UNIT 4: THE PRIMARY

SECTOR
 Contents
1. The primary sector today
2. Agrarian landscapes
3. Human influence on the agrarian
landscape
4. Agriculture in developed regions
5. Agriculture in less developed regions
6. Livestock farming and fishing
7. The primary sector in Spain
8. Agrarian landscapes in Spain
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 Keywords
- Primary sector: sector primario. - Aquaculture: acuicultura.
- Livestock farming: ganadería. - Productivity: productividad.
- Forestry: explotación forestal.
- Dispersed settlement: poblamiento
- Emerging countries: países emergentes.
- GDP: Gross Domestic Product, this is
disperso (aldeas).
the value of all the goods and services - Nucleated settlement: nucleos de
produced in a country over one year. It is poblamiento (pueblos).
a good indicator of wealth.

- Gradient: pendiente.
- Intensive farming: agricultura intensiva.
- Extensive farming: agricultura extensiva.
- Commercial agriculure: agricultura
comercial, destinada al mercado.
- Agricultural revolution: revolución
agraria, the agricultural revolutions refers
to a rapid process of change in the
ownership and use of the land.
- Rural exodus: éxodo rural.
- Subsistence agriculture: agricultura de
subsistencia.
- Plantations: plantaciones.
- Globalization: globalización.

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 1. The primary sector today
What is the primary sector? The In developed countries, between
primary sector involves activities that 1% and 5% of active population
obtain base resources directly from working in primary sector and
nature (agriculture, livestock farming, less than 4% of the GDP. High
forestry and fishing). productivity due to technology.
Today agriculture is still vital to the In emerging and less developed
economy of less developed countries. countries, half of the population
Before their economies expanded, works in primary sector, which
most developed countries had an produces over 10% of the GDP,
agricultural revolution with new traditional farming methods.
techniques and technology.
The importance of the primary sector https://youtu.be/SbwXE3pqm-Y
today
- 40% of the world active population
works in the primary sector.
- In 2012 the agricultural sector
contributed about 3% of the
world’s production (GDP), with
great differences between regions:

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 2. Agrarian landscapes
Both natural and human factors shape agrarian
landscapes. The most important natural
factors are reflief, soil and climate.
Relief influences agrarian landscapes because
it determines the type of activity which can be
carried out (altitude and gradient).
Soil. Plants absorb the nutrients from the soil
that they need to grow (porosity and chemical
and biological composition).
Climate. Each plant requires certain conditions
of temperature, sunlight and moisture. In
human history, people have selected the plants
that they cultivate, choosing those that are
suitably adapted to the local climate. There are
four main climatic factors: extreme cold,
excessive heat, humidity and dry conditions.
Agriculture is almost impossible to practise at
the Poles, deserts or tropical rainforests without
the use of expensive modern technology.

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 3. Human influence on the agrarian
space
Agricultural holdings
Agricultural holdings are unit of
agricultural production with a single owner,
which may be either a company or a
person. Their main activity is agriculture,
livestock farming or forestry.
A holding consists of one or more plots
(pieces of lands). The shape, size and
borders of the plots influences the
landscape. The plots can be small (less
than 1 hectare), medium (between 1 and
10) or large (more than 10). They may
also be regular or irregular shape.
Open field, When the plots are not
surrounded by fences, the plots are not
separated from each other (shouthern
Spain). When the plots are separated by
fences or walls and they are linked by
roads, they are closed fields typically
found in northern Spain. 8
Types of farming
Farming may be intensive or extensive:
- Intensive farming uses the land to the
maximum of its capacity. Modern
techniques are used in developed
countries (high productivity), while
less developed countries use large
number of farmworkers.
- Extensive farming is the cultivation of
crops on large areas of lands, new
countries with large and flat fields.
Two different types of watering system
are used:
- Irrigation crops, water is taken from
artificial sources.
- Rainfed crops, this system depends
on rainfall, but it is often irrigated in
times of drought.
One or more crops may be grown on an
agricultural holding, monoculture (single
crop) or polyculture (several types of
crop).
In livestock faming the size, form and
boundaries of the land, and the way it is
used, shape the agrarian landscape.
In forestry the species of tree (connifers,
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hardwood, etc.) defines the landscape.
4. Agriculture in developed regions
Commercial agriculture
The agricultural revolution that began in
Europe at the end of 18th century started
a transition from a subsistance farming to
a large scale commercial agriculture.
The main goal of commercial agriculture
is to obtain a maximum profit. This is
achieved in different ways:
Specialization. Usually, only one product
is cultivated on a farm. This simplifies
the use of machinery and labour and
increases productivity.
Mechanization. Machines partly replaces
human labour. This speeds up the
production and reduces labour costs.
Modern farming methods. Fertilizers,
greenhouses, new varieties of genetically
modified crops.
Storage, transport and commercialisation.
Today products can be carried long
distances at a low cost.
Commercial agriculture requires
investments but increases productivity 10
and profits.
BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS OF COMMERCIAL
AGRICULTURE
BENEFITS
- Lower prices, high productivity
- Specialized transportation, large quiantities over long
distances
- Preservation techniques, preserve crops and fruits more
time
- Effcient distribution, wholesalers travel to the places
where the product is grown
PROBLEMS
- Pollution, pesticides and chemical ferlilizers
- Water use, modern irrigation systems use a lot of water
- Rural exodus, decline in the numbers of jobs in rural
areas and people moving to cities

