1. Dairyingand marketgardening 2. Specialtyfarming 3. Cash grainand 4. Mixedfarming 5. Extensivegrain farming or stock raising

re 8.14 (a) von Thiinen's model. Recognizing that as distance from the market increases,the value of land decreases,von Thiinen developeda ptive model of intensity of land use that holds up reasonablywell in practice. The most intensively produced crops are found on land close to the ; the less intensively produced commodities are located at more distant points. The numbered zones of the diagram representmodern equivalents the theoretical land use sequencevon Thiinen suggestedover 175 years ago. As the metropolitan area at the center increasesin size, the agricultural ialty areasare displaced outward, but the relative position of each is retained. Compare this diagram with Figure 8.l8. (r) A schematic view of the Thiinen zones in the sector south of Chicago. There, farmland quality decreasessouthward as the boundary of recent glaciation is passedand hill landsare encounteredin southern Illinois. On the margins of the city near the market, dairying competesfor spacewith livestock feeding and I suburbanization.Southward into flat, fertile central lllinois, cash grains dominate. In southern Illinois, livestock rearing and fattening, general farr4hg, andsome orchard crops are the rule. I Source:(b) Modifed with pemission from Bemd Andreae, Fming Development and Space: A World Agricultural Geography, tans. Howard F. Gregor qnd Co., 1981).

distance;other items such as grain would have lower rates. Landrent for any farm commodity decreaseswith increasing dis- from the central market, and the rate of decline is determined the transport gradient for that commodity. Crops that have both highest market price and the highest transport costs will be nearestto the market. Less perishablecrops with lower pro- and transport costswill be grown at greaterdistances away igure8.15). Since in this model transportcosts are uniform in all ions away from the center, a concentric zonal pattern ofland calledthe vonThilnen rinss results. The von Thiinen model may be modihed by introducing ideas differentialtransport costs (Figure 8.16), variationsin topogra- or soil fertility, or changesin commodity demand and market

ffi"i.ro Ringmodifications. Modifications of controlling conditions will alter the details but not change the underlying pattern of the von Thiinen rings. For example, a growth in demand and therefore market price of a commodity would merely expand its ring of production. An increasein transport costs would contract the prolpction area, while reductions in freight rates would extend it. (a) lf transport costs are reduced in one direction, the circularity-but not the sequence-of the rings will be affected. (b) If severalroads are constructedor improved, land use sequencesassume a star-shapedor digitate outline. (c) The addition of a smaller outlying market results in 8.15 ttansport gradientsand agricultural zones. the emergenceof a set of von Thtinen rings subordinateto it.

Livelihood and Economy 2'tl in fall, harvestedin midsummer) belt focuses on Kansas and westernAustralia. Because is an importantcrop in manyagri- includesadjacent sectionsof neighboring states (Figure 8.19). cultural systems today, wheat ranks first in total production Argentinais the only SouthAmerican country to havecomparable amongall the world's grainsand accounts for morethan 207o of the large-scalewheat farming. In the EastemHemisphere, the systemis total caloriesconsumed by humanscollectively-large-scale wheat fullydeveloped only eastof the Volga River in northern Kazakhstan farmsface competition from commercialand subsistenceproducers andthe southernDart of WesternSiberia. and in southeasternand throughoutthe world (Figure8.20).

