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Chapter 4 Primary Activities
Introduction
Economic activities are those human activities that generate income. These activities are broadly categorized into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary sectors.
Primary activities are fundamentally reliant on the natural environment. They involve the direct utilization of Earth's resources. This includes leveraging resources such as land, water bodies, vegetation, building materials, and minerals. Consequently, primary activities encompass a range of pursuits like hunting and gathering, raising livestock (pastoralism), fishing, managing forests (forestry), cultivating crops (agriculture), and extracting minerals (mining and quarrying).
The type of primary activity undertaken in a specific region is influenced by a combination of physical factors (like climate, soil, topography, resource availability) and social factors (like technology level, cultural practices, population density, government policies). For example, inhabitants of coastal areas often engage in fishing due to proximity to the sea, while those in fertile plain regions are typically involved in agriculture due to favourable land and soil conditions.
Individuals engaged in primary activities are commonly referred to as red-collar workers, a term reflecting the outdoor and manual nature of much of this work.
Hunting And Gathering
Hunting and gathering represent the oldest known economic activities of humankind. Early human societies depended directly on their immediate surroundings for survival.
Primitive Sustenance
Primitive societies sustained themselves by hunting wild animals and gathering edible plants, fruits, nuts, and roots from the forests around them. In regions with harsh climates (very cold or extremely hot deserts), people primarily relied on hunting for survival.
Early hunters used basic tools like stones, sharpened twigs, or arrows, which limited the number of animals they could kill, contributing to a degree of sustainability at that time. However, with technological advancements and increased human populations, hunting has led to the extinction or endangerment of many species, resulting in bans on hunting in many countries (primarily for conservation purposes).
Gathering Practices
Gathering is practiced in various regions, particularly in areas with challenging climatic conditions. It is typically associated with primitive societies and involves collecting both plant and animal products directly from the environment to meet basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing.
This activity requires minimal capital investment and utilizes very low levels of technology. As a result, the amount produced per person is quite low, and there is usually little to no surplus generated for trade.
Geographically, subsistence gathering is found in specific regions:
- High Latitude Zones: Including parts of northern Canada, northern Eurasia, and southern Chile.
- Low Latitude Zones: Such as the Amazon Basin, parts of tropical Africa, the northern fringe of Australia, and the interior regions of Southeast Asia.
Commercial Gathering
In some instances, gathering has become more market-oriented and commercial. Gatherers collect valuable natural products like leaves, tree bark, medicinal plants, nuts, and resins for sale. After basic processing, these items are sold in markets.
Different parts of plants are used for various products: bark for quinine, tannin, and cork; leaves for beverages, drugs, cosmetics, and fibers; nuts for food and oils; and tree trunks for rubber, gums, and resins (like Chicle from the zapota tree, used in chewing gum).
Limitations Of Gathering
Despite its historical significance, gathering has limited potential to become a globally important economic activity. Products obtained through gathering often struggle to compete in the international market, primarily because synthetic alternatives are frequently available, offering better quality and lower prices, replacing many traditional gathered items.
Pastoralism
Recognizing the limitations of hunting, humans eventually began domesticating animals. Pastoralism, or animal rearing, developed differently across regions based on geographical factors and technological advancements, practiced at either a subsistence or commercial level.
Nomadic Herding
Nomadic herding (or pastoral nomadism) is a primitive form of subsistence agriculture where herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools, and transportation. These herders move with their livestock over vast distances in search of suitable pastures and water, following traditional routes within defined territories.
Different types of animals are reared depending on the climate and region:
- Tropical Africa: Primarily cattle.
- Sahara and Asiatic deserts: Sheep, goats, and camels.
- Mountainous areas (Tibet, Andes): Yaks and llamas.
- Arctic and sub-Arctic areas: Reindeer.
Nomadic herding is associated with three main regions globally:
- A large belt stretching from the Atlantic coast of North Africa eastward across the Arabian Peninsula into Mongolia and Central China.
- The tundra regions of Eurasia.
- Smaller areas in Southwest Africa and Madagascar in the Southern Hemisphere.
Movement can be horizontal (over long distances across plains or deserts) or vertical (between different elevations in mountains). The seasonal migration of livestock and herders between mountain pastures in summer and plain areas in winter is called transhumance. Examples include the Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis, and Bhotiyas in the Himalayas.
The practice of nomadic herding is declining due to external factors like the imposition of political boundaries that restrict movement and government settlement plans aimed at integrating nomadic communities into settled life.
Commercial Livestock Rearing
Commercial livestock rearing (ranching) is a more modern, organized, and capital-intensive activity. It is typically practiced on permanent ranches, which are large fenced areas divided into parcels for controlled grazing.
This is a specialized form of animal rearing, often focusing on a single type of animal such as sheep, cattle, goats, or horses. The primary goal is commercial production of goods like meat, wool, hides, and skin, which are processed, packaged, and exported to international markets.
Commercial ranching is managed scientifically, with emphasis on improving animal breeds, genetic quality, disease control, and healthcare.
