Agriculture (Week 2)

Geography
5th Form
Agriculture
Teacher:
Date: Oct 4, 2021
Large- and small-scale farming
Large-scale farming Small-scale farming

– Usually over 100 hectares – A few hectares
– Wage labour – Family labour
– – Many crops and products
One or two crops
– – Manure and compost as well as
Chemical fertilisers
chemicals
– Scientific technology – Traditional technology, with some
– Large-scale machinery new techniques
– National and international markets – Hand tools, small machinery
– Mainly local markets
Case study: Sugar production in Guyana
• Sugar cane is the main export crop of Guyana

• Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) is responsible for sugar
production in the country
A sugar plantation
Contribution to the country
• Major employer – about 100,000 out of the population of 769,100

• Source of foreign exchange
• Infrastructure development and maintenance
• Research and development
• Development of industries and small businesses
• Support of community services such as housing, health care and
potable water
• Education and sports
• Rural stability
• Environmental preservation
Location
• Northeastern part of the
country
• Along the coast,
between Essequibo
River and Courentyne
River
• Near Georgetown (the
capital) and New
Amsterdam
0 100km
Characteristics of sugar cane plantations
INPUTS PROCESSES OUTPUTS

Physical, • Preparing the • One crop – For sale
e.g.: fields once every sugar cane
• Rain five to six years
• Soil • Planting the
Human, e.g.: seedlings or
• Land cuttings
• Capital • Adding fertilisers
• Tools • Weeding the fields
• Labour • Harvesting every
• Seedlings or
18 months
cuttings
IPO system of a sugar estate

Inputs
1. Land
• Large area, covering hundreds of hectares
• GUYSUCO owns five plantations covering a total of 50,000
hectares of land
2. Capital
• Large amount of capital required
• Needed for construction of infrastructure such as roads,
housing for workers and processing mills, and for purchase
of machinery and transportation vehicles
• Also needed for day-to-day running of the estate,
maintenance of machinery, R&D and payment of wages
• GUYSUCO spends over US$30 million each year on the
purchase of machinery parts and fertilizers
3. Labour
• Hundreds of skilled and unskilled workers are required
• Skilled labour is needed to manage the business operations
• Unskilled labour is needed to tend to the estates, e.g.
planting, weeding, adding fertilisers and transporting the
produce to the mills
4. Technology
• Wide range of tools used, from machetes and hoes to large
tractors
• Some sugar estates are equipped with their own processing
mills
Processes
• Sugar estates have a network of irrigation and drainage canals
• Water from the canals is used to flood the fields during dry spells in
the months before replanting
• This process called flood-fallowing destroys weeds and
replenishes the soil nutrients lost during burning at harvest time
• Land is cleared for new seedlings or cuttings to be planted
• Fertilisers are added and weeding is carried out when the sugar
cane plants are young
• Sometimes pesticides are sprayed
• Harvesting is done during the dry season
• The sugarcane plants are cut manually and floated down the
canals on punts (flat-bottomed platforms) to the processing
factories
Brazil is a large and rapidly growing economy
– Brazil, Russia, India and China

are the four BRIC countries.
– Brazil is the second-largest
economy in the Americas.
– São Paulo has more than 20
million people.
– Brazil is a world leader in
football and culture. The
language is Portuguese.
– Brazil is a leading producer of
mining, agricultural, and
manufacturing products.
Brazil is the world’s leading sugar producer
– Sugar has been grown in Brazil for 500 years.