8.17 Generalizedagricultural regions of North America.

Livelihoodand Economy 213 Women farmers grow at least half of the ing cultural and economicfactors. First, most tion of chemicalfertilizers (a "man's task") world's food and up to 80o/oin someAfiican women farmers are involved in subsistence insteadof cow dung ("women'swork") has countries. They are responsible for an even farming and food production for the local reduced the f'emale role in agricultural larger share of fbod consumed by their own market, which yields little cash return. Sec- development programs. The loss of those families: 807oin sub-SaharanAfrica. 65Voin ond, they havefar lessaccess than men to credit traditional f'emale wage jobs means that Asia. and 457o in America and the at bank or government-subsidizedrates that already poor rural women and their families Caribbean.Further, women comprise between would make it possiblefor them to acquirethe have insufllcient income to improve their one-thirdand one-half of all agriculturallabor- Green Revolutiontechnology, such as hybrid diets even in the light of substantial ers in developing countries. For example, seedsand t-ertilizers.Third, in some cultures increasesin food availability through Green African women perform about 907o of the women cannotown land and so are excluded Revolutionimprovements. work of processingfood crops and 807oof the from agriculturalimprovement programs and If women are to beneflt fiom the Green work of harvestingand marketing. projects aimed at landowners.For example, Revolution,new culturalnorms-or cultur- Women'sagricultural dominance in devel- many Afiican agricultural developmentpro- ally acceptableaccommodations within tra- oping states is increasing,in fact, as male gramsare based on the conversionof commu- ditional household,gender, and customary family memberscontinue to leavefor cities in nal land, to which women have access,to legal relations-will be required. These searchof paid urban work. In Mozambique, private holdings, fiom which they are must permit or recognize women's land- for example,for every 100 men working in excluded.In Asia. inheritancelaws favor male owning and other legal rights not now agriculture,there are 153 women. In nearly over femaleheirs, and f-emale-inheritedland is clearly theirs, accessto credit at favorable all other sub-Saharancountries the f'emale managedby husbands;in Latin America,dis- rates,and admissionon equal fboting with componentruns between 120 and 150per 100 criminationresults fiom the more limited sta- males to governmentasiistance programs. men.The departureof men fbr nearor distant tus held by women underthe law. Recognition of those realities fbstered the cities means.in addition. that women must At the sametime, the Green Revolution Food and Agriculture Organization of the assumeefl'ective management of their fami- and its greatercommercialization of crops United Nations' "FAO Plan of Action for lies' total farm operations. has generally required an increasein labor Women in Development( I 99G2001)" andits Despite their fundamentalrole, however, per hectare,particularly in tasks typically "Cender and DevelopmentPlan (20o2-2ffi11' women do not shareequally with men in the reservedfor women, such as weeding,har- Both aimed at stimulating and facilitating rewards from agriculture, nor are they always vesting,and postharvestwork. If women are effbrts to enhancethe role of women as con- beneficiariesof presumedimprovements in provided no relief from theilother daily tributorsand beneficiaries of economic.social. agriculturaltechnologies and practices.Ofien, tasks.the Green Revoluti\lotlFna" and political development.Objectives of the they cannotown or inherit the land on which be more burden than bk;srng. nur wnen plan includedpromoting gender-based equity they work, and they fiequently have difficulty mechanizationis added to the new farming in uccess to. control of. productive 4nd in obtaining improved or fertilizers system, women tend to be losers. Fre- resources:enhtlcing women's participation availableto male f'armers. quently, such predominantly f'emaletasks as in decision- and policy-making processesat As a rule, women farmers work longer harvestingor dehusking and polishing of all levels,local and national;and encouraging hours and have lower incomes than do male grain-all traditionallydone by hand-are actions to reduce rural women's workload farmers.This is not becausethev are lesydu- given over to machinery,displacing rather while enhancingtheir opportunitiesfbr paid catedor competent.Rather. it is due to restrict- than employing women. Even the applica- employmentand income.

UN's Food and Agriculture Organizationnow considersGreen Nevertheless,the productionof engineeredcrops is Revolutiontechnologies "almost exhausted"of any further pro- rapidly.In 1996,the first yeargenetically modified crops were com- ductivity gainsin Asian rice cultivation.Little prime land and even mercially available,about 1.7 million hectares(4.3 million acre$ less water remain to expand farming in many developingcoun- were placed in biotechnologycultivation. ln 2004, a reponed8l tries,and the adverseecological and socialconsequences of indus- million hectares(more than 200 million acres)were plantedwith trial farming techniquesarouse growing resistance.Nor does GM crops,an increaseof 2O7oover 2003.Ahost one-third(30%) biotechnology-which many have hailed as a promising new of the global GM crop area in that year was located in developing Green Revolution approach-seem likely to fill the gap. Con- countries; indeed, the percentagegrowth of GM acreagein the sumerresistance to the geneticmodification of food crops,fear of developingcountries-notably Argentina,Brazil, China,India, and the ecological consequencesof such modification, the partial SouthAfrica-was twice ashigh as in the industrialcountries in the rejectionof GM foods in the EuropeanUnion market,and the high first yearsof this century.Globally, the principal GM cropshave cost and restrictionson the new biotechnologiesimposed by their been GM soybeans,GM corn (including white corn for foodin corporatedevelopers all conspireto inhibit the universaladoption SouthAfrica), transgeniccotton, and GM canola.Herbicide resist- of the new technologiesin the developingworld. ance(Roundup Ready soybeans) and insectresistance (Bt cornand

