2017 5N Geography Wall by

5N, you have learnt that there are physical, social and economic factors of food production. Economic factors are most important among the 3. Do you agree? Explain your answer with examples you have learnt.

mrserinwong — 2017-03-24 14:18:13 UTC

You should type your responses as a new post. Pls begin your post with your REAL NAME, copy the question. as well. Thanks!

Sharifah Amirah No, I do not agree that economic factors are the most important among all the other factors of food production.This is due to reasons such as the physical factors being a very crucial part of the growth of crops and affects the productivity directly.The soil and drainage of the crops is a physical factor. Soil fertility to produce crops is determined by the amount of water,air and nutrients from minerals in the soil such as potassium and zinc.Floodplains such as the Ganges plain and deltas such as Ganges Delta are fertile because of alluvium rich in nitrogen, phosphorus brought down by the rivers.With fertile soils,flat terrain and ample water supply , these areas are agriculturally productive.Atop that volcanic soil is fertile due to the presence of volcanic ash and basic lava rich in minerals are productive farming land.Soil type and drainage or its ability to retain water influence the type of crops grown and productivity.Different crops requires different soil to grow efficiently.For example,clayey soil being 70% clay and naturally water retentive is suitable for rice cultivation.Stony and rocky soils are unproductive to produce crops. Land tenure is a social factor that the productivity of the crops highly depend on.It refers to the status of ownership of land.Farmers who own a land have a greater initiative and motivation to invest in new crop and invest in research and development for the crops to faster and more efficiently.Thus, as more crops are grown at a shorter period of time, the productivity of the crops increases. However I acknowledge another view point that economic factors such as demand and capital are important factors in ensuring food productivity.The demand is the desire to purchase.The higher the demand the more the shortages which in turn causes an increase in the price.The high prices encourages the farmer to increase the output of the crops grown to meet the high demand as they get to gain profit. For example, the increase in demand for maize in China has caused a global intensity of maize production especially in USA which exports maize to China. The capital refers to the money needed to grow or expand supply of crops,livestock and fish.For example the commercial deep sea fishing,acoustic sonar to detect the fishes and increase the chances of catching a fish thus increasing the productivity.In DCs there tend to be an availability of capital for new inventions,research and development example, better seeds,flood control method and modern irrigation to sustain the intensity of food production and supply.Conversely, LDCs having a lack of capital tend to have lesser productivity and hinder the intensity of food production and supply. Therefore, although there are economic factors that highly influence the intensity of food production other factors such as the soil and drainage from the physical factors and the land tenure from the social factors from the social factors affects the intensity of food production as well.

2017-03-27 13:42:33 UTC

Agnes

2017-03-27 14:16:50 UTC

5N, you have learnt that there are physical, social and economic factors of food production. Economic factors are most important among the 3. Do you agree? Explain your answer with examples you have learnt.

No, I disagree that economic factors such as demand is the most important factor of food production. Physical factor like climate is the most important as the temperatures and the amount of rainfall affect the growth of crops. Some crops grow well in high rainfall and high temperature but some do not. Crops such as pea, broccoli and strawberry require cooler climates. Other such as soya bean and tomato require warmer climates. For example, the optimal temperature to grow soya bean is 25°C to 28°C while strawberry need temperature of around 16°C to 27°C to grow.
The amount of rainfall affects the growth of different types of crops as well, plants such as rice needed 1500mm -2500mm of rainfall while soya bean only need 450mm-700mm.
In places with winter, food production can only occur during the warm season where temperature and rainfall is suitable for growing crops. Therefore climate is a important factor as the crops varies with the climate of the region. ( why does this make it thr most important factor?)

Also social factors are important. (in what way?)Land tenure is one of the social factor. Land tenure is the system by the land is owned or rent. In LDC, most farmers are too poor to afford their own farmland so they rent the land from the owner.
As the land is rented, there is little motivation from the farmers that do not own the land. Due to the lack of security, farmers are also unsure that if the land will belong to them in the future so they do not use improved farming methods or machines. As a result, there is not much food produced and lead to a low income. For example in India, 13 household received 400 square meters of land from the government. A 51 year old window earned 1500 rupees by selling tubers and spinach(How is this more or less impt?)

