The Nature of Agricultural Systems

Abstract

Many problems as to the origins of, and differences in, agricultural practice around the earth are still unsolved. A persistent question concerns the number of different kinds of agriculture. Varied approaches and conceptual formulations have been employed, but these often mix together the bases for categorization, whereas there are marked differences between concepts aimed at grouping by regions, typologies, and systems. Differences in the concepts are clarified, and nine primary criteria having second-order elements are set up to distinguish thirteen agricultural systems that have evolved since the beginning of primary production late in the Mesolithic Era. KEY WORDS: Agriculture, Agricultural regions, Agricultural systems, Agricultural typologies, Classification of agriculture.ITHIN the broad subject of agriculture W geographers have assumed a share of responsibility for describing and explaining the variable nature of agricultural practice. Primary production of plant and animal commodities is among the most variable and complicated of all human endeavors, and it is hardly surprising that we cannot yet claim full comprehension of the patterns and processes of agricultural differentiation. Inquiry still tends to resolve around such fundamental questions as: 1) How essentially dissimilar are the diverse agricultural landscapes of the earth? 2) Do dissimilar agricultural landscapes reflect generic forms of agriculture? 3) What kinds of criteria best serve to isolate generic differences in agriculture? 4) Where, how, and under what conditions did various kinds of agriculture originate and develop? 5 ) What changes are taking place in the nature and practice of world agriculture?In essence these questions are directed to the central but unresolved issues of how many specific kinds of agriculture exist (or have existed), and how the observed facts of variable agricultural practice can be most effectively and realistically organized to distinguish them.

Approaching Multifunctionality by a ‘Normative View’: Finnish Farmers’ Visions on Contemporary Agriculture

“…The overall aim of the paper is to enrich the debate on the contemporary changes of agricultural systems, emphasizing their spatial heterogeneity, and, above all, the "role of farmers' knowledge(s) in the current and future management of the countryside" (Riley and Harvey, 2007). Farmers' own experience and local practices not only actively contribute on how the new and multiple roles promoted by the current policy trends are constructed (see for instance Burton et al, 2008), but also strengthen the theorization of agriculture, which is often interpreted as one of the arenas of capitalist development (Spencer and Stewart, 1973;Page 1996). Last, but not least, such experiencegrounded in well-defined geographical settingscan be useful to improve agricultural and rural policies and politics to better address farmers' specific needs (Boonstra et al, 2011).…”

Retrospective on Nature–Society Geography: Tracing Trajectories (1911–2010) and Reflecting on Translations

“…The Berkeley School of cultural and environmental geography became well known for studies of such topics as historical dynamics of anthropogenic vegetation (Parsons 1955;West 1956) and the distributions, dynamics, and historical development of food production technologies and landscapes (Sopher 1964;Spencer and Stewart 1973). It applied the concepts of ecology (such as carrying capacity) to geographic interpretations of environmental change (Denevan 1967;Barrett 1974).…”

Dimensiones territoriales de la ruralidad: sinuosa narrativa desde un cercano ayer a los rumbos de hoy

“…La adopción de la teoría general de sistemas introdujo nuevas referencias metodológicas para entender la complejidad agrícola bajo enfoques agronómicos y ecológicos (Spedding, 1979), pero ciclos y flujos de energía de los ecosistemas desconocían la centralidad de los agentes sociales responsables de transformar ecosistemas naturales en tierras agrícolas. Spencer y Stewart (1973), entre otros, avanzan en esta última dirección al presentar la evolución histórica del espacio agrícola de acuerdo con una jerarquía de niveles espaciales. Un enfoque organizado por procesos genéticos (fuerzas motrices) y procesos genéricos (métodos y prácticas), combinados en módulos de organización social, procesos económicos y agrotecnologías, los cuales conformaban una jerarquía espacial ascendente y encestada: sistemas, paisajes, áreas, subregiones y regiones agrícolas.…”