d.            global warming

10.  The largest areas of commercial agriculture lie:

a.            within the tropics

b.            in Western Europe

c.            outside the tropics

d.            in the United States

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

1.         Refrigerated ships made it possible for Argentina to transport beef long distances. (TF)

2.        Sugar producing and exporting countries set their own prices. (TF)

3.        Cartels formed by countries producing the same produce are very successful. (TF) 

4.        More cotton is exported from developing countries than the United States. (TF)

5.        Lately efforts have been made to establish rubber plantations iii northern Brazil. (TF)

6.        In contrast to coffee most tea is consumed in the countries where it is grown. (TF)

7.        Much of interior China has turned into commercial-crop production zones. (TF)

8.        Sub-Saharan Africa has increased their commercialized agriculture to the point that they are now exporting more than ever before. (TF)

9.            From the southern prairie provinces of Canada south through the United States lies an extensive wheat growing region. (TF)

10.          Grapes, olives, figs, dates, and some vegetables are grown in what is called the diversified tropical agriculture zone. (TF)

STUDY QUESTIONS

I.  What are cartels and what is their purpose? Are they usually successful? Can they be used for both food and nonfood commodities?

2. Explain how and why rubber production shifted from its source region. Is the rubber industry as important as it once was? Why or why not?

3. Study Figure 20-1. Can you find climatic relationships in similar crop-growing areas around the world? If so, what does this tell you about the cultures in these regions?

4. Describe the Third Agricultural Revolution and how it has affected crop production. Where has this revolution has its greatest impact?