268 Dynamic Patternsof the SpaceEconomy The village of Nanching is in subtropical keepingthe water at a properlevel. But summer,eggplant and severalvarieties of southernChina on the Zhu River delta near after this period camethe first weeding; squashand beanswere grown. The green- Guangzhou(Canton). Its traditional subsis- the secondweeding followed a month leafed vegetablesthrived in the cooler and tenceagricultural system was describedby a later.This was done by hand,and drier periodoftall, winter,and early spring. field investigator.whose account is herecon- everyoneold enoughfor suchwork Leeks grew the year round. densed.The system is still tbllowed in its participated.With the secondweeding When one crop of vegetableswas essentialsin other rice-orientedsocieties. went thejob of addingfertilizer. The harvested.the soil was turnedand the grain was now allowed to standto "draw ln thisdouble-crop region. rice was clods brokenup by a digging hoe and starch"to fill the hull of the kernels. plantedin March andAugust and leveledwith an iron rake.Fertilizer was When the kernelshad "drawn enough harvestedin lateJune or July and againin applied,and seedsor seedlingsof a new starch,"water was let out of the field, and November.March to Novemberwas the crop were planted.Hand weedingwas a both the soil and the stalkswere allowed major farming season.Early in March the constantjob; wateringwith the long- to dry underthe hot sun. earthwas turnedwith an iron-tipped handledwooden dipper had to be donean woodenplow pulled by a waterbuffllo. Then camethe harvest,when all the rice averageofthree times a day,and in the The very poor who could not afford a plants were cut off a few inchesabove the very hot seasonwhen evaporationwas buflalo useda largeiron-tipped wooden groundwith a . was done rapid, as fiequently as six times a day. hoe fbr the samepurpose. on a threshingboard. Then the grain and The soil had to be cultivatedwith the hoe The plowed soil was rakedsmooth, the stalksand leaveswere takenhome with frequentlyas the heavytropical rains f'ertilizerwas applied,and water was let a carryingpole on the peasant'sshoulder. packedthe earthcontinuously. Instead of into the field, which was then readytbr The plant was usedas fuel at home. the two applicationsof f'ertilizercommon the transplantingof rice seedlings. As soon as the exhaustingharvest work with the rice crop, f'ertilizingwas much Seedlingswere raisedin a seedbed,a tiny wasdone, no time could be lostbefore more frequentfor vegetables.Besides the patchfenced off on the sideor cornerof startingthe choresof plowing,feftilizing, heavyt'ertilizing of the soil at the the field. Beginningfrom the middle of pumping water into the fields, and beginningof a crop, usuallywith city March, the transplantingof seedlingstook transplantingseedlings for the secondcrop. garbage,additional f'ertilizer, usually place.The whole family was on the The slack seasonof the rice crop was taken diluted urine or a mixture of dilutedurine scene.Each took the seedlingsby the up by choresrequired for the vegetables and excreta,was given every ten daysor bunch,ten to flfteen plants,and pushed which demandedcontinuous attention, so to most vesetables. them into the soft inundatedsoil. For the sinceevery peasantfamily devoteda part flrst thirty or fbrty daysthe emeraldgreen of the farm to vegetablegardening. In the Source: Adaptcd lrom C. K. \ang, A Chirrcse Villttge i Etrlv Communist Tnnsitiut (Cambridgc.Mass.: Massa- cropdemanded little attention except hot and damp period of late spring and chusettsInstitutc of Technology.I 959.).

