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Unit 07
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Test 6 Feedback


Agriculture

Here is the feedback and answers to the Test in Unit 06.
1 A question like this, which asks about differences between two words or phrases really needs you to explain both phrases first. There should also be at least one word in your answer that shows you are comparing the two definitions. This is illustrated below.

Remember that the first pair of definitions has two marks available - which suggests that simple definitions are needed. The second and third pairs have four marks each - which suggests that rather more detailed definitions are required here.
  (a) An arable farm concentrates mainly on growing crops, but a pastoral farm is mainly used for raising animals.
  (b) Intensive farms produce the highest possible outputs from small areas. They do this by using large inputs. A capital-intensive farm invests large inputs of money, in machinery, fertiliser, animal breeding, etc. On the other hand labour-intensive farms use large amounts of workers and little capital is invested.
  (c) Commercial farms produce crops and animals for sale. In contrast, subsistence farms have little surplus for sale, because most of their produce goes to feed the farm workers and their families.


2 Your completed list should look like this:


You would be awarded 1 mark for each two correct answers.

Note that both the processes here start with a word which ends in '…ing'. This suggests that the phrase describes something being done - a process.

Also note that both outputs are described as being sent somewhere - to market or to Express Dairies. Obviously both these are leaving the farm.

There is one natural input, two labour inputs and one capital input. Which is which?


3

Be very wary of questions like this, which ask you to name an example that you have studied, and then to use that example in several different parts of your answer.
You must read the whole question through before you choose your example. Make sure that you can answer all parts of the question. Note down the key ideas of what you can write about before you start your neat answer.

Below are two examples of the type of plan that you could write - if you had time before starting to write your neat answer. Of course you wouldn't have time to do this in a real exam - so practice writing plans now, as part of your revision.

Rice growing in the Ganges delta
Climate - monsoon. Over 2000 mm. Mainly in summer growing season. River floods also used on rice fields. Warm enough to grow 2-3 crops per year.

Soils/slope - flat - flood easily - banks built to store rain and flood water. Fertile soils deposited by river floods. Renewed each year by floods. Allow high yields with low inputs of artificial fertiliser.

Traditional subsistence. Now produce surplus of rice for sale to the growing urban population. Sold to merchants who do not always pay a good price to small farmers.

Government and aid donors encouraged the Green Revolution. Hybrid seeds; fertilisers; mechanisation; many farmers could not compete - lost land - bought by richer farmers to make bigger, more efficient units.


Hill sheep farming in Lake District
Climate - Over 2000 mm rainfall - in all seasons. Cool summers (16°C) cold winters (4°C). Cloudy. Snow in winters. Difficult for crops. Only sheep and hardy beef cattle survive.

Soils/ slope - Steep valley sides with thin soils because of gravity/glaciation. Flat valley bottoms with deep deposits of alluvium and moraine, but poor and acidic. Easily flooded. Again makes crop growth difficult. Flatter slopes - improved grazing. Steeper slopes - rough pasture.

Sheep are main crop. Falling demand and reduction in subsidies leading to falling numbers and reduced incomes. Some farmers specialise in high quality meat and sell through farmers' markets or even the internet.

Change to conservation type of farming in some areas, with subsidies for less intensive, more traditional methods. Diversification into non-farm activities, especially tourism.


4 Questions on issues are sometimes structured a bit like a series of reports on a disaster in a newspaper!
Examiners usually ask you first to describe a problem - almost like a front page headline story in a newspaper. Then they ask you to explain the causes of the problem. This is like an in-depth article somewhere in the middle of the paper.
Finally they will ask about improved management of the issue. This would be a more considered article a week or so after the disaster struck.
  (a) This is where you should use your case study material. Be specific. Write about a real issue in a real place. Do not just write generalised theory. For example:

In Dorset there used to be large areas of heathland. These areas had dry, well-drained soils. They were not very fertile, so had never been used for farming. They were home to many species of birds and butterflies, and even snakes and lizards. Unfortunately, since the 1960s farmers have ploughed many of the heaths and added fertilisers to the soil so that the heathland can be used for crops of wheat. The areas of heath have therefore shrunk. The heaths are broken up and species become isolated on the few remaining patches of heath.
  (b) This was caused by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The policy encouraged farmers to grow more cereals in order to make Europe self-sufficient and to cut imports. Farmers were paid subsidies to produce crops on land that had not been used before. They were also paid a guaranteed price for their wheat, which encouraged them to over-produce. This put great pressure on them. They could make far more money by ploughing the heath than they could by leaving it for extensive grazing of sheep and cattle. No one seemed to be concerned that this was destroying rare habitat that was also a tourist attraction.
  (c) Some parts of the heath have been made into ESAs (Environmentally Sensitive Areas.) This means that farmers are paid subsidies to farm the land less intensively. They are encouraged to use traditional methods of farming. The farm that we visited grazes cattle and sheep on the heath, but keeps stock levels low. Then the authorities work out how much the farmer could have earned by more intensive farming and pay him a subsidy to make up the difference. The effects are assessed by measures such as how many butterflies and birds, such as skylarks, are found on the land. The farmer says he has become a 'steward of the environment' and he is starting to enjoy this.

This three-stage model is a very useful way to structure your revision. Use these as three headings in your revision notes.