Geography · Ch 4 — Primary Activities
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean agriculture is a form of highly specialised commercial agriculture. It is not subsistence farming — every crop is grown for sale, often in distant markets.
The name comes from the Mediterranean Sea, but the practice extends far beyond it. The regions where this agriculture is found are:
- Countries on either side of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe
- North Africa, from Tunisia to the Atlantic coast
- Southern California (USA)
- Central Chile
- South-western parts of South Africa
- South and south-western parts of Australia
This region is an important supplier of citrus fruits — oranges, lemons, grapefruits — to the world.
Viticulture, or grape cultivation, is the speciality of the Mediterranean region. The best quality wines in the world, with distinctive flavours, are produced from high-quality grapes grown here. Inferior grapes are not wasted; they are dried into raisins and currants.
Besides grapes and citrus, the region also produces olives and figs. …
Two black-and-white photographs sit side by side, labelled (a) and (b). In the left image, you see a vineyard in Switzerland: neat rows of grapevines planted across a steep, terraced hillside. The terraces are cut into the slope to prevent soil erosion and to make cultivation possible on the incline. The vines are low, pruned bushes, each row following the contour of the land. This is a classic scene of viticulture — the specialised cultivation of grapes — in a mountainous part of the Mediterranean-type climate region.
The right photograph shows a collective farm in Kazakhstan. Here, workers are actively harvesting grapes. You can see several people bending over the vines, collecting the fruit into baskets or containers. The farm is not terraced; the land appears flatter, and the vines are grown in long, straight rows. The image emphasises the labour-intensive nature of grape harvesting, especially in a collective or cooperative farming system. …