Urban SubsistenceFarming farmingin Cubaproduced 65Vo of the country'srtce,437o of its Not all of the world's subsistencefarming is basedin rural areas. fruits and vegetables,and l2%oof roots and fiberst altogether, Urban agriculture is a rapidly growing activity, with some some 165,000urban Cubans annually produced 800,000 tons 800 million city farmers worldwide providing, according to freshproduce in 1999. United Nationsfigures, one-seventh of the world's total food pro- Urban agriculture occupies city land as well as city resi duction. Occurring in all regions of the world, developedand dents: in Bangkok, Thailand for example,some 607oof the met- underdeveloped,but most prevalent in Asia, urban agricultural ropolitan area is cultivated.A similar inclusion of adjacentrural activities range from small garden plots, to backyard livestock land within urban boundariesis characteristicof China. There, breeding,to fish raisedin ponds and streams.Using the garbage basedon an earlier mandatethat socialistcities be self-sufficient, dumps of Jakarta,the rooftops of Mexico City, and meagerdirt municipal boundaries were set to include large areas of stripsalong roadwaysin Kolkata (Calcutta)or Kinshasa,millions land now worked intensivelyto supply the fruits, of peopleare feedingtheir own families and supplyinglocal mar- fish, andthe like consumedwithin the city proper.Chinese u kets with vegetables,fruit, fish, and even meat-all produced agriculture-by UN estimatesproviding 907o of the vegetable within the cities themselvesand all without the expense and supply of cities-is, in reality, periurban(suburban) farming spoilageof storageor long-distancetranspoftation. within city administrativecontrol. Little or no backyard In Africa where,for example,2 of 3 Kenyanand Tanzanian rooftop) land is availablefor food production within the densely urban families engage in farming, a reported 20o/oof urban developedChinese city proper. In whateverform urban farming nutritional requirementis produced in the towns and cities; efforts are expressed,not all its area or yield is solely for local in Accra, Ghana'scapital, urban farming providesthe city with subsistence.An estimated200 million globalurban dwellers also 90Voof its fresh vegetables.Early in the 2lst century, city producefood fbr sale to others.

264 Dynamic Patternsof the SpaceEconomy IVery high FI. High [---l Moderate f---l Low

Figure 8.18 Relativevalue per acre of farmland and buildings. ln a generalizedway, per acrevaluations suppoft von Thtinen'smodel. The majormetropolitan rnarkets of the Norlheast.the Midwest,and California arein partref-lected by high rulal propertyvaluations, and fiuit and vegetableproduction along the Gulf Coastincreases land valuesthere. Nationaland intemationalmarkets fbr agriculturalgoods, soil productivity, climate,and tenain characteristicsare also reflected in the map patterns. Source:Sttrtisticul Ah.\!rud ol th( Unitul Slul('s.

Live s toc'k ronchin g difl'erssignificantly fiom livestock-grain f'armingand, by its commercialorientation and distribution,fiom the nomadismit superficiallyresembles. A productof the l9th- century growth of urban markets for beef and wool in Western Figure 8.19 Contractharvesters follow the ripeningwheat nor Europe and the northeasternUnited States,ranching has been throughthe plainsof the United Statesand .

Figure 8.20 Principal wheat-growing areas.Only part of the world's wheatproduction comes fiom large-scalefarming enterprises.In weste southernEurope. castern and southernAsia, and North Afiica, wheatgrowing is part of generalor intcnsivesubsistence tarming. Recently,develo country successeswith the GreenRevolution and subsidizedsurplr.rses of'the grain in Europehave altered traditional patterns of productionand w tradein wheat.

11 A Dynamic Patternsof the SpaceEconomy 284 cHAprER8 AGRTcULTURALGEocRApHy

Centralcity o (the marketfor agriculturalproduce) I 1 - Marketgardens and feedlots n 2 - Dairying A - Fluidmilk B - Extensive,mainly pasturage

A - Intensive,cultivation of feedcrops B - Extensive,mainly pasturage

E 4 - Crainfarming E 5 - Livestockranching E 6 - Nonagricultural

Figure 8,19 V"tt Thiinen'sisolated-state model. The nrodcl garcler-ring,are located neurest thc market, rvhereasthe least is modifiedto fit the modern world better,shorving the intensive fbrrn (livestock ranching) is most renlote. \\'hv clocs hypotheticaldistribution o1' types of commercialagriculttrre. thc mociel huve (he configrrrirtionol cotrcctrlt'iccilclesi Other causallactors are held constantto illustratethe efl'ectof' Oornpare this modcl to thc real-rvorld pattern of agricultural transportationcosts and dilfering distancesliorn the market. types in Uruguav, South Arnerica, shown in Figure 8.20. The more intensivelbrms of asricultrtre,such as rnarket