However, i acknowledge that is one of the important factor. The demand for food changes according to the tastes and preferences of consumers and affects the amount and type of crops produced. (how?)For example, more corn has been needed to feed livestock in order to cater to the increasing demand for meat by a larger and wealthier population. As in China, they does not be able to reach the demand, thus they started to import corn from countries like the USA. Causing a turn in the global production of meat to increase. Therefore economic factors is important in food production.(gd attempt)

The changing climate would affect the crops in the growing season and farmers could experience increasing damage to their crops, caused by a rising intensity of droughts, flooding or fires. Therefore physical factor is the most important factor among the 3 factors.(ok, gd try but do include why the other factors are less important)
n

Yang Han

2017-03-28 13:15:40 UTC

5N, you have learnt that there are physical, social and economic factors of food production. Economic factors are most important among the 3. Do you agree? Explain your answer with examples you have learnt.

No, I do not agree that economic factors are the most important among the 3 factors. Instead, physical factors are the most important factors(why?).One of the physical factors is climate.Climate refers to the condition of the atmosphere which varies the temperature and rainfall.The temperature and rainfall can affect the growth of plants which can affect the intensity of food production supply. Some crops require a low temperature of lower than 5 Degrees Celsius so that they can grow well.For example, crops such a pea,broccoli and strawberry needs cooler climate whereas other crops requires a higher temperature of about 25-28 Degrees Celsius.For example, crops such a soya bean and tomato needs a warmer climate to grow well. On the other hand, rainfall can also affect growth as well.Different crops requires different amount of rainfall.For example, corns requires more rainfall than soya beans. Thus, generally, climate is one of the physical factors which is important inf food production.(why is it the most mpt in your opinion?)

Also, social factors are also important as well.One of the social factors is land fragmentation. Land fragmentation means the division of land into many smaller plots over many successive generations of farmers. This is a common practice for farmers, whereby farmers will allow their children to inherit an area of the land by dividing the land into smaller plots. Since there are many smaller plots owned by the children, the children may have different way of planting the crops and also, different types of crops planted in their individual plots.Thus, there will be a lower crop yield.For example, even though Tivland, Nigeria has large amounts of arable land, smallholder farmers took over parts of the lands for themselves,which result in lower productivity. Thus, land fragmentation is one of the social factors which is important in food production.(yes but y is it less impt?)

However, I acknowledged that economic factors are also important as well.One of the economic factors is demand for food. The demand for certain type of food will affect the production of food. It change according to the taste and preferences of the consumers, thus affecting the type of food needed to produce. For example, in China, more and more corns are needed to produce to feed the lifestock as the demand of meat is increasing due to the larger and wealthier populations.Thus demand for food is one of the economic factors that is important in food production. (still sitting in the fence, will need a decisive opinion supported with explanation on which is most impt)

Andre

2017-03-28 13:56:41 UTC

No I do not feel that economic factors are the most important factor among the 3, there are other factors like physical and social which are also important factors for food production . For physical factors,there are climate relief which can cause the food productivity and supply. Climate refers to temperature and rainfall. Some crops need warmer placeto grow crop for example soya bean,While some crops like tomato need colder temperature to grow. The amount of rainfall also do play's a major roll as some crop nid more water while some need lesser. Hence physical factor is indeed and important factors for food productivity. (so why is it more impt) Social factors like land fragmentation does cause the amount of food productivity too. Land fragmentation is the division of lands into smaller plots over successive Farmers. For example Mr Tom has a big land of 10 Soccer field wide but because he hand 5 sons, he need to give each of them an equal amount of land , each Son will have only 2 Soccer field wide of land.before give these land to his child, he only grew only rice. But now because he gave his 5 Son smaller plot of lands, all his Son may want to grow different crops as they like hence each of their Son would grow lots of variety of crops which led to a lower food production. Hence social impact does play an important role. However I must acknowledge that economic impact is also an important impact on food productivity . Argribusiness is a major role of economic impact . It refers to large farming companies which are involve with most industries along a food supply chain. Because huge company has the money to invest in research for producing greater and faster crops. While poorer farmers do not have the finance to continue to farm as these bigger companies are researching on better crops. However due to the advancement of technology, the climate then would not play a quite important role as the advance of technology can create a cooler or warmer place for crops. For social, if those Farmers have lesser child, he would not nid to have land fragmentation as he could Want his child to continue on his crops.

Wei Sheng

2017-03-28 14:06:45 UTC

Economic factors are most important among the 3. Do you agree? Explain your answer with examples you have learnt.

