📘 Chapter 4: Primary Activities
📚 Book: Fundamentals of Human Geography (NCERT)
📅 Session: 2025–26
👨🏫 Presented by: Khanak Peshin
🎯 Simplifying Concepts with Amresh Academy
Primary Activities 🔨🌾
📌 Economic activities = Human actions that generate income 💰
(आदमी के वो काम जिनसे पैसे मिलते हैं)
🎯 Economic activities are of 4 types:
Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary 🔁
🌿 Primary Activities kya hoti hain?
👉 These are activities directly dependent on nature/environment (प्राकृतिक संसाधनों पर निर्भर) 🌍
→ Uses land, water, vegetation, minerals, building materials 🏞️💧🌳⛏️
💡 Examples of Primary Activities:
• Hunting & Gathering (शिकार और संग्रह) 🦌🍇
• Pastoral Activities (पशुपालन) 🐄🐑
• Fishing (मछली पकड़ना) 🎣🐟
• Forestry (वन से जुड़ा कार्य) 🌲
• Agriculture (कृषि) 🌾
• Mining & Quarrying (खनन और पत्थर तोड़ना) ⛏️🪨
🌱 In short, these are basic survival jobs that use nature directly!
Hunting and Gathering 🌿🏹
📌 Hunting and Gathering = दुनिया की सबसे पुरानी आर्थिक गतिविधि (oldest economic activity) 🕰️
💰 Requires very little capital (बहुत कम पूंजी)
⚙️ Uses very low-level technology (कम तकनीक) 🛠️
🌍 Gathering is practised in:
🔹 High Latitude Zones (उच्च अक्षांश क्षेत्र):
→ Northern Canada 🇨🇦
→ Northern Eurasia 🌐
→ Southern Chile 🇨🇱
🔹 Low Latitude Zones (निम्न अक्षांश क्षेत्र):
→ Amazon Basin 🌳
→ Tropical Africa 🌍
→ Northern fringe of Australia 🇦🇺
→ Interior Southeast Asia 🌏
🌱 Modern Gatherers collect:
→ Leaves (पत्तियाँ) 🍃
→ Bark (पेड़ों की छाल) 🌳
→ Medicinal Plants (औषधीय पौधे) 🌿
🛒 इन चीजों को हल्की प्रोसेसिंग के बाद बाजार में बेचते हैं 💼
Pastoralism & Nomadic Herding 🐄🚶♂️
📌 Pastoralism = The practice of rearing animals (पशुपालन) for livelihood
➡️ Depending on geographical conditions (भौगोलिक स्थिति) and technology, animal rearing is done either:
• at a subsistence level (गुज़ारे लायक स्तर) 🐐
• or at a commercial level (व्यावसायिक स्तर) 🐄💰
👣 Nomadic Herding (घुमंतू पशुपालन)
→ Also called Pastoral Nomadism (घुमंतू चरवाही)
→ It's a primitive (आदिम/प्राचीन) and subsistence-based activity
🛖 Herders depend on animals for:
• Food (भोजन)
• Clothing (कपड़े)
• Shelter (रहने का स्थान)
• Tools & Transport (औज़ार और परिवहन)
🔁 They kee p moving from one place to another with their livestock
→ depending on pasture quality (घास के मैदान की गुणवत्ता) and water availability (पानी की उपलब्धता)
🌍 Types of Animals in Different Regions:
🔹 Tropical Africa:
→ Cattle 🐂 are the main animals
🔹 Sahara & Asiatic Deserts:
→ Sheep 🐑, Goats 🐐, and Camels 🐫
🔹 Tibet & Andes Mountains:
→ Yak 🐃 and Llamas 🦙
🔹 Arctic & Sub-Arctic Regions:
→ Reindeer 🦌
Regions of Pastoral Nomadism 🌍🐪
📌 Pastoral Nomadism is practiced in three major regions (तीन प्रमुख क्षेत्र) around the world 🌎:
1️⃣ Core Region (मुख्य क्षेत्र):
→ From the Atlantic shores of North Africa 🌊
→ Moving eastward across the Arabian Peninsula 🕌
→ Reaching up to Mongolia and Central China 🇲🇳🇨🇳
🧭 This is the largest stretch where nomadic herding is common.