Key regions where commercial livestock rearing is prominent include New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States of America.
Agriculture
Agriculture, the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock, is practiced under diverse environmental and socio-economic conditions. These variations lead to a variety of agricultural systems and farming methods globally.
Subsistence Agriculture
In subsistence agriculture, farmers produce crops and livestock primarily to meet their own or their family's consumption needs, with little to no surplus for sale. It is divided into two main types:
Primitive Subsistence Agriculture (Shifting Cultivation)
Primitive subsistence agriculture, also known as shifting cultivation or slash and burn agriculture, is practiced by many tribal groups in tropical regions, including parts of Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia.
It involves clearing small patches of forest vegetation by cutting and burning. The ashes enrich the soil, providing temporary fertility. Cultivation is done using basic tools like sticks and hoes. After a few years (typically 3-5 years), when the soil fertility is exhausted, the farmers abandon the patch and shift to a new area, clearing another patch of forest. They may return to the old patch after it has regenerated naturally over time.
A significant challenge with shifting cultivation is the shortening of the fallow period (the time the land is left to regenerate) due to population pressure, leading to decreased fertility and yield in different parcels. This practice is known by various local names in different regions, such as Jhuming (northeastern India), Milpa (Central America and Mexico), and Ladang (Indonesia and Malaysia).
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
Intensive subsistence agriculture is common in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia. It is characterized by farming on small landholdings using intensive manual labor and relatively simple tools, aiming for high output per unit of land to support a large population.
There are primarily two variations:
- Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation: Rice is the main crop. Farm sizes are very small due to high population density. Family labor is extensively used, and most tasks are done manually, with limited machinery. Farmyard manure is used to maintain soil fertility. While yield per unit area is high, the productivity per laborer is generally low.
- Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy: Practiced in areas of monsoon Asia where rice cultivation is not suitable due to geographical factors like relief, climate, or soil conditions. Crops like wheat, soyabean, barley, sorghum, and millets are grown. While sharing many characteristics with wet paddy cultivation (small holdings, intensive labor), this type often relies more on irrigation, especially in drier areas. Examples include wheat cultivation in parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and millets in dry parts of India.
Plantation Agriculture
Plantation agriculture is a commercial farming system introduced by European colonists in tropical regions. It focuses on large-scale production of a single cash crop primarily for export.
Key characteristics include:
- Large estates or plantations dedicated to cultivating one main crop.
- Significant capital investment.
- Requirement for managerial and technical expertise.
- Application of scientific methods of cultivation.
- Specialization in a single crop (monoculture).
- Reliance on cheap labor.
- A well-developed transportation system connecting plantations to factories and export markets.
Important plantation crops include tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas, and pineapples.
Historical examples include French cocoa and coffee plantations in West Africa, British tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka and rubber in Malaysia, Spanish/American coconut and sugarcane plantations in the Philippines, and Dutch sugarcane plantations in Indonesia. Some coffee plantations ("fazendas") in Brazil were also managed by Europeans.
Today, the ownership of many plantations has shifted from foreign colonists to the governments or citizens of the independent countries where they are located.
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation
Extensive commercial grain cultivation is practiced in the semi-arid interior grasslands of mid-latitudes. The primary crop is wheat, supplemented by corn, barley, oats, and rye.
This system uses very large farms, often hundreds or thousands of hectares. As a result, farming operations, from plowing to harvesting, are highly mechanized to cover the vast area efficiently.
The distinguishing feature is a relatively low yield per acre (due to less intensive methods per unit area) but a high yield per person (due to mechanization reducing the labor requirement per unit of output).
Major regions for this type of farming include the Eurasian steppes, the Prairies of Canada and the USA, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs, and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.
Mixed Farming
Mixed farming is found in highly developed parts of the world, such as Northwestern Europe, Eastern North America, parts of Eurasia, and temperate regions of the Southern continents.
Farms are typically moderate in size. This system integrates both crop cultivation and livestock rearing, with relatively equal emphasis on both activities. Common crops include wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder crops, and root crops. Fodder crops are crucial for feeding the livestock. Crop rotation and intercropping are practiced to maintain soil fertility.
Animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry are raised, providing a significant portion of the farm's income alongside the crops.
Mixed farming requires high capital investment in machinery and farm buildings. It also involves extensive use of chemical fertilizers and green manures and relies on the skill and expertise of the farmers.
Dairy Farming
Dairy farming is a highly specialized and efficient system focused on rearing milch animals (those that produce milk). It is characterized by significant capital investment, including expenditures on animal sheds, feed storage, and automated feeding and milking equipment.
Considerable attention is given to cattle breeding, health care, and veterinary services. Dairy farming is very labor-intensive due to the daily requirements of feeding, milking, and caring for the animals. Unlike crop farming, there is no off-season; activities continue throughout the year.
Commercial dairy farming is primarily located near urban and industrial centers, which provide a large, readily accessible market for fresh milk and dairy products. Advancements in transportation (especially refrigerated transport), pasteurization, and preservation technologies have greatly extended the shelf life and market reach of dairy products.