progressively more on transporting produce to market. The valtre <-rfvon Thunen's moclel can also be seen in The effect of distance means that highly perishable prod- the underdeveloped countries of the rvorld. G'eoerapher ucts such as milk, fresh fiuit, and garden vegetablesneed to Ronald Honath made a detailed study of the African region be produced near the market, whereas peripheral farmers centering; on the Ethiopian capital ciq' of Adclis Ababa. have to produce nonperishable products or convert perish- Althougl'r noting disruptions caused by ethnic and environ- able items into a more durable form. such as cheese or mental clifferences, Horrath fotrnd "remarkable parallels dried fruit. betrveen von Thtinen's crop theory a'ncl the agriculture The concentric-zone model describes a sitttation in around Addis Ababa." Similarly,German geographer Ursula rvhich highly capital-intensivefbrms of commercial agrictrl- Ervaldapplied the model to the farming patterns of colonial tur-e,such as market gardening and feecllots,lie nearest tcl Mexico during the period of Spanish rule, concluding that market. The increasinglydistant, strccessiveconcentric belts even this culturally and environmentally diverse lancl pro- are occupied by progressivelyless intensive types of agricul- vided "an excellent illustration of von Thiinen's principles ture, represented by dairying, livestock fattening, grain on spatial zonation in agriculture." farming.and ranclring. How well does this modified model describe realiq'?As Can the World Be Fed? we would expect, the real rvorld is lar more complicatecl. Still. on a world scale.we can see that intensive commercial Are starvation and recurrent famine inevitable as the qpes of agriculture tend to occur most commonly near the world's population grows, as Thomas Malthus predicted huge urban mirrkets of northwestern Erlrope and the east- (see Chzrptcr 7)? Or cAn our agriculttrral systemssuccess- ern (see Figr.rre8. l). An even closer match ftrlly feeclmore than 6 billion people? can be observedin smaller areas,such asin the South Amer- In trying to answer these questions,we face a paradox. ican nation of Urtreuay (Figure 8.20). Today, some 850 million people are malnourished, some '\,

AGRO-CULTURALINTERACTION 285

As Predictedby the Modifiedvon Thun'enModel ActualTypes of Agriculture 55" z 0 40mi. F z u 0 40 80km

BRAZIL

57' 56' 55" 54'

Livestock , Marketgardening ll i .l Dairyinq lll crainfarming lV i .r A'al @ L] - - rancnrng ' I { FigUfe 8.20 tael and actual distribution of types of llrt sp:tti;tll)ltll('r'n ol L rrrgrurr:rrr:r11r'itrrltrrlc'tonlolllt lo rorr agriculture in Uruguay. This Sorrtlt Aurerican c()llnIrv p()sscss(.s flriirrt'rr'srrrork'l: [{on is rr rlillcrcrrt:'\\'irrrtrrriglrt t:rtrst.tlre ( sornr:attrilrutes of r'on Thiincn's isolaterlstatc. in that it is ,rrrorrr:rlit's:(Fc>r'the unswers, see Glilfin, 1973.) largt'lva plairtsarea d()minirtc(lby onc citr'.Irr rr'llrt nurs rlot's 3

to the point of starvatiolt. Almost every. year lve reird o1' Even rvhen rnajor eflbrts irre made to send food from famines, rrsrrallv in an Afiican c()untr)'. \'et-ancl this rvotrld weirlthy cotrntries to famine-stricken areas,the poor trans- astouncl Malthrrs-fcrod production h:rs grorvn more rapiclly portation infrastructnre of'Third \Alorlilcountries often pre- than thc rvorld population ovcr the past 40 or 50 years. Per vents eff'ectivedistribution. Political instability can disrupt capita, rnore food is availablc toclay than in 19510,when only fbod shiprnents, and the donatecl f