2️⃣ Tundra Region of Eurasia (यूरेशिया का टुंड्रा क्षेत्र):
→ Covers cold, treeless plains (ठंडी और बर्फीली समतल ज़मीन) ❄️🌨️
→ Home to animals like reindeer (बारहसिंगा) 🦌
3️⃣ Southern Hemisphere Regions (दक्षिणी गोलार्ध के क्षेत्र):
→ Small areas in South-west Africa 🌍
→ And on the island of Madagascar 🏝️
Even though these areas are small, they still practice nomadic herding.
📌 So, Pastoral Nomadism is diverse and widespread, shaped by climate, terrain, and tradition 🗺️✨
Transhumance: Seasonal Migration 🚶♂️🌄➡️🏞️
📌 The seasonal movement of people with their animals from one region to another is called Transhumance (ऋतु आधारित प्रवास) 🔁
🌞 In Summers → People move from plains to mountain pastures (प्लेन इलाकों से पहाड़ों की चरागाहों की ओर) ⛰️🐐
❄️ In Winters → They come back from the mountains to the plains 🏞️
🌍 Examples from the Himalayan Region:
→ Communities like Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis, and Bhotiyas 👳♂️🐏
→ They migrate (प्रवास करते हैं) every year following the same route
🧭 Summer = Move up to higher pastures
🧭 Winter = Come down to lower plains
🌨️ Tundra Region Migration:
→ Nomadic herders move northward in summer and southward in winter ❄️🌿
→ This helps them find fresh pastures (नई चरागाहें) for their animals year-round 🦌
📚 This rhythmic migration is essential for survival in extreme climates! 🌦️
Decline of Pastoral Nomadism 📉🐪
📌 Over time, the number of pastoral nomads (पशुपालकों की संख्या) has been decreasing.
Also, the areas they use are shrinking (सिकुड़ते जा रहे हैं) 🌍❌
🔍 Reasons for this decline:
1️⃣ Imposition of Political Boundaries (राजनीतिक सीमाओं का निर्धारण):
→ Countries have drawn fixed borders, which limits the free movement of nomadic herders 🚫🗺️
2️⃣ New Settlement Plans (नई बसावट योजनाएँ):
→ Governments encourage permanent settlements.
→ Nomads are asked to leave their traditional ways and
settle in one place 🏠
😔 As a result, traditional nomadic lifestyles are slowly
disappearing
→ impacting both culture and environment 🌿💔
Commercial Livestock Rearing 🐄💼
📌 Commercial livestock rearing = Raising animals on large, permanent ranches (स्थायी पशु फ़ार्म) for profit 💰
🏞️ Ranch Layout:
• Ranches cover huge areas (विशाल क्षेत्र), divided into fenced parcels 🪧
• Animals graze one parcel until the grass is finished, then move to the next 🔁🌿
🔬 Scientific Management (वैज्ञानिक प्रबंधन):
• Selective breeding 🧬
• Controlled grazing 🐄
• Veterinary care 💉
All ensure maximum yield (अधिकतम उत्पादन) and animal health (पशु स्वास्थ्य) ✅
🌎 Major Ranching Countries:
🇳🇿 New Zealand 🇦🇺 Australia 🇦🇷 Argentina 🇺🇾 Uruguay 🇺🇸 United States
🐑 Key Animals:
• Sheep (भेड़)
• Cattle (गाय‑बैल)
• Goats (बकरी)
• Horses (घोड़े)
🏭 Processed Products:
→ Meat (मांस) 🍖
→ Wool (ऊन) 🧶
→ Hides & Skins (चमड़ा) 👞
Subsistence Agriculture 🌾👨🌾
📌 Subsistence Agriculture = Farming where the produce is mainly for local use (स्थानीय उपयोग के लिए उत्पादन)
👥 Farmers grow food to feed their families, not to sell in markets 🧺
🔸 Two main types:
1️⃣ Primitive Subsistence Agriculture
2️⃣ Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
🌳 Primitive Subsistence / Shifting Cultivation:
→ Practised by tribes in tropical areas 🌍 (Africa, South America, SE Asia)
→ Also called slash and burn farming (जलाकर खेती करना) 🔥
