Whittlesey identified 11 main agricultural regions, plus an area where agriculture was nonexistent. Whittlesey’s 11 regions are divided between five that are important in developing countries and six that are important in developed countries

Agricultural Regions

Agriculture Regions in Developing Countries

The five agricultural regions that predominate in developing countries are:

Intensive subsistence, wet rice dominant: The large population concentrations of East Asia and South Asia.

Intensive subsistence, wet rice not dominant: The large population concentrations of East Asia and South Asia, where growing rice is difficult (Figure 9-24).

Pastoral nomadism: The drylands of Southwest Asia & North Africa, Central Asia, and East Asia.

Shifting cultivation: The tropical regions of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Plantation: The tropical and subtropical regions of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Subsistence Agriculture

Demonstrating the use of a row-scoring rake, Bihar, India.

Agriculture Regions in Developed Countries

The six agricultural regions that predominate in developed countries are:

Mixed crop and livestock: The U.S. Midwest and central Europe (Figure 9-25).

Dairy: Near population clusters in the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and northwestern Europe.

Grain: The north-central United States, south-central Canada, and Eastern Europe.

Livestock Ranching: The drylands of western North America, southeastern Latin America, Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the South Pacific.

Mediterranean: Lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, the western United States, the southern tip of Africa, and Chile.

Commercial gardening: The southeastern United States and southeastern Australia.

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Eure-et-Loir, France.

Pause & Reflect 9.3.1

What accounts for the absence of any designated agricultural region in northern Canada and Europe?