No , I do not agree that economic factors are the most important factor among the 3 , there is other factors like physical and social which plays a role for food production . For the physical factors we have the Climate , Soils and drainage and Relief . For Climate , it is know as the average condition of the atmosphere of a specific place over a long period of time , usually over 30 years . Different types of temperature will result in the types of crops that can be grown . Temperature affects the rates of photosynthesis and seed germination , if temperature drop below 5 degree Celsius it is very difficult for crops to grow . However some crops requires varies temperature to grow . (paragraph your ans+ how is this phy factor that u have typed more impt?) For Social factors , we have the Land tenure which refers to the system by which agricultural land is located and occupied . As we known , in LDCs most of the farmers are too poor to afford their own farmland . They usually pay a sum of money or a portion of their harvest to landowners in order to rent the land . Due to the lack of security over there the farmers are not sure whether will they get back their land in future which resulting in lack of incentives to make improvements to their land and care more about maximising short-term profits . Things like not being able to own the land after living in that particular places for generations but ended up with no legal right to the land may happen even with them putting lots of efforts to secure the land ownership .( so why is this less important?)However i acknowledge that economic factors also plays and important role in the food production . In economic factors , we have the agribusiness which refers to the large farming companies which are involved with most industries along a food supply chain including farming , processing and retailing . It also place an importance on scientific and business principles in farming , such as by investing in the research and development of food crops . AS for larger companies are also more able to withstand the impact of changes in the environment , changes like damage to crops caused by pests or flooding as compared to small-scale farmers . For small-scale farmers may not be able to continue farming after having setbacks as compared to the larger companies with greater financial capacity to absorb losses . Also larger companies makes investments in food production like research on producing crops with greater crop yield . (thus? link to qn on importance? your answer lacks opinion and explanation links to the question)

Nicholas lee

2017-03-28 14:06:51 UTC

5N, you have learnt that there are physical, social and economic factors of food production. Economic factors are most important among the 3. Do you agree? Explain your answer with examples you have learnt.

No, i do not agree that economic factor are the most important factor among the 3 factor of food production , there are political and social factor of food production which also play an more important role than economic factor . The most important factor is physical factor. (why??)One of the physical factor is climate. Climate refers to the average atmospheric conditions, determined by rainfall and temperature of a specific place over a period of about 30-35 years. The climate determines the types of crops that can be grown and productivity of the land. Plants need minimum of about 130 days above 5 degree Celsius to grow and mature as sunlight and heat are needed for photosynthesis and germination. However, crops temperature required varies from each plants. For example, strawberry and peas need cooler temperature to grow the crops while crops like soya beans and tomatos are tolerant of warmer temperature. Areas with high temperatures and rainfall are conducive for plant growth throughout the year. Tropical climates with high temperature and high rainfall throughout the year, allow cultivation of 2 or 3 similar crops within the year on the same field. For example, double-cropping of rice is carried out in tropical malaysia. However, flooding due to incessant monsoon rains in Bangladesh damages crops and renders land unproductive. Thus, the climate affect the rate of productivity of crops .(so why do all these make it the most impt factor)

Also, Social Factors is also one of the factors of food productive. One of it is land tenure. Land tenure refers to status of ownership of land. Farmers who own land have greater initiative and motivation to improve their farm . They also invest new crops and techniques so that they will increase their rate of productivity and also will want to have high profit for them during harvest. Therefore , owners of farm will allow them to work even harder and to be motivated to do well. Whereas, farmers who did not own the land but rent the land have little motivation and initiative to improve and invest in the land. As they do not get to keep all the profit in the end because of renting , they will also does not feel a need to improve the land as the land does not belong to them at all. Thus , this will affect the productivity of crops as they did not put a 100% of work into it . Therefore, social factor does play an important role in the productivity rate of crops. (your explantion before this sentence shows merely what social factor is but does not tell me why it is less impt than climate)

However, i also acknowledge that economic factor is one the important factor of productivity crops but it is not the most important of all. One of the economic factor is Agribusinesses. Agribusinesses refers to large corporations with a world-wide network of linkage . example farming, processing, warehousing, logistics, distribution and retailing in the food supply chain. Being involve in producing and supplying food world-wide, they tend to increase intensity of food production and supply. They would also ensure the quality of food produce to make sure other buyers will buy from them again , so it will increase their revenue , when their revenue increases they will start to produce more food instead. For example, American- based Dole food Company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Growing of bananas and pineapples under Dole label is carried out in the Philippines, El Salvador, Guatemala , Honduras and Nicaragua and sold world-wide. Thus, the company will expend their distribution to more countries , and will increase their food productivity . Therefore , Agribusinesses is one of the important factor in food productivity but is not the most important factor. (why is it less impt than physical?)

