Unit 5: The primary sector

geography – 3º eso

In this unit we will learn about the primary sector activities: farming, livestock, forestry and fishing. These activities cover our most basics needs such as food, housing and clothing. Primary sector involves the first economic activities we developed as humans: gathering (like in fishing), agriculture and livestock, that is because they are very important to us but they have change though, we do not work the land like in the Middle ages.

INPUTS – OUTPUTS - PROCESSES

Inputs as it applies to the area of agriculture can be defined as ' the resources that are used in farm production or, in other words, are things that need to be supplied to the farm in order to produce food.  Þ Processes are the types of work that are carried out on the farming in order to get the final product such us ploughing, seeding and harvesting Þ Output: are what the farm produces: grains…

1.   Inputs: The term 'Farm inputs ' as it applies to the area of agriculture can be defined as ' The resources that are used in farm production or, in other words, are things that need to be supplied to the farm in order to produce food. There are two types of input:

a.     Physical inputs: The natural or physical inputs include climate, relief (height, shape and aspect), soil and vegetation. Farmers have little or no control over these. Changing the natural inputs can sometimes be done but it usually involves a lot of expense. For example areas with not enough rainfall get water from irrigation schemes, steep slopes can be cut into terraces and the climate can be greatly altered by using greenhouses.

• Climate: It is the most important physical factor. The main aspects of climate that affect farming are:

-        Rainfall. The exact amount and form of precipitation is vital for agriculture. A drought or a hailstorm can ruin the whole harvest. Besides not all plants need the same amount of water, olive trees or palms, for example, cannot grow in a very rainy region.

-        Temperature: it determines:

·        Type of crop: plants and cattle need heat to live: plants do not grow below 10º C. But not all plants are the same: some crops grow better in one climatic zone than in others. In fact, there are temperate species and tropical ones so we cannot grow coffee in England or apples in Cuba.

·        Growth speed: hot and humid environment, such as the ones found in greenhouses, may help to accelerate growth. According to temperature, we could divide crops in: Tropical Crops, Hot Temperate Crops and Cold Temperate Crops.

• Relief: it affects farming in a double way:

-   Gradient: gradients of terrain above 10º make impossible to cultivate the land, because farmers cannot plough the land of sow it; besides, floods may wash the soil up. That is the reason why agriculture usually takes place on valleys and plains. However, if the terrain is very sloping, the farmers can transform this uncultivable terrain, because of the gradient, into terraces. In areas with monsoon climate, the rain in summer floods the terraces and creates ideal conditions for rice cultivation.

-   Height: the higher we get the thinner (less oxygen) the air becomes and temperature falls down accordingly. Higher temperatures are usually better for crops such as temperate or tropical areas.

• Soil: plant needs soil with certain characteristic

-   Thickness: deep soils are essential in order to obtain larger crops.

-   Humus: a rich soil is of vital importance at the beginning, because every time the land is plough, it loses its natural nutrients. So the richer it is at the beginning, the longer its fertility lasts. In the past, this situation would be catastrophic and led to a big hunger, so in order to avoid it, the farmers keep the field fallow for a years. In this way, they could recover the fertility of the land.

-   The grain size and the porosity of the soil:

-   Composition. Soils must be well balanced on their components and texture, not too sandy or clayey.

• Vegetation. Previous and surrounding vegetation is also an important factor. The previous vegetation creates the humus, essential to the crops growing. Surrounding woods avoids floods and keep humidity in the air and soil.

b. Human inputs include machinery, fertiliser, pesticides, seeds, livestock, animal feed, workers and buildings.

These usually have to be paid for, although farmers can save some money by producing some of these themselves, e.g. grass is grown as a fodder crop [forraje] to bred animals.

1.   Population growth: This is the most important human factor. If population grows our needs grow also, especially of food. A high population means more pressure on the land and that could leads the destruction of soils by overexploitation. But, on the other hand, a decreased in population could also be a problem, in some rural areas population is falling and the fields are left.

2.   Technology: the technology level determines how many people will we need to work an acre and what the production will be like.

The main technology items are:

·        Fertilizers: natural or chemical.

·        Pesticides.

·        Tools: could be:

o   Traditional: sickles [hoces], animal worked ploughs, etc…

o   Regular tool level: tractors.

o   High machinery level: specialized tractors and harvesting machines.

o   Irrigation systems: from irrigation ditches [acequias] to sparkling systems.

3.     Land property: who owns the land and how is distributed is a very important fact in the farming activities:

-       Individual property: individuals own the land. They could actually own it or rent it.

-       Collective property.

4.   Local laws and agricultural policies: laws may control productions and uses. The kind of pesticides and fertilizers that are allowed, for instance, or the subsidies that can support the producers.