Primary ActivitiesClass 12 Fundamentals of Human Geography Notes

Primary Activities

Human activities that generate income are called economic activities. They are broadly divided into four groups: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.

Primary activities are those directly connected to the natural environment. They involve using the Earth's resources like land, water, plants, and minerals. This category includes activities such as:

• Hunting and gathering
• Pastoral activities (animal herding)
• Fishing
• Forestry
• Agriculture
• Mining and quarrying

HUNTING AND GATHERING

Hunting and gathering are the oldest known economic activities. Early humans depended entirely on their immediate surroundings for survival. They lived by hunting animals and gathering edible plants from nearby forests.

• Hunting: In the past, people in very cold and very hot climates relied heavily on hunting. While modern technology has changed fishing, hunting with primitive tools (made of stone, twigs, or arrows) limited the number of animals killed. Today, many species are endangered due to illegal hunting, also known as poaching.
• Gathering: This is practiced in regions with harsh climates by societies that extract plants and animals to meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing. It requires very little money or technology, and as a result, the output per person is very low, with almost no extra produce to sell.

Gathering is primarily found in two main zones:

1. High Latitude Zones: Northern Canada, northern Eurasia, and southern Chile.
2. Low Latitude Zones: The Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, the northern parts of Australia, and interior Southeast Asia.

Modern Gathering

In modern times, some gathering has become commercial and market-oriented. Gatherers collect valuable plants like leaves, barks (used for quinine, tannin), and medicinal herbs. After simple processing, they sell these products.

However, gathering has little chance of becoming a major global activity. Its products often can't compete with synthetic alternatives, which are frequently better in quality and lower in price.

PASTORALISM

As people realized hunting was not a sustainable long-term activity, they began to domesticate animals. This practice of animal rearing, known as pastoralism, is done at either a subsistence (for survival) or a commercial (for profit) level, depending on geography and technology.

Nomadic Herding

Nomadic herding, or pastoral nomadism, is a primitive form of subsistence where herders depend on their animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools, and transport. They are constantly on the move with their livestock, searching for fresh pastures and water. Each community traditionally occupies a well-defined territory.

Different animals are reared in different regions:

• Tropical Africa: Cattle
• Sahara and Asiatic deserts: Sheep, goats, and camels
• Tibet and Andes mountains: Yak and llamas
• Arctic and sub-Arctic areas: Reindeer

A key feature of nomadic herding is transhumance, which is the seasonal migration of herders and their livestock. This can be a vertical movement, like from plains to mountain pastures in summer and back to the plains in winter.

The number of pastoral nomads is decreasing today. This is mainly due to the creation of political boundaries that restrict movement and new settlement plans by governments.

Commercial Livestock Rearing

In contrast to nomadic herding, commercial livestock rearing is a more organized, capital-intensive, and market-focused activity. It is mainly associated with Western cultures.

• Permanent Ranches: Animals are raised on large, permanent farms called ranches. These ranches are fenced and divided into smaller parcels to control grazing and prevent overgrazing.
• Specialization: It is a specialized activity where only one type of animal is raised, such as sheep, cattle, goats, or horses.
• Scientific Methods: Rearing is done scientifically, with a focus on genetic improvement, disease control, and animal health care.
• Global Trade: Products like meat, wool, and hides are processed, packed scientifically, and exported to markets around the world.

Important countries for commercial livestock rearing include New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States of America.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is practiced in many different ways across the world, depending on physical conditions (like climate and soil) and socio-economic factors. These variations lead to different agricultural systems.

Subsistence Agriculture

This is a type of farming where the farmers and their families consume all or most of the crops they grow. There is very little surplus to sell.

Primitive Subsistence Agriculture Also known as shifting cultivation, this method is widely used by tribes in tropical regions of Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia.

• Process: A patch of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the vegetation. The ash adds fertility to the soil. This is why it's also called slash and burn agriculture.
• Cultivation: Farming is done on very small patches using primitive tools like sticks and hoes.
• Shifting: After three to five years, the soil loses its fertility. The farmer then abandons the patch and moves to clear a new piece of forest. Over time, as the population grows, the cycle of returning to an old patch becomes shorter, leading to soil degradation.
• Local Names: This practice is known by different names globally:
  • Jhuming in North-eastern India
  • Milpa in Central America and Mexico
  • Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture This type of farming is found in the densely populated regions of monsoon Asia. It is characterized by small land holdings and intensive use of land and labor.

There are two main types:

1. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation:

   • Rice is the dominant crop.
   • Farms are very small due to high population density.
   • Most work is done by hand with family labor.
   • Farm yard manure is used to maintain soil fertility.
   • The yield per unit area is high, but the productivity per worker is low.

2. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy:

   • In areas where relief, climate, or soil are not suitable for rice, other crops are grown.
   • Examples include wheat, soyabean, barley, and sorghum in northern China, Manchuria, and North Japan. In India, wheat is grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains and millets in drier parts.
   • Most characteristics are similar to wet paddy cultivation, but irrigation is often used.

Plantation Agriculture

This form of agriculture was introduced by Europeans in tropical colonies. It is a large-scale, profit-oriented system.