thicken

Americandietary culture underwent fundamental changes duringthe post-WorldWar ll period,none more dramatic thanthe shift from beefto poultryas the preferredprotein source.From 1945 to 1995,per capita consumption of chickenin the UnitedStates rose from 5 to 70 oounds (2.25to 31.5 kilograms)and by 1990surpassed that of beef.This is a startlingdevelopment in Americanculture, wherethe mythof the cowboyherding cattle on the open rangehas been so centralto an imagednational identity. Sincethe 1990s,the percapita consumption of chickenhas continuedto growas that of beefcontinues to decline, especiallysince the rise in publicityabout mad cow disease Wheredoes all this newpoultry production come from, andwhere are the sitesof consumption?Advances in U.S. agrotechnologiesfor the breeding,nutrition, housing, and processingof chickenslargely account for increasesin (R o bert Ni c ke I s b u rg/11 me Li fe Pict u res/G etty Im a ges. ) productionefficiency. This has allowed the U.S.poultry industry,largely centered in the South,to becomethe world's Thegrowing power and reachof multinationalcorporations singlelargest supplier of broilers.As the tastefor chicken is a hallmarkof globalization,no lessso in foodproduction and spreadworldwide, U.S. producers were positioned to gain consumotionthan for othereconomic sectors. Farmers who increasingshares of an expandingmarket. From 1980 to producea singlecommodity, such as poultry,must produce far 2002, worldtrade in broilersgrew nearly 500 percent,while morethan the localmarket can consume in orderto be the U,S.share of thattrade rose from 22.2 to 46.1 oercent. ^ profitable.Thus, they must sell in nationaland global markets, Chinahas been the hottestimport market because rising *l accessto whichrequires a dependenceon multinational affluencethere has led to increasingper capita consumption. agribusinesses.So pervasiveis the reachof agribusinessthat a At the sametime, China is increasingits productionand its manypoultry farmers no longerown the chickensthey produce; exportsof poultry.lt is likelyto becomea majorcompetitor multtntionalcorporations do. Farmerscontract with withthe UnitedStates for accessto otherAsian markets. multinationalsto receivechicks, feed, transport, and other Thestory of theglobal chicken gets more interesting if we inputs.When the chickensmature, they are trucked to the lookmore closely at culturalfood preferences. There is a contractingcorporation's processing plant, where they are peculiarityand a particularityto the cultureof chicken weighedand the costof inputsdeducted from the farmers' consumptionin the UnitedStates-an overwhelming shares.The farmers take their earnings to paythe mortgageson preferencefor breastmeat. This cultural predilection greatly theirlands and buildings, and the chickens are processed for influenceswhat the importingcountries eat, since the the globalfood system. remainderof the chickencannot simply be thrownaway. Hence87 percentof U.S.exports in 2000 werein the formof FromBoyd and Watts, 1997; Norberg-Hodge, Merrifield, and Gorelick, frozencuts, 40 percentof whichwere leg quarters. 2002;U.S. Department ofAgriculture.

irnpnrvecl transp()rt, and cornptrter-basecl inlolnral.ion sys- greernrcvolrrtion is part ol'asricultru'al gkrbalization, trsare tcttts. Whcn appliccl to agricrrlture, the ukrbalization pr<> countlcss"r'rrrirl dcveloprncnt" projec$ in Third \{rrrlcl corrn- ccrsstcnds to pro

Multinational corporationsare largell'r'esponsible. The ticide tolerancc or disease resistance. DNA can bc trans- fir'e biugest hvblid vegetable seeclsuppliers control 75 per- f'errcrl not only betrveen species but also bet$'een plants and cent o1'theglobal markct, and thc ten larsest agrochemical anirnirls, which makes this technology tnrly revoltrtionar.r mantrfircturers commancl 85 percent of the rvorlcl strpplr'. and rrnlike iu)v other developrnents since the beginning of' Four c:orpor:rtionssupplv rnorc'tl.ran nvo-thirds of'the U.S. dornestication. Agribrrsincsses alc :rble to patent the pro- consrrmption

r8l llll 1 lrl i0 ?l

.F- 80 :;," \ CANADA .;'.