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5. Agriculture in less developed
regions
What is traditional agriculture?
Traditional agriculture is a type of
subsistence agriculture, which is practised
on small plots of land. Families farm the
land to obtain food for themselves and
local market. Traditional agriculture has
the follownig characteristics:
- Polyculture: Farmers cultivate several
crops at the same time to make sure there
is enough food all year round.
- Manual labour: Families often provide
most of the workforce, using old farming
techniques and implements and so on low
productivity.
- Physical factors: Crops are only abundant
when the weather is good.
Types of traditional agriculture
- Shifting cultivation: Trees are cut down
and burned in the rainforest, and the ash is
used to fertilise the soil. After few years the
soil is not fertile and farmers move to new
areas.
- Sedentary rainfed cultivation: This is
practiced in savannah regions using a
system of rotation.
- Irrigated monsoon cultivation: This is 12
practiced in Asia where the monsoon rains
Plantation agriculture
Plantations are large commercial
estates, which are usually located in
less developed tropical countries,
mainly in Africa, Central and South
America, India and south-east Asia.
The earliest plantations were
established in the 16 th and 19 th
centuries by Europeans. Crops could
be obtained that did not grow in Europe,
such as cocoa, coffe or cotton.
The number and size of plantations in
developing countries has grown as a
result of economic globalization.
Plantations are now mostly controlled
by multinational companies.
Plantation agriculture is a form of
commercial agriculture. It requires
large lands, capital investment, good
transport network, abundant cheap
labour and modern machinery and
techniques. Other characteristics are
high produtivity, monoculture and
production for export.
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BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS OF PLANTATION
AGRICULTURE
BENEFITS FOR MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES AND LEDC
- Benefits for multinational companies, very low costs
- Benefits for less developed countries, jobs created as
well as infraestructures. Modern farming techniques
and efficient production
DISADVANTAGES FOR LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
- Production crops are exported, profits to foreign
companies and workers got a low standard of living
- Many small farmers must leave their land and work on
plantations because they cannot compete
- Maximum exploitation, environmental impact
- Decisions are made based on the sales price of
products. If prices drop, wages drop too, and operations
sometimes end. This causes unemployment and
poverty.
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6. Livestock farming and fishing
Livestock farming
Livestock farming consists of raising
animals for food (meat, milk, eggs) or other
economic purposes (like leather). Cattle,
sheep and pigs are the most common
animal spicies.
Mechanization and modern technologies
are very important today for livestock
(selective breeding, systems for cooling on
transport, etc).
- Extensive farming: both developed and
less developed countries. Large farms,
natural pastures, little investment in labour
or feed for animals, but productivity is low.
It is found in areas with large pastures such
as Brazil or United States.
- Intensive farming: developed countries.
Specialize in a single animal spicies, large
investments, high productivity, animals in
stables or semi-stable. Typical livestock
includes cattle, pigs and poultry, production
for the market, found in Western Europe,
Northern America, Australia and New
Zeland.
This type of livestock farming has led to
increase food production but it also
damages the environment (pollution, water, 15
soil).
Fishing today
Fishing is the catching of fish and other
animals from seas, rivers or lakes. The world
fishing industry has expended in recent
decades and today 85% of the catches are for
human consumption. Much of the fish
consumed in developed countries is imported
from emerging and less developed countries.
Types of fishing
- Coastal fishing takes place very near the
coast in small boats using traditional
methods. The catches are for home
consumption or local market.
- Inshore fishing is carried out near the coast
in small or medium-size boats. The boats use
refrigerated compartments or ice to preserve
the fish and deliver their catch each day.
- Offshore fishing is practised out at sea. It
uses large ships equipped with modern
technical instruments which can be detect the
schoals of fish. Many ships have installations
where the fish are cleaned, cut up, packaged
and frozen. They are factory ships and they
can be at sea for several weeks.

