Agro ecological regions of South America

1. Submitted to :
Dr Shivamurthy
Assistant proffessor
Dept of Agronomy,
College of agriculture,
Hanumanamatti.

2. UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
DHARWAD
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE HANUMANAMATTI
FARMING SYSTEMS, ORGANIC FARMING AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
AGR-304
TOPIC – SOUTH AMERICA : CLIMATE; SOILS; AGRICULTURE.
SUBMITTED BY – SUBMITTED TO-
SURENDRA P Dr Shivamurthy
UGS15AGR7776 Assistant proffessor
3RD YR BSc (AGRI) Dept of Agronomy
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
HANUMANAMATTI

3. Introduction,
Climate,
Soils,
Vegetation zones.
 A profile of Latin American
agriculture
Major farming sytems
References
CONTENTS

4. South America, fourth largest of the world’s
continents.
 It is the southern portion of the landmass
generally referred to as the New World, the
Western Hemisphere, or simply the Americas.
 The continent is compact and roughly
triangular in shape, being broad in the north
and tapering to a point—Cape Horn, Chile—in
the south.
INTRODUCTION

5. South America is bounded by the Caribbean
Sea to the northwest and north, the Atlantic
Ocean to the northeast, east, and southeast,
and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
 In the northwest it is joined to North America
by the Isthmus of Panama, a land bridge
narrowing to about 50 miles (80 km) at one
point.
 Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn,
separates South America from Antarctica.

6.  The name America is derived from that of the Italian
navigator Amerigo Vespucci, one of the earliest
European explorers of the New World
Area
17,840,000 km2
(6,890,000 sq mi)
Population 420,458,044 (2016),
Population density 21.4/km2 (56.0/sq mi)
GDP (nominal) $3.9 trillion (2016),
GDP (PPP) $6.3 trillion (2016, 4th)
GDP per capita $8,520 (2016)
Demonym South American
Countries 12

7. South America extends over a wide latitudinal
range, thus encompassing a great variety of
climates.
South America’s broadest extent is in the
equatorial zone, so that tropical conditions
prevail over more than half of the continent.
CLIMATE

8. South America can be divided into four
major climatic regions
Tropical climate,
Temperate climate,
Arid climate and,
Cold climate.
CLIMATIC REGIONS

9.  Among the tropical climates, the tropical rainy, or
rainforest, type occurs on the Pacific coast of Colombia,
in the Amazon basin, on the coast of the Guianas, and on
part of the coast of Brazil.
 The average daily temperature is about 86 °F (30 °C),
with monthly and annual variations of less than about 5
°F (3 °C).
 Heavy rainfall, well distributed throughout the year,
averages about 100 inches (2,500 mm) annually in
Belém (Brazil), about 110 inches (2,800 mm) in Iquitos
(Peru), and 70 inches (1,800 mm) in Manaus (Brazil).
 The Chocó region of Colombia—one of the wettest areas
in the world—receives in excess of 400 inches (10,200
mm), and it rains more than 300 days per year
TROPICAL CLIMATES

10.  The second type of tropical climate—the tropical wet-
dry, or savanna (grassy parkland), type—is
characterized by high temperatures (all monthly
means above 64 °F, or 18 °C) but receives less
precipitation and experiences a prolonged dry
season.
 That type of climate is found on the fringes of the
tropical-rainy belt, in the Orinoco basin, on the
Brazilian Highlands, and in part of western Ecuador.
 Temperatures are still high and annual variations
small, but daily temperature extremes are greater,
typically ranging from a low of 65 °F (18 °C) to a
high of 95 °F (35 °C).

11.  The temperate climates have a greater range of
temperatures than the tropical climates and may
include extreme climatic variations. Those climates,
characterized by lower winter temperatures, are
south of the Tropic of Capricorn (in Paraguay, parts
of Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile) and in the
mid-level elevations of the Andes.
 On the Atlantic side, temperatures in the warmest
month average 77 °F (25 °C), but cold-month
averages vary from 63 °F (17 °C) in the north
(Asunción, Paraguay) to 50 °F (10 °C) in Buenos
Aires
TEMPERATE CLIMATES

12. . Rainfall is abundant—about 100 inches
(2,500 mm) in Valdivia,
Chile, and probably twice that figure on the
western slopes of the mountains—and the
southernmost west coast is one of the wettest
regions in South America

13. Warm and cold deserts and certain coastal
and interior regions are classified as arid
climates.
Patagonia and northwestern Argentina
constitute the largest of the interior arid
regions.
 Rainfall is low, only about 4 inches (100 mm)
in San Juan in the north and about 7 inches
(180 mm) farther south in Neuquén.
ARID CLIMATES