🪵 How it works:
• Forest is cleared by fire
• Ashes improve soil fertility (मिट्टी उपजाऊ बनती है)
• After a few years, farmers shift to new land
🌱 Local names:
→ Jhuming (India NE), Milpa (Mexico), Ladang (Indonesia)
⚠️ Problem:
→ Repeated shifting leads to loss of soil fertility (मिट्टी की उपजाऊ शक्ति कम हो जाती है)
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture 🌾👣
📌 Found in densely populated (घनी आबादी वाले) areas of Monsoon Asia 🌧️🌏
• Uses small land plots
• Manual labour (हाथ से काम) is common
• Machines are rarely used ⚙️❌
• High yield per area (प्रति क्षेत्र अधिक उत्पादन)
• But low productivity per worker (प्रति मज़दूर कम उत्पादकता)
🍚 1️⃣ Wet Paddy Dominated:
→ Dominated by rice farming in India, China, Japan 🇮🇳🇨🇳🇯🇵
🌾 2️⃣ Non-Paddy Dominated:
→ Grows wheat, soybean, barley, sorghum 🌾
→ Found in northern China, Manchuria, Korea, Japan
→ In India:
• Wheat → Western Indo-Gangetic Plains
• Millets → Dry parts of Western & Southern India
Plantation Agriculture 🌴☕
📌 Plantation Agriculture = Large-scale farming of a single crop (एक ही फसल की खेती), mainly for export (निर्यात) 🌍💼
🌍 Introduced by Europeans in tropical colonies (उष्णकटिबंधीय उपनिवेशों में शुरू हुई खेती)
🍍 Major Plantation Crops:
→ Tea (चाय), Coffee (कॉफी), Cocoa, Rubber (रबर)
→ Cotton, Oil Palm, Sugarcane (गन्ना), Bananas, Pineapples 🍌🌾
🔍 Key Features of Plantation Agriculture:
🏝️ Large Estates – Huge areas of land under one crop
💰 Big Capital Investment (बड़ी पूंजी लगाई जाती है)
👨💼 Managerial & Technical Support (प्रबंधकीय और तकनीकी सहायता)
🔬 Scientific Cultivation Methods (वैज्ञानिक खेती के तरीके)
🌱 Mono-cropping (एक ही फसल की खेती)
👷 Cheap Labour (सस्ता श्रम)
🚛 Strong Transport Network to connect farms with factories & ports 🚢
📦 Final products are mostly exported to international markets 🌐
Major Plantation Regions Around the World 🌍🌱
📌 Let’s look at where major plantation crops are grown (मुख्य फसलें कहाँ उगाई जाती हैं) across the globe:
🌍 Important Plantation Crops & Locations:
🍫☕ Cocoa & Coffee → West Africa 🇳🇬🇬🇭
🍵 Tea → India & Sri Lanka 🇮🇳🇱🇰
🌳 Rubber → Malaysia 🇲🇾
🍌🍬 Sugarcane & Bananas → West Indies 🏝️
🥥 Coconut & Sugarcane → Philippines 🇵🇭
🍬 Sugarcane → Indonesia 🇮🇩
☕ Coffee (Fazendas) → Brazil 🇧🇷
🏛️ Ownership Today:
• Most plantations are now owned by either the governments (सरकार) or nationals (स्थानीय नागरिक) of those countries 🏢🌱
→ Earlier, they were mostly under foreign control, but now local ownership is increasing 📈
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation 🌾🚜
📌 This farming is practised in semi-arid (अर्ध-शुष्क) regions of the mid-latitudes (मध्यम अक्षांश) 🌍☀️
🌾 Main Crops Grown:
• Wheat (मुख्य फसल) 🍞
• Others: Corn, Barley, Oats, Rye 🌽🌾
📏 Farm Characteristics:
• Very large farms (बहुत बड़े खेत)
• Fully mechanised farming (पूरी तरह मशीनों से खेती) —
• Low yield per acre (प्रति एकड़ कम उत्पादन)
• But high yield per person (प्रति व्यक्ति अधिक उत्पादन) 💪
🌍 Major Regions Practising It:
→ Eurasian Steppes
→ Canadian & American Prairies 🇨🇦🇺🇸
→ Pampas of Argentina 🇦🇷
→ Velds of South Africa 🇿🇦
→ Australian Downs 🇦🇺
→ Canterbury Plains of New Zealand 🇳🇿
Mixed Farming 🌽🐄
📌 Mixed Farming = A system where both crops and livestock (फसल और पशुपालन) are raised together on the same farm 🐂🌾
🌍 Where is it practised?