The main commercial dairy farming regions are:
- Northwestern Europe (the largest).
- Canada.
- Southeastern Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania.
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean agriculture is a distinct form of highly specialized commercial agriculture practiced in regions with a Mediterranean climate (warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters). These regions are located around the Mediterranean Sea, in Southern California, central Chile, southwestern parts of South Africa, and southern/southwestern Australia.
This agricultural system is renowned for producing citrus fruits. A particular specialty is viticulture, or grape cultivation, which is extensive in the Mediterranean region. High-quality grapes are used to produce distinctive wines, while inferior grapes are dried to make raisins and currants. Olives and figs are also important crops.
A key advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is the ability to grow valuable crops like fruits and vegetables during the winter months, catering to demand in markets in Europe and North America.
Market Gardening And Horticulture
Market gardening and horticulture involve the specialized cultivation of high-value crops such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers specifically for nearby urban markets. Farms are typically small in size and located close to urban centers with good transportation links to facilitate the quick delivery of perishable produce.
This is both labor and capital intensive. It relies heavily on inputs like irrigation, High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, and in colder climates, greenhouses and artificial heating.
This type of agriculture is well-developed in densely populated industrial areas like northwestern Europe, northeastern USA, and Mediterranean regions. For example, the Netherlands is known for its specialization in flowers and horticultural crops like tulips, which are exported globally.
When farming specializes exclusively in vegetables, it is sometimes called truck farming, a term derived from the distance vegetables are transported overnight by truck to the market.
A modern development, especially in industrial regions of Western Europe and North America, is factory farming. This involves intensive rearing of livestock, particularly poultry and cattle, indoors in controlled environments (stalls and pens). Animals are fed manufactured feed and provided with veterinary care. This system requires significant capital investment in buildings and machinery. Breed selection and scientific breeding are also crucial aspects of factory farming.
Farming Organisation
Beyond farming methods, the organization of agricultural production varies, influenced by farm ownership structures and government policies.
Co-operative Farming
In co-operative farming, a group of farmers voluntarily join together to form a co-operative society. They pool their resources (like land, labor, capital) to farm more efficiently and profitably. Crucially, individual farmers retain ownership of their farms, but farming activities and decision-making become a collective effort.
The co-operative society assists members in procuring inputs (seeds, fertilizers, equipment), selling products at better prices, and sometimes processing produce, leading to potential cost savings and improved returns for members.
This model originated over a century ago and has been particularly successful in Western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. Denmark is noted as a country where nearly every farmer is a member of a co-operative.
Collective Farming
Collective farming (or Kolkhoz, as practiced in the former Soviet Union) is based on the principle of social or collective ownership of the means of production and collective labor. Introduced to address inefficiencies and boost production, farmers in a collective farm pooled most of their resources, including land, livestock, and labor.
While most resources were collectively owned and managed, members were typically allowed to retain small private plots for growing crops to meet their personal daily needs.
Mining
The extraction of minerals from the Earth's crust is a primary activity that has played a crucial role throughout human history, marking distinct developmental stages like the Copper Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Initially, minerals were primarily used for making tools, utensils, and weapons. The significance and scale of mining grew considerably with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and continue to increase today.
Factors Affecting Mining Activity
The economic viability and profitability of mining operations are influenced by two main categories of factors:
- Physical Factors: These relate to the characteristics of the mineral deposit itself, including its size, the quality or grade of the ore (concentration of the valuable mineral), and how the deposit occurs in the earth (e.g., depth, shape, surrounding rock).
- Economic Factors: These involve market and operational considerations, such as the demand for the specific mineral, the availability and cost of necessary technology for extraction and processing, the capital required to develop infrastructure (mines, roads, facilities), and the costs of labor and transportation.
Methods Of Mining
The method used for mining depends on the location and nature of the mineral deposit:
- Surface Mining (Open-cast Mining / Strip Mining): This is the simplest and least expensive method for minerals located close to the surface. It involves removing the overlying layers of soil and rock to access the mineral. Overheads like safety precautions and specialized equipment are relatively low. It allows for large and rapid output.
- Underground Mining (Shaft Method): When mineral deposits are located deep below the surface, vertical shafts are sunk into the ground. From these shafts, horizontal tunnels or galleries are excavated to reach the mineral seam. Minerals are then extracted and brought to the surface through these passages using specialized lifts and haulage systems. This method requires extensive infrastructure (drills, ventilation, safety systems) and is inherently riskier than surface mining due to potential hazards like poisonous gases, fires, floods, and cave-ins, which can lead to fatal accidents.
Globally, there's a trend where developed economies are increasingly moving away from direct mining and initial processing due to high labor costs. Developing countries, often with larger labor forces and the goal of improving living standards, are becoming more significant players in these stages of mineral production. For some developing countries in Africa, South America, and Asia, mineral exports contribute to over fifty percent of their earnings.