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Fishing grounds
Fish are caught in fishing grounds, areas in
which fish naturally concentrate. The best
fishing grounds are along continental
shelves, where nutrients are deposited by
rivers.
There are restrictions on where fishing can
take place, which is controlled by
international legislation allowing coastal
countries the right to fish.
At present, fishing catches are excessive in
relation to the amount of fish available.
This leads to overfishing and the danger od
different spicies disappearing.
Governments have adopted different
measures to encourage sustainable fishing
(ban fishing techniques, limit catches or
periods of fishing not allowed).
Many countries practise aquaculture, which
is the breeding of fish in controlled
environments. Most of the salmon and
mussels consumed today come from fish
farms. Aquaculture increases the supply of
fish and sea food, and prevent spicies from
becoming extinct 17
7. The primary sector in Spain
The primary sector - Fishing: Spain has the second largest
This sector has declined in Spain since mid fleet in the EU and the volume of its
-20 century. Today, 4,2% of the active
th
catchs in the second largest. It is
population works in this sector, which also the world’s second largest
constitutes 3% of GDP.
consumer of fish. Spain’s fishing
Strenghts: Spain has one of the strongest
primary sector in the EU. This sector
industry was modernised after entry
provides raw materials to industry and food into EU, but today, traditional and
industry contributes around 15% to Spanish commercial fishing co-exist.
exports.
Weaknesses: ageing farmers, large number
of small and medium holdings, low
productivity as a result of low investment.
- Agriculture, leading role in Spanish
primary sector (60% of total agrarian
production). Spanish agriculture is
characterised by the diversity of products.
It includes fruit and vegetables, vines, olives
and cereals.
- Livestock farming: Stabled intensive
livestock production predominates in Spain.
Holdings are characterised by strong
investment, mechanization and high output.
It contributes 35% of the value of the total 18
agrarian production. Spain has the second
- Regional diversity: In recent years , the agricultural sector has benefited from
investment by the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) of the EU. However, not all
the regions have benefited to the same extent. The Mediterranean and Andalusian
coasts have found new markets for their fruits and vegetables. But other products,
such as the cereals and vines of the interior, have declined, and those regions have
been partly depopulated.

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8. Agrarian landscapes in Spain
The landscape in the humid, oceanic climate Cereals, vegetables, fruits and industrial
This is found in the Cantabrian coast, Galicia and plants are grown in irrigated areas near rivers.
also in the western Pyrenees. In high flat areas there is extensive
Settlement is mainly dispersed and closed small cultivation of cereals , combined with
holdings perdominate. The natural environment is
not favourable to agriculture but favours livestock extensive sheep farming. Dehesas
farming and forestry. (pastureland) found in Extremadura. Finally,
The landscape in the warm Mediterranean climate rainfed cultivation (vines, olives) is found in
This is found in the Mediterranean coast, in the areas between mountain ranges.
Guadalquivir valley and Extremadura. The landscape of the Canary islands
Settlements are nucleated. In the south both
large and small open holdings, and small closed On the Canary Islands, agriculture is
holdings in the Mediterranean coasts. Rainfed influenced by mountain reflief, volcanic soil
cultivation in the Guadalquivir valley (wheat, wine, and warm climate. Settlement is nucleated.
olives) and irrigated cultivation is widespread
everywhere (fruit and vegetables). On coastal areas export products as potatoes,
The landscape in the continentalized bananas or tomatoes are cultivated. There
Mediterranean climate are also plantations of mango or pineapple
This landscape occupies much of inland Spain. and greenhouses. Inland traditional
Settlements are nucleated. Small holdings agriculture (grapes, potatoes, vegetables).
predominates in the Duero and Ebro valleys, while
there are both large and small holdings in drier The mountain landscape
areas. It occupies the highest altitudes of the Iberian
Peninsula. There is extensive livestock
farming (cattle and sheep) and also forestry.
The relief and climate do not favour
cultivation, only in low valley areas. 22

HOMEWORK!!!
1. Define: primary sector, plantation agiculture, commercial agriculture, traditional
agriculture, GDP.
2. Describe in your own words agriculture in less developed countries.
3. Describe why the primary sector is so important.
4. Describe briefly map on page six (types of agriculture).
5. Which are the differences between intensive and extensive farming?
6. Explain widely the benefits and problems of commercial farming.
7. Explain widely the benefits and problems of plantation farming.
8. Explain widely traditional agriculture.
9. Explain the most imortant features of commercial farming.
10. Describe widely intensive livestock farming.
11. Describe briefly different types of fishing.
12. What is aquaculture? Describe it briefly.
13. Describe widely agriculture nowadays in Spain.
14. Describe widely fishing nowadays in Spain.
15. Explain widely pictures found in pages 20 and 21 about Spanish landscapes.

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Made by Francisco Javier Abades Ansián
History teacher at Castilla y León (Spain)
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