Chapter 4 — Primary Activities

Primary activities are economic activities directly dependent on the environment, involving utilisation of earth's resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials and minerals. People engaged in primary activities are called red collar workers due to the outdoor nature of their work.

Gathering is practised in high latitude zones including northern Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile, and in low latitude zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, the northern fringe of Australia and the interior parts of Southeast Asia.

Transhumance is the process of seasonal migration from plain areas to mountain pastures during summers and back to plains during winters. In the Himalayas, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas practise transhumance.

Shifting cultivation, also called slash and burn agriculture, involves clearing vegetation by fire and cultivating small patches with primitive tools such as sticks and hoes. After 3 to 5 years the soil loses fertility and the farmer moves to a new patch. It is called Jhuming in north-eastern states of India, Milpa in Central America and Mexico, and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Plantation agriculture is characterised by large estates, large capital investment, managerial and technical support, scientific methods of cultivation, single crop specialisation, cheap labour, and a good transportation system linking estates to factories and markets for export of products.

Nomadic herding is a primitive subsistence activity where herders move with livestock in search of pastures and water. Commercial livestock rearing is more organised and capital intensive, practised on permanent large ranches with fenced parcels, with emphasis on breeding, genetic improvement, disease control and health care of animals.

New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and the United States of America are important countries where commercial livestock rearing is practised.

Surface (open-cast) mining is used for minerals that occur close to the surface — it is the easiest and cheapest method with large and rapid output and relatively low overhead costs. Underground (shaft) mining is used when ore lies deep below the surface, requiring vertical shafts, underground galleries, and specialised equipment including lifts, drills, haulage vehicles and ventilation systems; it is risky due to poisonous gases, fires, floods and caving.

Profitability of mining depends on physical factors — size, grade and mode of occurrence of deposits — and economic factors such as demand for the mineral, technology available and used, capital to develop infrastructure, and labour and transport costs.

In collective farming (Kolkhoz, introduced in the erstwhile Soviet Union), farmers pool all resources — land, livestock and labour — under social ownership, though they retain small plots for daily needs. In co-operative farming, individual farms remain intact and farmers voluntarily pool resources to procure inputs, sell products at favourable terms and process quality products at cheaper rates.

Mediterranean agriculture is a highly specialised commercial agriculture practised around the Mediterranean Sea, in southern California, central Chile, south western South Africa and parts of Australia. It specialises in citrus fruits, viticulture (grape cultivation for best quality wines), olives and figs. Inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants. Its advantage is that high-value crops are grown in winters when demand is high in European and North American markets.

Market gardening specialises in cultivation of high-value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers solely for urban markets. Truck farming is a variant where farmers specialise only in vegetables; the distance of truck farms from the market is governed by the distance a truck can cover overnight, hence the name.

Yes — the Class 12 Geography NCERT PDF for this chapter and all others is free to view and download on cbseprepmaster.com with no sign-up required.