Primary Activities Class 12 Geography Chapter 4 CBSE Notes 2025-26

Primary activities are the first step in the economic process, relying directly on the earth’s natural resources. These include work such as hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, mining, and quarrying. People involved in these activities are often called red-collar workers because they work outdoors and are usually close to nature.

Hunting and Gathering Hunting and gathering is the oldest economic activity. Early humans survived by hunting animals and gathering edible plants. This practice continues today in some harsh environments, like the arctic, Amazon basin, and parts of Africa. 

Traditionally, hunters used simple tools like stones and arrows, limiting animal kills. Today, overhunting and poaching have endangered many species, leading to hunting bans in places like India.

Gathering requires little investment and uses basic technology, with very limited surplus. It is still found in extreme environments such as the Amazon, Siberia, and parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. 

Some gathering now focuses on commercial collection of valuable plants—like medicinal herbs, tree bark for quinine, or latex for rubber—but global production remains small due to competition from synthetic alternatives.

Pastoralism Pastoralism, or animal rearing, started when people realized hunting was unsustainable. Animals were domesticated based on regional climate and geography. There are two main types: nomadic herding and commercial livestock rearing.

Nomadic herding involves moving with animals across regions to find new grazing pastures and water, often as a tradition within communities. It is mainly found in parts of North Africa, Central and West Asia, Siberia, and the Arctic. 

The main animals depend on the area, such as cattle in Africa, camels in deserts, and reindeer in the Arctic. Some communities practice transhumance, moving their herds between mountain and plain pastures seasonally. However, this lifestyle is shrinking because of new country borders and government settlement policies.

Commercial livestock rearing is organized, capital-intensive, and scientific. Ranches specialize in single animals, such as sheep, cattle, or horses, producing meat, wool, or hides for export. This method is common in New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, the United States, and Uruguay. Ranching involves genetic breeding, disease control, and careful pasture management, and it is less nomadic.

Agriculture Agriculture is one of the most important primary activities, practiced under varying physical and social conditions, which gives rise to different types of systems. These can be broadly divided into subsistence and commercial categories.

Subsistence agriculture refers to farming mainly for local consumption. In primitive subsistence agriculture, like slash and burn, land is cleared by fire, cultivated for a few years, then left as farmers move on to new land. This is called jhum in Northeast India and milpa in Central America. 

Intensive subsistence agriculture usually involves small plots and manual labor, with high yields per hectare but low output per worker. Paddy is commonly grown where water is abundant; in less suitable areas, wheat, soyabean, or barley may be grown instead.

Plantation agriculture was introduced by Europeans. It features large estates growing a single crop (monoculture) like tea, coffee, cocoa, or rubber, using extensive capital, labor, and scientific methods. 

Plantations now mostly belong to national governments or local citizens. Examples include tea in India and Sri Lanka, rubber in Malaysia, coffee in Brazil, and sugarcane in the Philippines.

Extensive commercial grain cultivation is practiced in semi-arid mid-latitude regions such as the prairies of North America, Eurasian steppes, Pampas of Argentina, and Australian Downs. Wheat is usually the principal crop. Farms are large and fully mechanized, and although yields per acre are low, productivity per worker is high.

Mixed farming is common in regions like Northwest Europe and Eastern North America. Here, farmers grow a range of crops—often wheat, barley, root crops, and fodder—and also keep livestock such as cattle, pigs, and poultry. Both crop and animal products contribute to household income, and there is significant investment in machinery, fertilizer, and expertise, resulting in high efficiency.

Dairy farming is highly advanced and capital-intensive, usually situated near big cities so fresh products can reach markets quickly. It involves careful management of animal breeds, housing, feed storage, and health. Innovations in transport and refrigeration have increased the global reach of dairy farms, most visibly in Northwest Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Mediterranean agriculture, found in regions like Southern Europe, California, and parts of Australia, is highly specialized. Farms here grow citrus fruits, grapes (for wine production), olives, figs, and several winter vegetables. Grapes are especially important, and the best varieties go into wine while others are dried for raisins or traded. Winter production serves European and American markets when local supplies are low.

Market gardening and horticulture is intensive farming focused on high-value crops like vegetables, fruits, and flowers for nearby cities. These farms are small, use a lot of labor and technology, and are located close to urban areas to keep produce fresh. Truck farming refers to raising vegetables and other perishables that are sent quickly to markets using trucks. Factory farming, another form, involves scientific poultry and cattle rearing in confined spaces.

In some regions, co-operative farming is practiced, where farmers share resources to get better prices for inputs, marketing, and processing while keeping individual land ownership. This has been especially successful in various parts of Western Europe. Collective farming, seen in former Soviet states, involves pooling land, animals, and labor, with some private plots allowed for personal use.

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals from the earth, which has historically defined different ages—like the Copper Age and Iron Age. The industry flourished with the industrial revolution. Mining methods depend on physical factors (such as the type, size, and location of deposits) and economic factors (such as demand, available capital, and technology).

There are two main mining methods: open-cast (strip) mining, which is used for shallow deposits and is cheaper and more productive; and underground (shaft) mining, used for deeper deposits but requiring more investment and safety measures. Developed countries are moving away from mining due to high costs, while many developing countries in Africa, South America, and Asia depend on mineral exports for economic growth.

Exercises and Revision Questions The chapter includes objective questions, short answers, and long answer exercises focusing on primary activities. Questions test understanding of topics like differences between nomadic herding and commercial livestock rearing, features of plantation farming, and reasons for the decline in shifting cultivation.

Class 12 Geography Chapter 4 Notes – Primary Activities (Fundamentals of Human Geography) Key Points for Quick Revision

These CBSE Class 12 Geography notes for Fundamentals of Human Geography Chapter 4 cover all essential concepts about Primary Activities, including agriculture, pastoralism, and mining. Thorough explanations make difficult topics easy for revision before exams. Students can review important differences, key terms, and examples from real-world contexts.

Using these revision notes, students get concise summaries and clear highlights on topics such as subsistence and commercial farming, nomadic herding, and factors affecting mining. These points make your last-minute preparation for NCERT and CBSE exams effective and organized.