→ Found in highly developed regions (विकसित क्षेत्र):
• North-western Europe 🇪🇺
• Eastern North America 🇺🇸
• Parts of Eurasia 🌍
• Temperate regions of Southern Continents 🌐
🏡 Farm Features:
• Farms are moderate in size (औसत आकार के खेत)
• Crop rotation (फसल चक्र) & intercropping (मिश्रित फसल) help maintain soil fertility (मिट्टी की उर्वरता) 🌱
⚙️ Other Key Points:
→ High capital investment (बड़ी पूंजी लगाना पड़ता है) in machines and buildings 🏗️
→ Use of chemical fertilisers (रासायनिक खाद) & green manures (हरित खाद)
→ Requires skilled and trained farmers (कुशल किसान) 👨🌾
🌾 Main Crops Grown:
→ Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, Maize 🌽
→ Fodder crops (चारे की फसलें) & Root crops (कंद फसलें) like potato 🥔
→ Fodder is essential to feed the farm animals 🐄🍀
Dairy Farming 🐄🥛
📌 Dairy Farming = The most advanced and efficient (उन्नत और प्रभावी) way of rearing milch animals (दूध देने वाले पशु) 🐄🐃
💰 Highly Capital Intensive (पूंजी भारी खर्च वाली खेती):
→ Requires:
• Animal sheds 🏠
• Storage for fodder 🌾
• Feeding & milking machines 🛠️
→ All of this makes dairy farming costly but productive
🧬 Focus Areas:
• Cattle breeding (पशु प्रजनन)
• Health care
• Veterinary services (पशु चिकित्सा सेवाएं)
🧑🌾 Labour Intensive (श्रम-प्रधान):
→ Needs constant care (लगातार देखभाल) in feeding & milking ⏰🍶
→ No off-season – work continues all year round 🗓️
🏙️ Location Advantage:
→ Usually near urban/industrial centres (शहरों और औद्योगिक क्षेत्रों के पास)
→ So that fresh milk & products reach the market quickly 🚚🧀
❄️ With transport, refrigeration, pasteurisation (दूध सुरक्षित रखने की तकनीकें),
→ Storage life of dairy products has improved 📦🧊
🌍 Major Dairy Farming Regions:
1️⃣ North-Western Europe 🇪🇺
2️⃣ Canada 🇨🇦
3️⃣ South-Eastern Australia, New Zealand & Tasmania 🇦🇺🇳🇿
Mediterranean Agriculture 🍇🌊
📌 Practised in areas with Mediterranean climate (भूमध्यसागरीय जलवायु) — warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters ☀️🌧️
🍇 Viticulture (अंगूर की खेती) = the main feature of this region
→ Superior grapes → used to make wine (शराब) 🍷
→ Inferior grapes → used as raisins & currants (किशमिश और सूखे अंगूर) 🍇
🫒 Other Major Crops:
→ Olives (जैतून)
→ Figs (अंजीर) 🌿
These crops are adapted to dry climates
(सूखी जलवायु के अनुकूल) and need less water 💧
🌍 Regions where it is practised:
→ Europe: Around the Mediterranean Sea 🌊
→ North Africa: From Tunisia to Atlantic coast 🌍
→ Southern California 🇺🇸
→ Central Chile 🇨🇱
→ South-Western South Africa 🇿🇦
→ Southern & South-Western Australia 🇦🇺
Market Gardening & Horticulture 🥦🌸
📌 This farming system focuses on high-value crops (मूल्यवान फसलें)
→ Vegetables, fruits, and flowers are grown specially for urban markets (बाजारों के लिए)
💰 Features:
• Labour & capital intensive (श्रम और पूंजी दोनों की ज़रूरत) 👨🌾💵
• Uses:
→ Irrigation (सिंचाई) 💧
→ HYV seeds (उच्च गुणवत्ता वाले बीज) 🌱
→ Fertilisers (उर्वरक) & Insecticides (कीटनाशक)
→ Greenhouses (कृत्रिम कांच घर) 🏠
→ Artificial heating (कृत्रिम गर्मी) in cold areas ❄️🔥
These areas have high population & strong transport to support quick delivery of fresh produce 🚛🍅
🌍 Where is it practised?
→ North-West Europe 🇪🇺
→ North-Eastern USA 🇺🇸
→ Mediterranean regions 🌊
Truck Farming 🚛🥬
📌 Truck Farming = A type of farming where farmers specialise only in vegetables (सिर्फ़ सब्ज़ियों की खेती) 🥕🥦🍆
🛣️ Why is it called "Truck" Farming?
→ Because the farms are located at a distance that a truck can cover overnight (एक रात में ट्रक जितनी दूरी तय कर सके) 🚛🌙
→ This ensures fresh vegetables reach urban markets early next morning 🏙️🍅
📍 Practised near cities and towns with good roads & transport (अच्छी परिवहन व्यवस्था)
→ Helps in quick delivery and less spoilage ❄️⏱️
Factory Farming 🏭🐔
📌 Factory Farming = A modern system where animals are raised indoors (जानवरों को अंदर पाला जाता है) in stalls and pens (बाड़ों और शेड में) 🐄🐓
🌍 Where is it practised?