– Brazil is the world’s top producer and exporter
of sugarcane.
– It supplies 50% of the world’s sugar
– Most sugar is grown in São Paulo state. Some is
grown in the north-east.
– 70,000 farms grow sugar cane, and employ one
million workers.
– There are more than 400 sugar factories.
– Half Brazil’s sugar is used to produce ethanol fuel.
Environmental
Effects of Agriculture
Pollution:
In order to enhance agricultural production quantity and quality, several
additives to the soil are used in farming. The widely used are pesticides and
fertilizers, which end up as pollutants in water run-off from the soil.
This run-off can adversely affect more people and animal wildlife. Industrial-
based agriculture would contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases
from the use of fossil fuels.
Environmental
Soil Degradation/ Erosion:
In all ecosystems, the biodiversity held in soil is massive. Healthy soils are
vital to creating ample food production. Although agriculture is not the sole
cause of soil degradation, poor farming practices are known to cause a
considerable decline in in the quality of soil.
This mainly results from pesticide contamination, waterlogging and salting.

Soil erosion leads to loss of soil fertility and structure.
Environmental
Flooding:
Factors such as compaction due to bad farming techniques (exertion of
force) prevent the soil from being able to hold more water, and so, cracks in
the soil concentrate the water flow.
This therefore speeds up the flow of water on the soil’s surface. This in turn
increases the volume and speed of water flowing into nearby waterbodies
and heightens the risk of flooding.
Environmental
Deforestation:
This deals with the clearing of forested areas for agricultural purposes as a
way to increase scales of agricultural production. Deforestation provides
more land for crops and pasture.
Deforestation enhances the effects of climate change. Destruction of habitat

amongst species also leads to fragmentation and depletion. Extensive
deforestation affects the water cycle, which results in interferences with
precipitation.
Reducing Environmental
• The key to protecting the environment against the harmful effects of
extensive and unsafe agricultural practices is through sustainable
practices.
• Sustainable farming incorporates both the conservation of available

resources as well as employing farming practices aimed at
environmental protection.
• Rotating crops: Planting a variety of crops can have many benefits,
including healthier soil and improved pest control. Crop diversity
practices include intercropping (growing a mix of crops in the same area)
and complex multi-year crop rotations.
• Terrace farming: this is carried out on the slopes of the mountains.

Terraces are built on the slopes of the mountains to create flat lands to
grow crops. Terrace farming is useful as it slows down the speed of water
running down the mountains. This conserves fertile top soil.
• Education/ Awareness: resiliency projects which provide rural and
urban educational programs and technical support, dealing with
awareness of sustainable framing.
• Reducing or eliminating tillage: traditional plowing (tillage) prepares

fields for planting and prevents weed problems, but can cause a lot of
soil loss. No-till or reduced till methods, which involve inserting seeds
directly into undisturbed soil, can reduce erosion and improve soil health.
• Applying organic farming techniques: a range of methods, including
mechanical and biological controls (e.g. manure and traditional
methods), can be applied systematically to keep pest populations under
control and enhance the soil while minimizing use of chemical pesticides.
• Afforestation: this deals with the planting of trees, especially on bare

lands used for farming or may not have much use for agricultural
purposes anymore.
• Applying organic farming techniques: a range of methods, including
mechanical and biological controls (e.g. manure and traditional
methods), can be applied systematically to keep pest populations under
control and enhance the soil while minimizing use of chemical pesticides.
This also includes the usage of renewable energy sources.
• Afforestation: this deals with the planting of trees, especially on bare

lands used for farming and may not have much use for agricultural
purposes anymore.

Agriculture (Week 2)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Agriculture (Week 2)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Agriculture (Week 2)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Geography

Large-scale farming Small-scale farming

• Sugar cane is the main export crop of Guyana

• Major employer – about 100,000 out of the population of 769,100

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTPUTS

IPO system of a sugar estate

– Brazil, Russia, India and China

– Sugar has been grown in Brazil for 500 years.

This mainly results from pesticide contamination, waterlogging and salting.

Deforestation enhances the effects of climate change. Destruction of habitat

• Sustainable farming incorporates both the conservation of available

• Terrace farming: this is carried out on the slopes of the mountains.

• Reducing or eliminating tillage: traditional plowing (tillage) prepares

• Afforestation: this deals with the planting of trees, especially on bare

• Afforestation: this deals with the planting of trees, especially on bare

You might also like