Anthea Fong

2017-03-28 14:28:52 UTC

Lorraine

2017-03-28 14:29:22 UTC

Iyou are merely listing all the impacts without explaining why one factor is more important than another.
-some explanation of your stand is required. i do not agree that economic factor is the most important ,physical factors are the most important . (stand)

Climate plays a huge role in affecting production of food this is because certain types of crops require a certain amount of water from rainfall and temperature in order to grow well , rainfall and temperature are climatic factors that will affect the growth of plants.Temperature can affect the rate of photosynthesis and germination of seeds which makes crops grow faster, for example temperature ranges from 25 degree Celsius to 28 degree Celsius aresuitable for growing soya bean and tomatos.Likewise,rainfall determines the amount of water a plant receives if rainfall is high then plants like corn which requires plenty of water and will be able to grow faster, average annual rainfall should be more than 2000ml as high rainfall and high temperature is conducive for growth of plants .Thus if the temperature and rainfall is low, the output of crops would be lesser as they are unable to grow well and will end up weak and rotten and also the climate cannot be controlled. ( so why is this most important compared to other factors?)

Secondly,soil and drainage affects food production as soil fertility will affect crops growth. Crops require fertile soil in which consists nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium .It's fertility depends on the availability of water,air and nutrient from the minerals in the soil thus fertile soil is usually found near flood plains along a river which has a high yield in crops production.An example would be in mekond delta vietnam. Similarly different crops require different types of soil , and the type of soil can be affected by water thus soil drainage retains or drains off water ,namely oats as they require sandy soil to grow while rice requires soil with more clay which retain more waters.if soil is not fertile or has improper soil drainage, the crops will not be able to grow well as it either dies due to lack of nutrients leading to lesser production.//paragraph ansHowever ,I do acknowledge that economic factors are important.l why less impt than phy)For example the purpose of farming. Subsistence farming is when crops grown are for own consumption and not for sale, the crops grown are usually in a small land area of about 1-3 hectares and labour work is done by family members .Thus food production would be lesser as compared to commercial farming whereby food is mass produce, while subsistence farming does not mass produce as it is only for their own consumption which leads to low crop yield. Subsistence farming is common in sub-saharan africa whereby farmers there grow staple food such as corn and cassava . In a country when subsistence farming is common,cropyield would be low and thus food production would be low in that area .

Jovin

2017-03-28 14:31:47 UTC

J

2017-03-28 14:31:49 UTC

Sh

2017-03-28 14:41:36 UTC

Amirah(Read this instead)

2017-03-28 14:43:35 UTC

ok, delete the other post
No, I do not agree that economic factors are the most important among all the other factors of food production.This is due to reasons such as the physical factors being a very crucial part of the growth of crops and affects the productivity directly(the rest too?)The soil and drainage of the crops is a physical factor. Soil fertility to produce crops is determined by the amount of water,air and nutrients from minerals in the soil such as potassium and zinc.Floodplains such as the Ganges plain and deltas such as Ganges Delta are fertile because of alluvium rich in nitrogen, phosphorus brought down by the rivers.With fertile soils,flat terrain and ample water supply , these areas are agriculturally productive.Atop that volcanic soil is fertile due to the presence of volcanic ash and basic lava rich in minerals are productive farming land.Soil type and drainage or its ability to retain water influence the type of crops grown and productivity.Different crops requires different soil to grow efficiently.For example,clayey soil being 70% clay and naturally water retentive is suitable for rice cultivation.Stony and rocky soils are unproductive to produce crops. ( so why is this more impt than economic or social i ?your opinion?)
Land tenure is a social factor that the productivity of the crops highly depend on.It refers to the status of ownership of land.Farmers who own a land have a greater initiative and motivation to invest in new crop and invest in research and development for the crops to faster and more efficiently.Thus, as more crops are grown at a shorter period of time, the productivity of the crops increases. However I acknowledge another view point that economic factors such as demand and capital are important factors in ensuring food productivity.The demand is the desire to purchase.The higher the demand the more the shortages which in turn causes an increase in the price.The high prices encourages the farmer to increase the output of the crops grown to meet the high demand as they get to gain profit. For example, the increase in demand for maize in China has caused a global intensity of maize production especially in USA which exports maize to China. The capital refers to the money needed to grow or expand supply of crops,livestock and fish.For example,the commercial deep sea fishing,acoustic sonar to detect the fishes and increase the chances of catching a fish thus increasing the productivity.In DCs there tend to be an availability of capital for new inventions,research and development example, better seeds,flood control method and modern irrigation to sustain the intensity of food production and supply.Conversely, LDCs having a lack of capital tend to have lesser productivity and hinder the intensity of food production and supply. Therefore, although there are economic factors that highly influence the intensity of food production other factors such as the soil and drainage from the physical factors and the land tenure from the social factors affects the intensity of food production as well

your essay explains the factors but doesnt show your reasoning of why one is more important than another