• Key Features:
  • Large estates or plantations.
  • Large capital investment and technical support.
  • Scientific methods of cultivation.
  • Specialization in a single crop (monoculture).
  • Reliance on cheap labor.
  • A good transportation system to link estates to factories and markets for export.
• Examples of Colonial Plantations:
  • The French established cocoa and coffee plantations in West Africa.
  • The British set up tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, rubber plantations in Malaysia, and sugarcane/banana plantations in the West Indies.
  • The Spanish and Americans invested in coconut and sugarcane in the Philippines.
  • In Brazil, some large coffee plantations, known as fazendas, are still managed by Europeans.

Today, the ownership of most of these plantations has been transferred to the governments or citizens of the respective countries.

Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation

This type of agriculture is practiced in the interior parts of semi-arid lands in the mid-latitudes.

• Key Features:
  • Wheat is the principal crop, but corn, barley, oats, and rye are also grown.
  • Farms are very large.
  • The entire process, from ploughing to harvesting, is highly mechanised.
  • The yield per acre is low, but because of mechanization, the yield per person is very high.
• Regions: This farming is best developed in the world's temperate grasslands:
  • Eurasian Steppes
  • Canadian and American Prairies
  • Pampas of Argentina
  • Velds of South Africa
  • Australian Downs
  • Canterbury Plains of New Zealand

Mixed Farming

This form of agriculture is found in the highly developed parts of the world, like North-western Europe and Eastern North America.

• Key Features:
  • Farms are moderate in size.
  • It combines crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
  • Crops grown include wheat, barley, maize, and especially fodder crops for the animals.
  • Animals like cattle, sheep, and pigs provide a major source of income alongside crops.
  • Crop rotation and intercropping are used to maintain soil fertility.
  • It requires high capital investment in machinery, buildings, and chemical fertilisers.

Dairy Farming

This is the most advanced and efficient type of animal rearing, focused on milk production.

• Key Features:
  • Highly capital intensive, requiring investment in animal sheds, fodder storage, and milking machines.
  • Highly labour intensive, as it involves year-round care in feeding and milking.
  • Special emphasis on cattle breeding, health care, and veterinary services.
  • It is practiced mainly near urban and industrial centers, which provide ready markets for fresh milk and dairy products.
  • Developments in transportation, refrigeration, and pasteurisation have allowed dairy products to be stored longer and transported farther.
• Main Regions:
  1. North Western Europe (the largest region)
  2. Canada
  3. South Eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania

Mediterranean Agriculture

This is a highly specialized commercial agriculture found in regions with a Mediterranean climate.

• Key Feature: It is famous for viticulture, or grape cultivation. High-quality grapes are used to produce some of the world's best wines, while inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants.
• Other Crops: This region is also a major supplier of citrus fruits, olives, and figs.
• Advantage: Valuable fruits and vegetables are grown during the winter, when there is high demand in European and North American markets.
• Regions: It is practiced in countries around the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in southern California, central Chile, south-western South Africa, and parts of Australia.

Market Gardening and Horticulture

This type of farming specializes in growing high-value crops like vegetables, fruits, and flowers specifically for urban markets.

• Key Features:
  • Farms are small and located near cities with good transportation links.
  • It is both labour and capital intensive.
  • It relies on irrigation, high-yield seeds, fertilisers, and sometimes greenhouses and artificial heating.
• Truck Farming: In regions where farmers specialize only in vegetables, the practice is known as truck farming. The name comes from the fact that the distance from the farm to the market is determined by how far a truck can travel overnight.
• Factory Farming: A modern development, especially in Western Europe and North America, where livestock (particularly poultry and cattle) are raised indoors in stalls and pens. They are fed manufactured feed and carefully monitored for diseases. This requires heavy capital investment.

Co-operative Farming

In this system, a group of farmers forms a co-operative society by voluntarily pooling their resources to farm more efficiently and profitably.

• Individual farms remain intact, but farming activities are a co-operative effort.
• The society helps farmers get inputs, sell their products at good prices, and process them cheaply.
• This movement has been very successful in Western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. In Denmark, almost every farmer is a member of a co-operative.

Collective Farming

This system is based on the principle of social ownership of the means of production and collective labor.

• The model of Kolkhoz, or collective farm, was introduced in the former Soviet Union to boost agricultural production.
• Farmers pooled all their resources, including land, livestock, and labor.
• They were allowed to keep very small plots of land to grow crops for their own daily needs.

MINING

The discovery and use of minerals mark important stages in human history, such as the Copper Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. While ancient use was limited to tools and weapons, the real development of mining began with the industrial revolution.

Factors Affecting Mining Activity

The profitability of mining depends on two main sets of factors:

1. Physical factors: The size, grade (quality), and mode of occurrence of the mineral deposits.
2. Economic factors: The demand for the mineral, the technology available, capital for infrastructure, and the costs of labor and transport.

Methods of Mining

There are two main types of mining, depending on how the mineral occurs.

1. Surface Mining (Open-cast Mining):

   • Used for minerals that are found close to the surface.
   • It is the easiest, cheapest, and safest method of mining.
   • Overhead costs for safety are relatively low, and the output is large and rapid.

2. Underground Mining (Shaft Method):

   • Used when the ore lies deep below the surface.
   • Vertical shafts are sunk into the ground, and underground galleries are dug to reach the minerals.
   • It requires specialized equipment like lifts, drills, and ventilation systems.
   • This method is very risky due to dangers like poisonous gases, fires, floods, and cave-ins, which can lead to fatal accidents.