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RAS question

Consider the following statements about Von Thünen's model of agricultural land use: I. It assumes a uniform plain with a single central market city. II. The innermost ring is devoted to forestry for fuel and building material. III. Extensive grain farming occupies a ring farther from the city than dairying. IV. Distance from the market is the sole determinant of land use in the model. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Correct answer: (C) I, III and IV only.

In Von Thunen's agricultural land-use model, statements I, III and IV are correct: it assumes a uniform plain with one central market, places extensive grain farther from the city than dairying, and treats market distance through transport cost as the basic determinant of land use.

  1. (A)

    I and III only

  2. (B)

    I and IV only

  3. (C)

    I, III and IV only

  4. (D)

    II, III and IV only

Explanation

Von Thunen's Isolated State model explains agricultural land use through transport cost and distance from a single market city. The model assumes farmland of equal quality, no special transport advantage for any place, one market city, and economically rational farmers. Because dairy, fruits and vegetables are perishable and costly to transport, they are placed closest to the market. Grain crops can be stored for long periods and are cheaper to transport, so they appear farther out. Forestry is not the innermost ring; firewood was heavy and expensive to move, so it was grown near the city but after the intensive horticulture and dairying zone. Thus I, III and IV match the model, while II misplaces forestry.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) A leaves out statement IV, even though the basic model uses distance from the market, operating through transport cost, to explain the land-use rings.
  • (B) B leaves out statement III, although grain farming is farther from the market than dairying because grain stores better and is cheaper to transport.
  • (D) D includes statement II, but the innermost zone is intensive horticulture and dairying, while forestry is a near-city ring rather than the first ring.

Concept

This tests agricultural location theory within World Geography, especially how economic distance shapes land-use patterns. It recurs in RAS because Von Thunen is the standard model for linking markets, transport cost and rural land use.

Source

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