Agriculture and Rural

Question 0

agriculture

Answer 0

the art and science of producing food from the land and tending livestock for the purpose of human consumption

Question 1

Agribusiness

Answer 1

The set of economic and political relationships that organize food production for commercial purposes. It includes activities ranging from seed production, to retailing to consumption of agricultural products.

Question 2

animal husbandry

Answer 2

an agricultural activity associated with the raising of domesticated animals, such as cattle, horses, sheep and goats.

Question 3

biotechnology

Answer 3

a form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes

Question 4

capital-intensive agriculture

Answer 4

forms of agriculture that uses mechanical goods such as machinery, tools, vehicles and facilities to produce large amounts of agricultural goods—a process requiring very little human labor

Question 5

commercial-agricultural economy

Answer 5

all agricultural activity generated for the purpose of selling, not necessarily for local consumption

Question 6

commodity chains

Answer 6

a linked system of processes that gather resources, convert them into goods, package them for distribution, disperse them, and sell them on the market

Question 7

dairying

Answer 7

an agricultural activity involving the raising of livestock, most commonly cows and goats, for dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter.

Question 8

desertification

Answer 8

the process by which formerly fertile lands become increasingly arid, unproductive, and desert-like

Question 9

domestication

Answer 9

the conscious manipulation of plant and animal species by humans in order to sustain themselves

Question 10

extensive agriculture

Answer 10

an agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor system unit land area

Question 11

feedlots

Answer 11

places where livestock are concentrated in a very small area and raised on hormones and hearty grains that prepare them for slaughter at a much more rapid rate than grazing, often referred to as factory farms.

Question 12

Fertile Crescent

Answer 12

area located in the crescent shaped zone near the southeastern Mediterranean coast, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, which was once a lush environment and one of the first hearths of domestication and thus agricultural activity

Question 13

food security

Answer 13

people’s ability to access sufficient nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

Question 14

genetically modified foods

Answer 14

foods that are mostly products of organisms that have had their genes altered in a laboratory for specific purposes, such as disease resistance, increased productivity, or nutritional value allowing growers greater control, predictability, and efficiency

Question 15

Green Revolution

Answer 15

The development of higher yield and fast growing crops through increased technology, pesticides, and fertilizers transferred from the development to developing world to alleviate the problem of food supply in those regions of the globe.

Question 16

horizontal integration

Answer 16

a form of corporate organization in which several branches of a company or several commonly owned companies work together to sell their products in different markets.

Question 17

hunting and gathering

Answer 17

the killing of wild animals and fish as well as the gathering of fruits, roots, nuts and other plants for sustenance.

Question 18

Intensive cultivation

Answer 18

Any kind of agricultural activity that involves effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yield

Question 19

Labor intensive agriculture

Answer 19

type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful

Question 20

livestock ranching

Answer 20

an extensive commercial agricultural activity that involves the raising of livestock over vast geographic spaces typically located in semi-arid climates like the American West.

Question 21

mechanization

Answer 21

in agriculture, the replacement of human labor with technology or machines

Question 22

Mediterranean agriculture

Answer 22

An agricultural system practiced in Mediterranean style climates of Western Europe, California, and portions of Chile and Australia, in which diverse specialty crops such as grapes, avocados, olives and a host of nuts, fruits and vegetables comprise profitable agriculture operations.

Question 23

Organic agriculture

Answer 23

the use of crop rotation, natural fertilizers such as manure, and biological pest control—as opposed to artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, additives, and genetically modified organisms—to promote healthy, vigorous crops.

Question 24

pastoralism

Answer 24

a type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing and shelter.

Question 25

pesticides

Answer 25

chemicals used on plants that do not harm the plants, but kill pests and have negative repercussions on other species who ingest the chemicals.

Question 26

planned agricultural economy

Answer 26

an agricultural economy found in communist nations in which the government controls both agriculture production and distribution.

Question 27

Plantation

Answer 27

a large, frequently foreign-owned piece of agricultural land devoted to the production of a sing export crop.

Question 28

salinizationf

Answer 28

Process that occurs when soils in arid areas are brought under cultivation through irrigation. In arid climates, water evaporates quickly off the ground surface, leaving salty residues that render soil infertile

Question 29

shifting cultivation

Answer 29

the use of tropical forest clearings for crop production until their fertility is lost. Plots are the abandoned, and farmers move on to new sites.

Question 30

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Answer 30

System of cultivation that usually exists in tropical areas where vegetation is cut close to the ground and then ignited. The fire introduces nutrients into the soil, thereby making it productive for relatively short period of time.

Question 31

specialty crops

Answer 31

crops including items like peanuts and pineapples, which are produced, usually in developing countries, for export

Question 32

subsistence agricultural economy

Answer 32

any farm economy in which most crops are grown for nearly exclusive family or local consumption.

Question 33

Swidden

Answer 33

land that is prepared for agriculture by using the slash-and-burn method

Question 34

Topsoil loss

Answer 34

loss of the top fertile layer of soil is lost through erosion It is a tremendous problem in areas with fragile soils, steep slopes, or torrential seasonal rains.

Question 35

transhumance

Answer 35

the movement of livestock according to seasonal patterns, generally lowland areas in winter, and highland areas in the summer.

Question 36

Urban sprawl

Answer 36

the process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land

Question 37

vertical integration

Answer 37

a form of corporate organization in which one firm controls multiple aspects or phases of a commodity chain.

Question 38

von Thunen model

Answer 38

An agricultural model that spatially describes agricultural activity in terms of rent. Activities that require intensive cultivation and cannot be transported over greater distances pay higher rent to be closer to the market. Conversely, activities that are more extensive, with goods that are easy to transport, are located farther from the marked where rent is less.