India’s Economic Foundation: A Deep Dive into Primary Activities and Land Use Patterns

Economic activities, which generate income, fall into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary sectors. Primary activities are directly dependent on Earth’s resources like land, water, vegetation, and minerals. This includes hunting, pastoralism, fishing, forestry, agriculture, mining and quarrying.

This article emphasizes  primary activities with special focus on land use patterns and agriculture in India. 

Challenges in Hunting and Gathering: A Global Perspective on Ancient Economic Primary Activities

• Introduction to Primary Activities: Economic activities, which generate income, fall into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary sectors, with primary activities directly relying on Earth’s resources. 
• The Foundation of Human Survival: Hunting was mainly exercised by earliest humans who relied on their immediate environment for survival. 
  • They subsisted through hunting animals and gathering edible plants.
• Survival Strategies Across Climates: People in very cold and hot climates depended on hunting. Coastal communities practiced fishing, which modernized over time. 
  • Illegal hunting (poaching) led to the endangerment of many species. Hence hunting was banned in India for conservation and wildlife protection.(Refer figure)
• The Oldest Economic Activities: Gathering and hunting are the oldest known economic activities, carried out at different levels and orientations.
• Adapting to Harsh Climates: Gathering is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions. 
  • It often involves primitive societies, who extract both plants and animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter and clothing. 
• Geographical Distribution of Gathering Practices:  This primary activities is practiced in various regions, including 
  • High-latitude zones (northern Canada, northern Eurasia, southern Chile) 
  • Low-latitude zones (Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia, interior parts of Southeast Asia).
• Commercialization of Gathering Practices: In modern times gathering activities have become market-oriented. 
  • Gatherers process and sell plants for various products, using various parts of plants.
  • Example:  
    • Bark used for quinine, tannin extract, and cork. 
    • Leave used to supply materials for beverages, drugs, cosmetics, fibers, thatch, and fabrics. 
    • Nuts consumed as food and oils. 
    • Tree trunk yields rubber, balata, gums, and resins.

Areas of Subsistence Gathering

• Challenges in Gathering Practices: Limited capital investment and use of low technology causes low yield per person with little or no surplus.
  • Besides, Gathering has limited global significance and cannot compete in the world market due to synthetic product dominance.
    • Synthetic products offer better quality at lower prices, replacing gatherer-supplied items, especially in tropical forests.

Exploring Primary Activities: The Dynamics of Pastoralism in Animal Rearing

Pastoralism is a practice of domesticating animals. People in different climatic conditions selected and raised local animals. Animal rearing today is practiced at subsistence or commercial levels, influenced by geography and technology.It is also called as Pastoral Nomadism

Insights into the Traditional Subsistence Lifestyle of Nomadic Herders 

• A Traditional Subsistence Lifestyle: Nomadic herding, or pastoral nomadism, is a traditional subsistence activity. 
  • Herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools, and transport. 
• Mobility Practices and Territorial Traditions : They move with their livestock based on pasture and water availability.
  • Each nomadic community occupies a specific territory as a tradition.
• Global Distribution of Pastoral Nomadism: It is prominent in three key regions: 
  • Core region from North Africa to Mongolia and Central China, Eurasian tundra region, Smaller areas in South-west Africa and Madagascar in the southern hemisphere.(Refer figure)
  • A wide variety of animals is kept in different regions.
  • Example: In tropical Africa, cattle are essential, 
    • In Sahara and Asiatic deserts, sheep, goats, and camels are reared. 
    • Mountainous areas like Tibet and Andes keep yaks, llamas, and the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions rear reindeer.

Areas of Nomadic Herding

Revealing the Dynamics of Transhumance and Pastoral Nomadism

• Transhumance: The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summers and again from mountain pastures to plain areas during winters is known as transhumance.
  • Herders migrate horizontally over vast distances or vertically between elevations.
  • Example:  Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis, and Bhotiyas migrate in the Himalayas.
• Pastoral Nomadism Facing Extinction: The number of pastoral nomads is declining, and their areas are shrinking. 
  • This is due to political boundaries and new settlement plans by countries.

Nomadic Herders

A Comprehensive Exploration of Commercial Livestock Rearing and its Global Influence

• Definition: Commercial livestock rearing refers to the practice of raising animals for the primary purpose of generating profit and meeting market demands.
  • This segment of primary activities is more organized and capital-intensive than nomadic herding. 
• Western Cultural Influence: This primary activities is associated with Western cultures and practiced on large ranches.
• Efficient Grazing Management: Ranches are divided into parcels for controlled grazing.
  • Taking into account the carrying capacity of the pasture, Animals are moved between parcels to manage pastures effectively.

Areas of Commercial Livestock Rearing

• Specialized Rearing and Global Export: Specialization is maintained in rearing a single animal type, such as sheep, cattle, goats, or horses. 
  • Products like meat, wool, hides, and skin undergo scientific processing and are exported globally.
• Technological Advancements: Rearing of animals is based on scientific principles.
  • Emphasis is laid on scientific approaches, including breeding, genetics, disease control, and animal health care.
• Key Countries Driving the Industry: Prominent countries for commercial livestock rearing include New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States.(Refer figure)

 Commercial Livestock Rearing

Also Read: Land Resources and Agriculture in India: Dynamic, changes and Relationships

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