14.  Areas where average annual temperatures are less
than 50 °F (10 °C) are characterized as cold
climates.
 Those occur in the southernmost parts of Argentina
and Chile and in the high Andes above about 11,500
feet (3,500 metres).
 Mean temperatures are relatively low throughout the
year, but daily variations are wide.
 There is a marked difference in humidity between
the northern and southern parts of the upper Andean
zone.
COLD CLIMATES

15. In Colombia and Ecuador the climate at
such elevations is cool and damp.
Temperatures, always low, may on the
average vary daily from 54 °F (12 °C)
during the daytime to 28 °F (−2 °C) at
night.
 Precipitation generally is high and well
distributed throughout much of the year,

16. More than 20 distinct soil regions can be
found on the South American continent as a
result of its geologic history, topography,
climate, and vegetation. Three major
groupings correspond to the continent’s three
primary land regions—the lowlands, the
highlands, and the Andes.
SOILS

17.  Low natural fertility is a conspicuous feature of
soils in the humid tropic regions of South America.
About half of the continent’s soils consist either of
unconsolidated and nutrient poor sediments (e.g.,
kaolins [china clays] and quartz sands) deposited
in river basins, latosols (red soils leached of silica
and containing residual concentrations of iron and
aluminum sesquioxides), red-yellow podzols
(acidic soils with a bleached upper horizon, or layer,
that are low in lime), and regosols (azonal soils
consisting mainly of imperfectly consolidated
material and having a complex morphology).

18.  About one-fifth of the continent is covered by arid soils
of various types in which agriculture is risky without
irrigation. Other regions, representing about 10
percent of the total area, are poorly drained, the soils
being either gleys (clayey soils in which the substrate
is bluish gray, generally sticky, and often structureless
because of excessive moisture), groundwater
laterites, grumosols (soils with a high content of
expanding clays), or planosols (a type of soil found in
humid climates in which soluble salts and minerals
are leached out of the upper layers and are cemented
or compacted at a lower level).

19. Fertile soils, therefore, extend over only about
10 percent of the surface of South America.
The most important of those are brunizems
(deep, dark-coloured prairie soils, developed
from wind-deposited loess), chestnut soils,
and ferruginous tropical soils.

20. Tropical and subtropical rainforests
Tropical deciduous forests
Caatinga
South Brazilian forests
Xerophytic associations
Subantarctic rainforests
Mountain vegetation
VEGETATION ZONES

21.  Latin America has long been associated with the
production and export of a diverse range of
agricultural commodities, whether it is coffee from
Brazil and Colombia, beef from Argentina, or
bananas from Ecuador.
 Trade data show that the region is indeed an
important net exporter of agricultural commodities
to the world, accounting for an estimated 16% of
global food and agriculture exports between 2012
and 2014,
 While representing just 4% of global food and
agriculture imports over the same period.
A PROFILE OF LATIN AMERICAN
AGRICULTURE

22. LATIN AMERICA – SHARE OF GLOBAL
TRADE IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

23. Due to its enormous latitudinal range,
varied topography and rich biodiversity,
Latin America and Caribbean has one of
the most diverse and complex range of
farming systems of any region in the
world.
 Sixteen major systems have been
defined
MAJOR FARMING SYSTEMS

24. 1. Irrigated Farming System
2. Forest Based Farming System
3. Coastal Plantation and Mixed Farming System
4. Intensive Mixed Farming System
5. Cereal-Livestock (Campos) Farming System
6. Moist Temperate Mixed-Forest Farming System
7. Maize-Beans (Mesoamerican) Farming System
8. Intensive Highlands Mixed (Northern Andes)
Farming System
LIST OF MAJOR FARMING SYSTEMS

25. 9. Extensive Mixed (Cerrados and Llanos) Farming
System
10.Temperate Mixed (Pampas) Farming System
11.Dryland Mixed Farming System
12.Extensive Dryland Mixed (Gran Chaco) Farming
System
13.High Altitude Mixed (Central Andes) Farming System
14.Pastoral Farming System
15.Sparse (Forest) Farming System
16.Urban Based Farming System
CONTD….

26.  USDA (2015): Economic Research Service, Inter national
Agricultural Productivity
 World Bank (2010): Rising global interest in farm land: can it
yield sustainable and equitable benefits?
 "South America". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2018. Web.
13 Jan. 2018 <https://www.britannica.com/place/South-
America>.
REFERANCES