Human Activities Test - 2

Farming is practiced in various ways across the world depending upon the geographical conditions. Subsistence farming is one of its types in which low levels of technology and household labor are used to produce on small output.

Subsistence agriculture:

• In intensive subsistence agriculture, the farmer cultivates a small plot of land using simple tools and more labor.
• Climate with a large number of days with sunshine and fertile soils permit the growing of more than one crop annually on the same plot.
• Subsistence farming, the form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer's family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade.
• Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world have traditionally practiced subsistence farming.
• Rice is the main crop. Other crops include wheat, maize, pulses, and oilseeds.
• Intensive subsistence agriculture is prevalent in the thickly populated areas of the monsoon regions of the South, Southeast, and East Asia.

Hence, we conclude that in the Monsoon Region, intensive subsistence agriculture is the most prevalent.

• Agriculture in temperate regions is characterized by high levels of inputs (quality seed stock, fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides), and a high degree of mechanization and capitalization. 
• The agriculture in the Mediterranean region four main aspects are orchard farming, viticulture, cereal, and vegetable cultivation.
• The semiarid and subhumid zones of the world are often considered dryland farming regions. Agriculture in arid lands is largely confined to grazing by livestock, and even much of the land in semiarid regions is used only for grazing.

The correct answer is Quinary activities.

Key Points

• Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use and evaluation of new technologies.
• Their importance in the structure of advanced economies far outweighs their numbers.
• The highest level of decision-makers or policymakers performs quinary activities.
• The quinary sector is the branch of a country's economy where top-level executives make high-level decisions in the government, industry, business, education, media, and nonprofit organizations.
• The quinary sector is the top economic sector.
• The quinary sector grows out of the leadership of the quaternary sector.
• The professions of the people working in this industry are generally referred to as "gold collar" professions since the services included in the sector focus on interpreting existing or new ideas, evaluating new technologies, and creating services.
• It is also one of the parts of the tertiary sector, but it involves highly paid professionals, research scientists, and government officials.
• The people are designated with high positions and powers, and those who make important decisions that are especially far-reaching in the world around them often belong to this category.

Additional Information

• ​This sector includes senior executives or officials in different fields, such as government, science, universities, non-profit organizations, health care, culture, and the media.
• The quinary sector is born from the leadership of the quaternary sector.
• Their importance in the structure of advanced economies far exceeds their number.
• The highest level of executives who make decisions or are responsible for policies is those who carry out quinary activities.
• The term quinary is used to classify industries according to the use of knowledge, thus measuring innovation policies and systems.
• Advantages -
  • This sector does not generate wealth. However, if your job is done right, the system should work smoothly for people who create wealth.
  • The quinary sector establishes a kind of cultural economy of knowledge, intangible and emotional.
• Disadvantage - 
  • ​ One downside to this industry is the potential poor decisions that can be made by so few people or organizations. This could lead the world down a wrong and dangerous path, due to its great influence.

The correct answer is Shifting Cultivation.

• Shifting Cultivation is also called ‘Slash and Burn’ agriculture.

Key Points

• Shifting Cultivation:
  • Shifting cultivation is a model of farming which consists of slash and burn technique.
  • In this, the farmers would cut the native vegetation and burn it, then plant crops in the exposed, ash-fertilized soil for two or three seasons.
  • In India, it is called Jhum Kheti.

Additional Information

• In plantation agriculture, a single crop is grown for the entire year. 
  • It is a type of commercial farming.
• In intensive subsistence agriculture, the farmer cultivates a small plot of land using simple tools and more labour.
  • The crops grown in this agriculture are consumed by the farmer and his family. 
• In Primitive subsistence agriculture, primitive techniques are used to cultivate crops.
  • This agriculture is self-sufficient and farmers only grow food for themselves and their families.

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing a single crop, plant, or livestock species, variety, or breed in a field or farming system at a time.

Dairy Farming

• Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital intensive.
• Animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and mulching machines add to the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care, and veterinary services It is highly labour intensive as it involves rigorous care in feeding and mulching.
• There is no off-season during the year as in the case of crop raising.
• It is practiced mainly near urban and industrial centers which provide a neighborhood market for fresh milk and dairy products.
• The development of transportation, refrigeration, pasteurization and other preservation processes have increased the duration of storage of various dairy products.

Plantation Agriculture

• Plantation agriculture as mentioned above was introduced by the Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics.
• Some of the important plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas, and pineapples.
• The characteristic features of this type of farming are large estates or plantations, large capital investment, managerial and technical support, scientific methods of cultivation, single crop specialization, cheap labor, and a good system of transportation that links the estates to the factories and markets for the export of the products.

Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation

• Commercial grain cultivation is practiced in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the midlatitudes.
• Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats, and rye are also grown.
• The size of the farm is very large, therefore entire operations of cultivation from plowing to harvesting are mechanized.
• There is a low yield per acre but a high yield per person.  
• This type of agriculture is best developed in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs, and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.