'I r MEXTCO /,TA|WAN . ..Maize:69./o of { Maize: 7EooJ total Maize:89ooi :VENEZUE{A , warld impdfis "' .,"o,o'l'l \ world imports world imports S* * l'lfaize:296of Soybeani: 8% of total total world imports world imports \, j.. ,,t \'' t-','a'.-, sAUqrARABTA '1.- l I ,{ENYA Maize:29lo of total ' world imports {" 'r-: 0 1000 2000mi ll- r --5-L-rJ--fJ .-rl 0 1000 2000 3000km l6afi!'wr 20 _2A at latitude Scale 35 AUSTRALIA il\l

l>'sourF l |''' , FlatPolar Quartic URUCUAY nrnrce . I equalarea projection Maizq: 2olo of totAl ARGENTINA world exports Maize: 140,6of total -_worldexports Soybeans:9oloof total wqrld exports 60 J0 20 20 100 r20 WhereCenetically Modified Crops Are Found

r Countries com merciolly g rowing f W $11:i,#,f,1|j.fl1fir.0 geneticallymodified crops or $ru,:jr,;';"5:'n1".maizeor soybeans maizeor soybeans experimentingwith them

FigUre 8.21 Worldwide use of genetically altered crop \\'llrt rrlrlcrtts rrright lllist'i 1'.Sororrr:,\'utiottul (iyn ()ntuo.t 'I'his 1rr plants, especially maize and soybeans. clillirsior has ,\s.soriuIiott:['.S. I)rlnrluertI ol ,\g'iruIIutt'.1 occullcrl despitc rvarningsf lonr mirnv ccologislsand gcttcticisls. AGRO-ECOLOGY27I

Figure 8.14 ttt. diffusion of hybrid maize in the United States. Hybrid maize spread from a core area of initial acceptance in Iowa and Illinois through expansion diffusion, reaching most of the eastern United Statesin little over a decade. What type of diffusion does the pattern suggest? (Aftu Griliches,1950: 277.)

Adopted hybrid r maize by 1936 I by 1938 T by 19a0 ruby 1944 n by 1946 [] by 1948 Nonadoption n areas,1948

aggravating urban problems. To make matters worse, the reflects adaptation to environmental influences. At the use of chemicals and poisons on the land heightened envi- same time, thousandsof yearsof agricultural use of the land ronmental damage. have led to massivealterations in our natural environment. The widespread adoption of hybrid seeds has created another problem: the loss of plant diversity,or genetic vari- /lA Markets and Cultural Ecological Change ( ety. Before hybrid seeds diffused around the world, each ) farm developed its own distinctive seed qpes through the Historically, climate and the physical environmen t hava! annual harvest-timepractice of savingseeds from the better cxerted perhaps the greatest inlluence on the differerF plans for the next season'ssowing. Enormous geneticdiaer- {o.-, of agriculture. People had to adjust their subsistence .rf$rvanished almost instantly when farmers began purchas- strategiesand techniques to prevailing regional climate con- ing hybrids rather than saving seed from the last harvest. ditions. In addition, soils play an influential role in both "Gene banks" have belatedly been set up to preserve what agricultural practices and food provisioning. Swidden culti- remains of domesticated plant variety, not just in the areas vation, in part, reflects an adaptation to poor tropical soils, affected by the green revolution but also in the American which rapidly lose their fertility when farmed. Peasant agri- Corn Belt and many other agricultural regions where culture, by contrast, often owes its high productivity to the hybrids are now dominant. In sum, the green revolution fertility of local volcanic soils, which are not so quickly proved at best to be a mixed blessing. exhausted. Terrain is also an influence, with farmers tend- (Figure ing to cultivate relatively level areas 8.15). In sum, , the constraints of climate, soil, and terrain historically lim- f,grc-Ecology ited the gpes of crops and cultivation practicespossible. @ For most of human history people obtained their provi- sions locally and had locally distinct dietary cultures. The How are agriculture and ecologyr interrelated? How does the development of global markets over the past 500 yearshas theme of cultural ecologyr h.lp * understand types of agri- shifted cultural food preferences and altered the ecologyof culture? Agriculture is related to the physical environment vast areas of the planet. A multitude of crops have diffused at the most basic level, for farming involves direct use of the around the globe, creating new regional cuisines (imagine land and is directly influenced by the local climate. Because Italian cuisine without tomatoes!) while at the same time farmers and herders work and live on the land, a very close simplifring the global diet to a disproportionate reliance relationship exists between agriculture and the physical on only three grains: wheat, rice, and maize.The expansion environment. In many ways,the map of agricultural regions of European empires in the seventeel-rthand eighteenth