PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
1. Hunting and Gathering
Hunting and gathering were foundational practices for early human sustenance, relying on the immediate environment for food and resources. These activities involved:
- Hunting Animals Early human societies depended on hunting wild animals for survival. People in extreme climates, whether very cold or very hot, relied heavily on hunting for food. However, with the evolution of societies, hunting has faced restrictions and modernization due to technological advancements. Coastal communities, for instance, still engage in fishing, albeit with modern methods. Illegal hunting (poaching) has led to the extinction or endangerment of many species.
- Primitive Tools Early hunters used basic tools made from stones, twigs, or arrows, limiting the number of animals they could hunt effectively.
Ban on Hunting in India: Hunting has been banned in India primarily due to conservation efforts and the protection of endangered wildlife. The government enforces strict regulations to preserve wildlife diversity and prevent overexploitation.
Gathering
Gathering, like hunting, is one of the oldest economic activities. It involves collecting plants and animals from the environment to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.
The key points about the gathering
- Primitive Societies: Gathering is often associated with primitive societies and harsh climates. These societies extract both plants and animals using simple tools and methods.
- Low Capital and Technology: Gathering requires minimal capital investment and operates with low technology levels. The yield per person is generally low, and surplus production is limited.
- Modern Market Orientation: While the traditional gathering is subsistence-based, the modern gathering has become market-oriented and commercial. Collectors gather valuable plants like medicinal herbs, tree bark, and other natural products for sale in markets.
- Geographical Zones: Gathering is practised in various geographical zones, including high-latitude areas like northern regions and low-latitude zones such as tropical rainforests.
- Challenges and Limitations: Despite its historical significance, gathering faces challenges in becoming a significant global economic activity. Synthetic products have often replaced natural items gathered from forests due to better quality and lower prices, reducing the competitiveness of gathered products in the global market.
Nomadic Herding (Pastoral Nomadism) Nomadic herding is a traditional subsistence activity where herders rely on animals for various needs such as food, clothing, and tools.
- Subsistence Livelihood: Herders move with their livestock in search of pastures and water sources, depending on the seasons and quality of resources.
- Animal Diversity: Different regions have varied livestock preferences based on climate. For instance, cattle are significant in tropical Africa, while deserts may have sheep, goats, and camels.
- Geographical Regions: Nomadic herding is prominent in core areas across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Mongolia, Central China, Eurasian tundra, and select regions in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Transhumance: Seasonal migration, like transhumance, occurs from plains to mountain pastures in summer and vice versa in winter, optimizing resource utilization.
- Challenges: Nomadic herding faces challenges like shrinking areas due to political boundaries and settlement plans.
Commercial Livestock Rearing (Livestock Ranching) Commercial livestock rearing is a more organized and capital-intensive form of animal husbandry.
- Organized Operations: Livestock ranching occurs on permanent ranches, covering extensive areas divided into parcels for grazing rotation.
- Focused Livestock: Ranching typically focuses on one type of animal, such as sheep, cattle, goats, or horses.
- Product Processing: Products like meat, wool, hides, and skins are processed, packed scientifically, and exported to global markets.
- Scientific Management: Ranching involves scientific practices for disease control, health care, and maintaining pasture carrying capacities.
Key Countries: Commercial livestock rearing is prominent in countries like New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States, where it is organized and contributes significantly to the economy.
Extensive commercial grain cultivation primarily involves the production of grains in semi-arid interior regions of mid-latitudes. This type of agriculture is characterized by the following features
- Principal Crop: Wheat is the primary crop grown, alongside other grains such as corn, barley, oats, and rye.
- Large Farm Size: Farms in this type of agriculture are vast, leading to the mechanization of all farming operations from ploughing to harvesting.
- Low Yield per Acre, High Yield per Person: The yield per acre is relatively low due to the semi-arid conditions and extensive farming practices. However, the high level of mechanization allows for a high yield per person in terms of efficiency.
This agricultural system is well developed in several regions worldwide:
- Eurasian Steppes
- Canadian and American Prairies
- Pampas of Argentina
- Velds of South Africa
- Australian Downs
- Canterbury Plains of New Zealand
Mixed Farming
Mixed farming is prevalent in highly developed parts of the world, characterized by a combination of crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
- Moderate Farm Size: Farms are of moderate size compared to extensive commercial grain cultivation.
- Crops and Livestock: Crops like wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder, and root crops are cultivated alongside animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry.
- Farming Practices: Utilizes crop rotation, intercropping, modern machinery, chemical fertilizers, and green manure to maintain soil fertility and productivity.
- Capital Intensive: Requires significant capital investment in farm machinery, buildings, and agricultural inputs.
Dairy Farming
Dairy farming is a highly advanced and efficient form of animal husbandry focused on milch animals such as cows for milk production.
- Capital Intensive: Requires substantial investment in animal sheds, feeding and mulching machines, veterinary services, and health care.
- Labor Intensive: Involves rigorous care in feeding, mulching, and overall animal health management.
- Location: Often situated near urban and industrial centres to supply fresh milk and dairy products to local markets.
- Technological Advancements: Utilizes modern technologies like refrigeration, pasteurization, and preservation processes for dairy products.
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean agriculture is a highly specialized form of commercial agriculture practised in regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea and other similar climatic zones.
- Specialized Crops: Focuses on high-value crops like citrus fruits, grapes for viticulture (wine production), olives, figs, and other valuable fruits and vegetables.
- Seasonal Advantage: Produces valuable crops during winters, aligning with demand in European and North American markets.
- Commercial Scale: Emphasizes scientific cultivation methods and efficient market-oriented production.
Market Gardening and Horticulture
Market gardening and horticulture specialize in high-value crops like vegetables, fruits, and flowers, primarily for urban markets.
- Urban Focus: Farms are located near urban centres with good transportation links to high-income consumer markets.
- Technological Intensity: Utilizes irrigation, high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, greenhouses, and artificial heating in colder regions.
- Specialized Farming: Includes truck farming for vegetables and modern practices like factory farming for livestock rearing in controlled environments.
Farming Organization
- Cooperative Farming: Involves farmers pooling resources in cooperative societies for efficient farming, procurement, and marketing.
- Collective Farming: Based on social ownership and collective labour, with the state setting production targets and purchasing surplus produce from farmers. Originated in socialist regimes like the former Soviet Union.
