Agricultural Systems

Assessment Criteria

Define the following terms (include a picture too if it helps you remember)

• Arable farming
• Pastoral farming
• Extensive farming
• Intensive farming
• Subsistence farming
• Commercial farming

Answers:

Arable farming: To grow crops 

Pastoral farming: Pastoral Farmers keep animals.

Extensive farming: involves low input of capital, material and labour with large amounts of land. It produces a low yield of product from a large area of land.

Intensive farming:  involves high inputs of capital, fertilisers and labour, and labour-saving technologies such as pesticides or machinery. The object is to get as high a yield of a product as possible from a small area of land.

Subsistence farming: to produce enough crops and keep just enough animals to feed their families. Any surplus will be stored or sold in a local market but the primary object is to produce enough food to survive. Most subsistence farming takes place in LEDCs.

Commercial farming: producing crops and/or animals to sell in order to make profit. Whilst most commercial farming takes place in MEDCs. it also takes place in some LEDCs where cash crops are grown mainly for export.

Agricultural system – Rice farming Japan, Shounai Yamagata

Yamagata is a prefecture in the northern region of Japan. The flat coastal plain is called Shounai and it is very fertile and famous for its rice.

Rice growing in Japan

1.List the various inputs, process and outputs

2. What are the Japanese words for planting and harvesting of rice?

田植え　いねかり

3. How has rice growing and harvesting in Japan changed over time?

• There has been an increased use in technology and machinery for planting, weeding and harvesting.
• Also, in the past, you could have 4 acres of land and would be enough to support a family. However, nowadays farmers need to have at least 20 acres of land for a stable income.

4.  What is the future of rice farming in Japan? 

There is the fear of rice farmers that big businesses will gradually take control of Japanese agriculture, only pursuing their own interests at the expense of local people.

5. What type of agriculture is rice farming in Japan? (look back at the types of farming and classify it)

It is arable farming as it grows crops (rice). It is also intensive farming as it involves high inputs of capital, labour and labour-saving technologies, such as machinery. The object is to get as high a yield of product as possible from a small area of land. It can be commercial or subsistence. However, it is considered commercial farming as most farmers produce to sell in supermarkets.

Shonai Fact File

Climate / weather

Shōnai has a Humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Shōnai is 11.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1917 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around -0.6 °C.

Soil

The soil of the plain is fertile and suitable for rice production because the temperature difference between summer and winter is larger and the cold winds blow from surrounding mountains.

Relief

It is on the coast and is surrounded by mountainous regions. In the middle there is flat land to grow crops and this is where the people live.

Location

Shonai Plain is located near the Japan Sea, in the northwest of Yamagata prefecture. It is a very large plain: 100km in the southeast and 40km in the northwest. It is one of Japan’s major grain-producing areas and in the Edo period rice for the government came from here. Grain grows so well here because the big and small rivers that feed into the plain bring pure water. Rivers include the Mogami River, one of the three major rapid rivers of Japan.

Famous Rice

“Koshihikari” and “Sasanishiki”, very popular rice grown in many agricultural places in Japan, especially well known in shonai area in Yamagata prefecture, and this small Shinto shrine, Kumagai Shrine is the birth.

Famous Sake

Shonai is one of Japan’s leading rice-producing regions, and where delicious rice is found, so is fine sake. The top-prize category in the Annual Japan Sake Awards includes a lineup of Shonai brews each year, and the region is also home to some of Japan’s most popular drinking spots. The 18 breweries that are the pride of Shonai turn high-quality rice and pristine water from the region’s rich natural environment into fragrant and delectable sake.

For an agricultural or pastoral farming system you have studied describe the 

a) inputs, processes and outputs and 

b)why it is either a pastoral or agricultural farm. (7)

I will be discussing Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture in Japan. Shonai Plain is located near the Japan Sea, in the northwest of Yamagata prefecture. It is one of Japan’s major grain-producing areas of rice. The reason grain grows so well here is that the big and small rivers that feed into the plain bring pure water. Rivers include the Mogami River, one of the three major rapid rivers of Japan. The Shonai area is on the coast and is surrounded by mountainous areas with flat land in the middle where they grow crops and where the people live.

The climate conditions to grow rice crop needs a hot and humid climate. It is best suited to regions which have high humidity, prolonged sunshine and an assured supply of water. More vital conditions to produce top-quality rice, is necessary to have quality soil. They till the soil and layer in straw to loosen up the soil and make it easy for water to percolate in. To get strong plants, you need to grow strong seedlings. Also, to produce enough rice to export and sell to supermarkets and people, rice farmers will need at least 20 acres of land and physical labour to maintain the crops. Due to technology, farmers have been able to harvest rice causing more efficiency and productivity. Therefore, the inputs are Water, Soil, Temperature, Machinery, Seeds, Land and Labour. For the processes, farmers will have to plant the seed either by hand or artificially with machinery during the spring, so planting. Also, farmers will have to maintain the rice field every few days, so wedding. Lastly, farmers will harvest the rice months later at the end of summer, so harvesting. The final outcomes from all of this are rice and rice straws, which can be used for traditional Japanese flooring.

The plantation of rice is arable farming as it grows crops and results with rice. This is arable farming as this includes land under temporary crops and the process of making rice takes roughly six months from spring to late summer. Whereas, agricultural farming under permanent crops or under permanent pastures which is not the case.

Definitions

Further Reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joLWlEd2bPM&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mkvszfmahg

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2016/01/29/food/the-future-of-rice-farming-in-japan/