→ Mainly in industrial regions of Western Europe and North America 🏢🇪🇺🇺🇸
💰 Heavy Capital Investment (ज़्यादा पूंजी लगती है):
→ For buildings, feed, and equipment 🛠️💵
→ Animals are fed with manufactured feedstuff (तैयार चारा) 🧃🌽
→ Constant monitoring and disease control (बीमारियों से सुरक्षा) 🩺✅
👨⚕️ This system focuses on:
• High efficiency (अधिक उत्पादन)
• Scientific supervision (वैज्ञानिक देखरेख)
• Year-round production 📆
Co-operative Farming 🤝🚜
📌 Co-operative Farming = When a group of farmers (किसानों का समूह) voluntarily (स्वेच्छा से) join hands to farm together for profit and efficiency 💼✅
👨🌾👩🌾 What do they share?
→ Land, tools, seeds, money – all are pooled together
→ They work as a team but share the profits 🧺💰
🎯 Benefits of Co-operative Farming:
• Cheaper input processing (सस्ती लागत से उत्पादन) 💸
• Better product quality (बेहतर गुणवत्ता)
• Easier selling in markets (आसान बिक्री) 🏪
• More efficient farming (प्रभावी खेती)
🌍 Successful Countries:
→ Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy 🇩🇰🇳🇱🇧🇪🇸🇪🇮🇹
→ These nations have strong co-operative movements (सहकारी आंदोलन)
Collective Farming 🧑🌾👩🌾🤝
📌 Collective Farming = Farming based on social ownership (सामूहिक स्वामित्व) and shared labour (साझा श्रम) 🌾👐
🏢 Key Feature:
→ All resources like land, livestock & labour (भूमि, पशु और मज़दूरी) are pooled together by the farmers 🐄🚜
→ But each farmer is allowed a small portion for personal use (थोड़ा हिस्सा अपने लिए रख सकते थे) 🍲🏠
📖 Origin of the Model:
→ Known as the Kolkhoz System (कोलखोज प्रणाली)
→ Introduced in the former USSR (भूतपूर्व सोवियत संघ) 🇷🇺
🔁 Collective efforts → Shared results
→ Everyone works together, and the output is distributed based on contribution or government plans
Mining: Extracting Earth's Treasure ⛏️🌍
📌 Mining = The extraction (निकासी) of minerals from the earth’s surface or underground (पृथ्वी की सतह या भीतर से खनिज निकालना) 🪨⛏️
⚙️ Mining became important with the Industrial Revolution (औद्योगिक क्रांति) and is still growing in value and use 🏭📈
📊 Factors Affecting Mining Activity:
1️⃣ Physical Factors (भौतिक कारक):
→ Size of deposit (खदान का आकार)
→ Grade or quality of mineral (खनिज की गुणवत्ता)
→ Mode of occurrence (जमा होने का तरीका)
2️⃣ Economic Factors (आर्थिक कारक):
→ Demand for the mineral 📦
→ Available technology (तकनीक) ⚙️
→ Capital for infrastructure 💰
→ Labour & transport costs (श्रम और परिवहन खर्च) 🚚👷
Methods of Mining ⛏️🏔️
📌 Mining methods depend on how deep and where the mineral is found (खनिज कहाँ और कितनी गहराई पर है) 🪨📍
🔽 Types of Mining:
1️⃣ Surface Mining (सतही खनन):
→ Minerals found close to the surface (सतह के पास)
→ Easiest & cheapest (सबसे आसान और सस्ता तरीका)
→ Low overhead cost (कम खर्च) ✅
2️⃣ Underground Mining (भूमिगत खनन):
→ Used when minerals lie deep underground (गहराई में स्थित खनिज)
→ Needs:
• Lifts, drills, haulage vehicles (खदान की मशीनें)
• Ventilation system (हवा की व्यवस्था) 🧯🛠️
→ Risky method (जोखिम भरा तरीका) – danger of:
• Poisonous gases (ज़हरीली गैसें) ☠️ • Fires 🔥 • Floods 🌊
🌍 Global Mining Trend:
→ Developed countries are reducing mining due to high labour costs (उच्च मज़दूरी लागत) 💵
→ Developing countries with large labour force (बड़ी मज़दूर जनसंख्या) are becoming key mining hubs (मुख्य खनन क्षेत्र) 📈🌏
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