Mixed Farming- This form of agriculture is found in the highly developed parts of the world, e.g. North-western Europe, Eastern North America, parts of Eurasia, and the temperate latitudes of Southern continents. Mixed farms are moderate in size and usually, the crops associated with them are wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder, and root crops. Fodder crops are an important component of mixed farming.

• Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining soil fertility. Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry provide the main income along with crops.
• Mixed farming is characterized by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and building, extensive use of chemical fertilizers and green manures, and also the skill and expertise of the farmers.
• Hence, it is clear from the above points that Mixed farming does not follow monoculture, it is growing more than one crop simultaneously.

The correct answer is Truck farming.

• It is horticultural practice of growing one or more vegetable crops on a large scale for shipment to distant markets.
• It is usually less intensive and diversified than market gardening.
• It is important as it supplies the refrigerated farming to cheaper lands and is an effective system of distribution.
• It does not involves the middlemen and can found easy to those places where the cultivation is limited by the climatic factors.
• Most important truck crops are tomatoes, lettuce, melons, beets, broccoli, celery, radishes, onions, cabbage, and strawberries.

The correct answer is Livelihood agriculture.

• The form of farming in which almost all the crops are grown or reared for the subsistence of the farmer and the family of the farmer is traditionally known as Livelihood agriculture.
• Livelihood is defined as adequate stock and flow of food and cash with an individual or a family to meet its basic needs.
• Subsistence farming or smallholder agriculture is when one family grows only enough to feed themselves.

Key Points

• Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labor.
  • It purely relies on monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and other environmental suitability conditions.
  • It is also called “slash and burn” agriculture wherein farmers clear the land and produce other crops till the soil fertility of the land decreases.
  • It is called “jhumming” or “jhum” cultivation in northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland.
  • In Manipur, it is called Pamlou. In Chattishgarh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, it is called Dipa.
• Intensive subsistence farming is practised in areas where there is high population pressure on land.
  • It is labour-intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.
  • In this type of farming, farmers always take the maximum output from the limited land.

Lumbering falls in the category of Primary activities.

Key Points

Economic activity:

• Economic activity is the activity of making, providing, purchasing or selling goods or services. Any action that involves producing, distributing, or consuming products or services is an economic activity.
• Types of economic activity
  • Production
  • Distribution
  • Consumption 
• There are five sectors of economic activity

Sectors of economic activity:

Economic activity:

• Human activities that generate income are known as economic activities.
• Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary activities.
• All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilizing resources necessary for survival.

Activity that changes raw material into products of more value is called secondary activity.

Secondary activities:

• Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products.
• A secondary activity is an activity performed by a unit in addition to its principal activity.
• The result of a secondary activity is called secondary production.

For example,

• Cotton in the boll has limited use but after it is transformed into yarn, becomes more valuable and can be used for making clothes.
• Iron ore, cannot be used; directly from the mines, but after being converted into steel it gets its value and can be used for making many valuable machines, tools, etc.
• The same is true of most of the materials from the farm, forest, mine, and the sea.
• Secondary activities, therefore, are concerned with manufacturing, processing, and construction (infrastructure) industries.

Hence, option 2 is the correct answer.

Primary activity:

• Primary activities are directly dependent on the environment as these refer to the utilization of the earth’s resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials, and minerals.
• It, thus includes hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying.

Tertiary activity:

• The tertiary activity consists of all occupations of service.
• Significant examples of tertiary activities include transport, networking, commerce, health, education, and administration.
• The growth of primary and secondary sectors is assisted by these tertiary activities.

The correct answer is Service.

Key Points 

• ​The service sector is the part of the economy that provides various services, as opposed to providing tangible goods such as cars and televisions.
• The service sector is the largest sector of the economy in developed nations.
• The fact that the service sector is designated as the tertiary sector should not be in any way taken to mean that it occupies third place in terms of economic importance.
• Examples of Service Industries
  • ​Travel Industry
  • Information Technology Industry
  • Media and Entertainment Industry
• The service sector consists of the production of services instead of end products. Services include attention, advice, access, experience, and affective labour. The production of information has been long regarded as a service, but some economists now attribute it to a fourth sector, the quaternary sector.
• Service sectors provides most of the employment in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Additional Information

•  The service sector is the sector of the economy that produces and offers services.
• According to the tri-sector macroeconomic theory, there are three major economic sectors – primary, secondary, and tertiary.
• The services sector is not only the dominant sector in India’s GDP but has also attracted significant foreign investment, has contributed significantly to export and has provided large-scale employment.
• India’s services sector covers a wide variety of activities such as trade, hotel and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financing, insurance, real estate, business services, community, social and personal services, and services associated with construction.