Primary Activities

Economic activities are essential for generating income and are grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary activities. Primary activities depend on the environment and involve using resources like land, water, vegetation, minerals, and building materials. The most common primary activities include hunting, gathering, pastoralism, fishing, agriculture, and mining.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand primary economic activities and their reliance on the environment.
2. Explore key factors influencing primary activities in different regions.
3. Examine the role of physical and social factors in the variation of these activities.

Hunting and Gathering

Humanity’s earliest sustenance strategies were hunting and gathering. These activities are still practiced in regions with harsh climates and by primitive societies, although modern technology has influenced them. Coastal communities continue fishing, while hunting has been curbed due to illegal poaching and species extinction. Primitive tools limited early hunting, and now hunting is mostly banned in countries like India. Gathering, although an ancient economic activity, remains prevalent in high-latitude and low-latitude zones. Gatherers collect plants for various products like quinine, tanin, cork, and rubber, but their contributions to the global market remain small due to competition from synthetic products.

1. Early humans survived by hunting animals and gathering edible plants.
2. Gathering occurs in regions like northern Canada, tropical Africa, and Southeast Asia, but its economic impact remains minimal.
3. Key products gathered include barks, leaves, nuts, and tree trunks for items like drugs, cosmetics, and oils.

Pastoralism

Pastoralism involves the domestication and rearing of animals. It developed when hunting became unsustainable, and various communities adopted the practice based on geographic and climatic conditions.

1. Nomadic herding is a subsistence activity where herders depend on animals for food, shelter, and clothing, moving according to pasture availability. This practice is common in tropical Africa, Sahara, Tibet, and Arctic regions.
2. Transhumance refers to the seasonal migration of herders from plains to mountains in summer and back during winter, as practiced by groups like the Gujjars and Bakarwals in the Himalayas.
3. Commercial livestock rearing is an organized, capital-intensive form of pastoralism where ranches manage grazing scientifically, focusing on animals like cattle, sheep, and goats in regions like New Zealand, Argentina, and the United States.

Agriculture

Agriculture varies widely based on physical and socio-economic factors, with major systems including subsistence agriculture, plantation farming, and commercial grain cultivation.

Subsistence Agriculture

1. Primitive subsistence agriculture, or shifting cultivation, is practiced in tropical areas. The cycle of clearing forests, burning vegetation, and farming continues as land loses fertility. This method, known as slash and burn, is common in places like Africa and Southeast Asia, with names like jhuming in India and milpa in Central America.
2. Intensive subsistence agriculture, prevalent in densely populated monsoon Asia, is of two types:

• Wet paddy cultivation, dominant in countries like India and China, involves small land holdings and high labor input.
• Non-paddy crops like wheat and barley are grown in areas like North China and Korea due to climate and soil differences.

Plantation Agriculture

Plantation agriculture was introduced by European colonists and involves large-scale, profit-oriented production of crops like tea, coffee, rubber, and cocoa.

1. This system relies on large estates, capital investment, cheap labor, and efficient transportation for exporting products.
2. Countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil are known for their tea, coffee, and sugarcane plantations, respectively.

Commercial Grain Cultivation

1. Commercial grain cultivation occurs in semi-arid regions like the Canadian Prairies and Eurasian Steppes, with wheat as the main crop. This highly mechanized farming method involves large farm sizes but results in low yield per acre.

Mixed Farming

1. Mixed farming combines crop cultivation and animal husbandry. It is found in developed areas like Northwestern Europe and involves crops like wheat and barley, along with animals like sheep and poultry.

Dairy Farming

1. Dairy farming is the most advanced form of animal rearing. It requires high capital investment and is centered around urban areas to supply fresh milk and dairy products. It is well-established in regions like Northwestern Europe and Southeastern Australia.

Important Note: In intensive subsistence agriculture, rice is the dominant crop, but productivity per labor is often low due to small landholdings and manual labor practices.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Mediterranean agriculture focuses on producing high-value crops such as citrus fruits, grapes, and olives in regions like southern Europe, North Africa, and California. The cultivation of grapes is especially notable for producing high-quality wines, while fruits and vegetables are grown during the winter to meet market demand in Europe and North America.

1. Viticulture is a key feature of Mediterranean agriculture, particularly for the production of wine.
2. The region also exports olives, figs, and citrus fruits, benefiting from favorable climate conditions.

Market Gardening and Horticulture

Market gardening and horticulture specialize in growing high-value crops like fruits, vegetables, and flowers for urban markets. This type of farming is labor-intensive and capital-intensive, utilizing irrigation, HYV seeds, and greenhouses. It is common in densely populated regions of Northwest Europe and the United States.

1. Truck farming refers to vegetable farming near urban centers, while factory farming involves intensive livestock rearing in controlled environments, particularly for poultry and cattle.

Types of Farming

Farming can be classified based on the type of ownership and organizational structure.

1. Co-operative farming involves farmers pooling resources for efficient farming, while maintaining individual ownership. This model is highly successful in countries like Denmark and Netherlands.
2. Collective farming, on the other hand, involves shared ownership of means of production. It was introduced in the former Soviet Union as a method of boosting agricultural productivity.

Mining

Mining has played a crucial role throughout history, marking different ages like the Copper Age and Bronze Age. With industrialization, the importance of mining increased, driven by physical and economic factors like deposit size, demand, and technological advancements.

Methods of Mining

Mining is conducted through two main methods:

1. Surface mining: Also called open-cast mining, it is the easiest and most economical way to extract minerals close to the surface. This method involves fewer safety precautions and produces a large output.
2. Underground mining: This method involves shaft mining, where vertical shafts are drilled to reach underground galleries. It is riskier due to hazards like gas leaks, fires, and cave-ins.

Important Note: Mining operations are shifting from developed to developing countries due to labor costs, with many African and South American countries relying heavily on mineral exports for income.

Table: Comparison of Nomadic Herding vs. Commercial Livestock Rearing

MCQ:
Which one of the following types of agriculture involves the seasonal migration of herders and their livestock from plains to mountains in the summer and back to the plains in winter?
a) Intensive subsistence agriculture
b) Plantation agriculture
c) Nomadic herding
d) Commercial grain cultivation

Answer: c) Nomadic herding