Primary Activities

Introduction

Human activities which generate income known as economic activities .
Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary ,secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities .
primary activities are directly dependent on environment as these refer to earth's resources such as land , water ,materials and minerals .
primary activities are hunting and gathering ,pastoral activities , fishing . forestry agriculture etc.

Hunting and gathering

The earliest human being depended on their immediate environment for their substance

They subsisted on :

a) Animals which they hunted

b) The edible plants which they gathered from forests in the vicinity

Primitive societies depended on wild animals
People located in very cold and extremely hot climates survived on hunting
The early hunters used primitives tools made of stones , twigs, or arrows so the no of animals killed was limited .
Gather and hunting are the oldest economic activity.

Gathering is practiced in

High latitude zones which include Northern Canada, Northern Eurasia and Southern Chile.
Low latitude zones a such as the Amazon , Basin , tropical Africa , Northern Frings of Australia and the interior parts of south east Asia .

In modern time some gathering in market oriented and has become commercial

Gathers collect valuable plants such as leaves, barks of trees and medicinal plants and after simple processing sell the products in the market

Example : Cork , drugs , fibers etc.

Pastoralism

At some stage in history , with the realization that hunting is an unsustainable activity , human beings might have thought of domestication of animals .
People living in different climatic condition which are suitable for domesticated animals
Depending on the geographical factors , and technological development .

Nomadic Herding

Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a primitive subsistence activity ,in which the herders rely on animals for food , clothing shelter, tools and transport
They move from one place to another along with their live stock , depending on the amount and quality of pastures and water

A wide variety of animals is kept in different region

In tropical Africa , Cattle are the most important livestock , while in Sahara and Asiatic , desert 's sheep , goats and camel are reared .
In the mountainous areas of Tibet and Andes , yak and llamas and in the arctic and such arctic areas , reindeer are the most important animals

Postural nomadism is associated with three important regions .

The core region extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into Mongolia and central china
The second region extends over the tundra region of Eurasia
In the southern hemisphere there are small areas in south - west Africa and on the island of Madagascar

Transhumance

The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summers and again from mountain pasture to plain areas during winters is known as transhumance

The number of pastoral nomads has been decreasing and the areas operated by them shrinking

This is due to :

a) Imposition of political boundaries

b) New settlement plans by different countries .

Commercial live stock rearing

Commercial live stock ranching is essentially associated with western cultures and is practiced on permanent ranches .
The number of animals in a posture is kept according to the carrying capacity of the posture
This is a specialized activity in which only one type of animals is reared
Important animals include : Sheep , Cattle , Goats and Horses
Products such as meat , wool , hides and skin are processed and packed scientifically and exported to different world markets .

Agriculture

Agriculture is practiced under multiple combinations of physical and socio economic condition , which gives rise to different types of agriculture systems
Based on methods of farming , different types of crops are grown and livestock raised

Subsistence agriculture

It is one in in which the farming areas consume all , of the products locally grown .

It can be grouped in two categories

Primitive subsistence agriculture
Intensive subsistence agriculture

Primitive subsistence Agriculture

It is also known as shifting cultivation is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics ,especially in Africa , south and central America and south east Asia .

Slash and burn agriculture

The vegetation is usually cleared by fire, and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil
After sometimes the soil looses its fertility and the farmer shifts to another and clears other patch of the forest for cultivation
One of the major problem of shifting cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes less and less due to loss of fertility in different parcels .
It is prevalent in tropical region in different names

Example : Jhuming in North eastern states of India

Intensive subsistence Agriculture

This type of agriculture is largely found in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia

Basically , there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture

1. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation

This type of agriculture is characterized by dominance of the rice crop .
Land holdings are very small due to the high density of population
In this type of agriculture are the yield per unit area is high but per labour productivity is low

2. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy

Due to the different in relief , climate , soil and some of the other geographical factors , It is not practical to grow paddy in many parts of monsoon Asia

Plantation Agriculture

It is introduced by Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics
Important planation crops are tea , coffee , cocoa , rubber , cotton oil palm , sugarcane , banana and pineapple .
This type of farming are large estates or plantations, large capital investment managerial and technical support
Scientific methods of cultivation
Cheap labour and a good system of transportation .

The french established cocoa and coffee in west Africa.
The British setup tea gardens in India and Srilanka rubber plantation in Malaysia
Spanish and Americans introduced coconut and sugar cane in Philippines
Dutch started sugarcane in Indonesia.
Coffee fazandas are managed by British in Brazil

Extensive commercial grain cultivation

Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the interior parts of semi arid lands of the mid latitudes .
Wheat is the principal crop
crops like corn , barley , oats and rye are also grow
The size of the farm is very large
there is low yield per acre but high yield per person
practiced in prairies , pampas , veldts , down , Canterbury plains.

Mixed Farming

This form of agriculture is founded in the highly developed parts of the world

Example : Europe , eastern North America

Mixed farms are moderate in size and usually the crops associated with it are wheat, barley , oats ,rye ,maize ,fodder and root crops .

Dairy farming

Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals
it is highly capital intensive
animals sheds , storage facilities for fodder, feeding and machines are used .
It is highly labour intensive
Development of transportation ,has increased the marketing

Mediterranean Agriculture

It is highly specialized commercial agriculture
It is an important supplier of citrus fruits
Viticulture or grape cultivation is a specialty of the Mediterranean region
Low quality grapes are used for raisins and currants
fruits and vegetables are grown in winters when there is great demand in European and north American

Market Gardening and Horticulture

Vegetable , fruits and flowers are grown
farm are small and are located nearby urban areas
Good transportation is required
Labor and capital intensive
Green houses and artificial heating is used in cold regions
Nether lands is famous in growing tulips flower .
The regions where farmers specialize in vegetables only the farming known as truck farming

Factory farming

Factory farming is also practiced in NW Europe
It is consists of poultry farming lives stock rearing.
They are fed on factory feed stuff
Heavy capital investments
Breed selection and scientific breeding is important feature .

Co-Operation farming

A group of farmers from a co-operation society by pooling in their resource voluntarily for more efficient and profit able farming .

Individual farms remain intact
farming is a matter of cooperative initiative
Societies help farmers in getting agriculture inputs
Help in processing products at cheaper rates
Practised in Denmark , Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden's Italy.

Collective farming

Social owner ship for means of production and labour .
It is also called Kolkhoz .
It was introduced in erstwhile USSR .
The farmer used to poor in all their resources like land , livestock and labour

Mining

There are stage of minerals copper age, bronze age, iron age.
Actual development is started with the industrialization.

Factors affection mining activity

Physical factors such as size, grade, and model of occurrence of mineral .
Economic factors such as demand for mineral technology available, capital ,labour and transportation

Methods of mining

Depend on model of occurrence of mineral there are two types of mining

A) Surface /Opencast mining

It is the easiest and the cheapest mining
It occurs close to the surface
Low safety precautions
Large and quick out put .

B) Under Ground /Shaft mining

Vertical shafts to be sunk
Minerals are extracted and sent to surface
It requires specialized drills, lifts, vehicles , ventilation systems.
This method is risky
It requires large investment.

B.R.Foundation

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