Agriculture and Rural Geography

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; includes activities ranging from seed production, to retailing, to consumption of agricultural products

Question 2

Animal husbandry

Answer 2

An agricultural activity associated wit the raising of domesticated animals

Question 3

Aquaculture

Answer 3

The cultivation or farming (in controlled conditions) of aquatic species, such as fish; in contrast to commercial fishing, which involves catching wild fish

Question 4

Biotechnology

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Capital-intensive agriculture

Answer 5

Form 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 6

Commercial agricultural economy

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Commodity chains

Answer 7

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 8

Dairying

Answer 8

An agricultural activity involving the raising of livestock, most commonly cows and goats, for dairy products

Question 9

Desertification

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Domestication

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Extensive agriculture

Answer 11

An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area

Question 12

Feedlots/ factory farms

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Fertile Crescent

Answer 13

Area located in the crescent-shaped zone near the southeastern Mediterranean coast; once a lush environment and one of the first hearths of domestication and thus, agricultural activity

Question 14

Food security

Answer 14

People’s ability to access sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life

Question 15

Genetically modified food

Answer 15

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 16

Green Revolution

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Horizontal integration

Answer 17

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 18

Hunting and gathering

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Industrial Revolution

Answer 19

The rapid economic changes that occurred in agriculture and manufacturing in England in the late 1700s and that rapidly spread to other parts of the developed world

Question 20

Intensive cultivation

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Labor-intensive agriculture

Answer 21

Type if agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful

Question 22

Livestock ranching

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Mechanization

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Mediterranean agriculture

Answer 24

An agricultural system practiced in the 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 agricultural operations

Question 25

Organic agriculture

Answer 25

The use of crop rotation, natural fertilizers such as manure, and biological pest control–as opposed to artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, additives, and GMOs–to promote healthy, vigorous crops