Anthea

2017-03-28 15:17:25 UTC

I agree that economic factors are most important among the 3 other factors. Economic factors consist of the purpose of farming and Demand is one of the purpose of farming. Demand is the desire to purchase certain type of food from consumers. The demand for food changes according to the tastes and preferences of consumers and affects the amount and type of crops produce . When food demand increases , it will encourage food producers to increase their output and productivity so that more money can be earned . If there is a Low demand of food from customers , producers would not increase their output and might decrease their output for further losses . (Hence , even with  a good physical and social factors that aid in the production of crops  , without a certain level of demand from the customers , producers would choose not to increase their production and stay stagnant . ) (yes, gd link!😊)  For example , China started to import more corn from USA which has increased its production of corn for export to China as  more corn has been needed to feed livestock in order to cater to the increasing demand for meat by a larger and wealthier population .(gd that u included e.g.☺)

Therefore,economic factors are the most important factors among the three.

However, physical and social play a part in food productions. Physical factors such as
climate. Climate is the average condition of the atmosphere of a specific place over a Long period of time, usually over 30 years. It determines the type of crops that can be grown in the area .Temperature affects the rates of photosynthesis and seed germination which subsequently affects the output in general . The temperature required
For growth varies among crops. For example, crops such as pea require cooler climates while others such as soya bean require warmer climates with temperature of 25c to 28c. Other than that , rainfall is also important for plant growth , the amount of rainfall required for growth varies among different types of crops .hence climate can affect the productivity of food production due to the suitability of the particular crop growing at that point in time . Thus , physical factors play a role in affecting food production(so how is this less important than economic factor?).Lastly , social factors such as land tenure. Land tenure means a agricultural land is being occupied ,either rented or self owned . In LDCs, most Farmers could not afford for a Farmland on their own and instead would rent a land from the government . Due to the land not belonging to them , Farmers would have little motivation to improve farming methods or make improvement to the land . Overtime , productivity would drop with the lack of incentives to make improvements . With Farmers that own their own farmland , they would be willing to put in the effort and purchase better machine or use improved farming method .Hence , production of food will increase. Land tenure can affect how much output will be produced by the producers. Thus, social factors play a role in affecting food production.( yes, we all know that all 3 play a part but how is one more impt than another?)

1st para is gd, linkage to qn + clear example to support y it is impt.

Tan Wei Jun

2017-03-29 02:24:57 UTC

No I don't agree that economic factor is the most important. I think that it is (what do u think Wei jun? incomplete.)

shanmin

2017-03-29 12:19:13 UTC

no, i do not agree that economic is the most important factor of food production. i feel that physical factor is the most important factor. climatic factors such as temperature and rainfall can affect the growth of plants. places with high rainfall and high temperature are more conducive for plants to grow. low temperature will affects the rate of photosynthesis and seed germination & makes it difficult for crops to grow which will affect the rate of production . however, crops like strawberry requires a cooler climate to grow. the amount of rainfall required for growth varies among different types of crops. for example, corn requires more water than soya bean to grow. farmers will have 2 or 3 harvests in a year in the tropics as the temperature is between 22 degree celcius to 32 degree celcius and average rainfall to be greater than 2000 millimetres.
During winter, food production will lessen as the temperature and rainfall are unsuitable for growing of crops.
(yes, so how is this more important than economic factor?)

soils and drainage is also another factor that affects the physical factor of food production. fertile soils can be found in floodplains along a river, in deltas at the river mouth and areas near volcanoes and crop yield tends to be high at these areas. for example, with highly fertile soils, flat terrain and large supply of water in Mekong Delta of Vietnam will result in high production of rice. improper soil drainage may affect the growth of crops. for example, oats require more sandy soils that are well-drained. fertile soil enables to have higher production of crops as it has enough nutrients for plants to grow healthily.

//(paragraph answers)
however i acknowledge that economic factor, for example, purpose of farming is also important. subsistence farming produces crops just enough to feed only the farmer and his family which requires small land, simple farming tools and seeds from previous harvest. this means that the production of food is a lot lesser as compared to commercial farming which produces large-scale of crops intended for sale which requires machinery such as tractors and combine harvesters and a large area of land. countries like Sub-Saharan Africa practices subsistence farming will have a lower crop yield as compared to commercial farming where their crop yield is high and have more variety of crops grown such as animal products and livestock production.(how is this less important)
-you are merely listing all the impacts without explaining why one factor is more important than another.
-some explanation of your stand is required.
-social factors