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Summary AP Human Geography Unit 4: Agriculture
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AP Human Geography Unit 4: Agriculture summary.
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Unit 5 FRQ Study Guide● The growth of food has managed to keep increasing because of the green revolution and
the industrial revolution
Green Revolution
● What is it?
○ The large increase in yields as the use of pesticides and fertilizers become more
common
○ The purpose of the green revolution is to achieve high enough yields, in LDCs, to
enable export trade and to increase individual production and wealth
○ The green revolution aka the third agricultural revolution made many changes to the
way that crops are farmed and animals domesticated. These changes included GM
crops, chemical fertilizers and mechanization of farming. The main purpose of the
green revolution was mainly to heighten food production mainly in LDCs to promote
development and export trade.
● What did it create?
○ GMOs, hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides
● Negative Effects
○ (health) Many health issues resulting from the large about of chemicals used on the
crops -> mostly in LDCs because they spray the crops by hand
○ (social) less need for human labor leading to many people being left jobless because of
the unskilled nature of farming
○ (environmental) more intensive use of irrigation -> water scarcity + chemicals are
overused + soil is overused leading to soil erosion (when topsoil blows away) and
, desertification (land degradation is arid, semi-arid and dry areas.) + monocropping
from only one type of GM crop (ie. corn) depletes biodiversity
○ (political or Animal welfare) most of the animal farming is done in CAFOs
(Concentrated animal feeding operations) which keep the animals mainly in small
pens that aim to overfeed the animals so that they can be killed faster.
○ (economic) Not all places can use GM crops or afford buying new seeds every season
(ex. Subsarahen Africa does not widely use GMOs because of the unsuitable crops
for the climate and the trading with Europe)
○ (environmental) Overuse of chemicals -> pollutes land -> soil erosion -> decreases the
amount of organic material in the soil which helps to keep it healthy
○ (environmental) Monocultures -> loss of biodiversity -> crops can be wiped out by
“superpests”
● Positive Effects
○ (Social) decreased the need for human labor
○ (environmental) weeds and pests controlled
○ The main positive effects of the green revolution were more
food production, less need for human labor in the farming
industry and to modernize and mechanize the way that crops and livestock are
farmed.
○ (economic) Export of crops to MDCs
● (Sub-Saharan) Africa: Why is it not able to take the full effect of the green revolution?
○ Lack of infrastructure
■ poor transportation systems discourage to switch to commercial farming
(cash crops)
■ Irrigation systems are needed -> not enough water is available to many types
of agriculture -> frequent droughts
○ Reliance on root crops -> many GMOs are not root crops
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