Chapter 10 - Agriculture Flashcards
Crop
Any plant cultivated by people
Agriculture
The deliberate modification of earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals, to obtain sustenance or economic gain.
•latin: Agricola=farmer
Seed Agriculture
Reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization.
•practiced by most farmers today
Vegetive Planting
Reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants EX: Cutting stems/dividing roots •earliest form of plant cultivation •
Prime Agricultural Land
The most productive farmland in a region
Subsistence Agriculture
Production of food to support farmer’s family.
(Found in LDC’s)
•tence- looks like tense, the farmers are tense because their crop yield determines whether their family will eat
Commercial Agriculture
Production of food for sale off the farm.
Found in MDC’s
Slash and Burn Agriculture
Clearing land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris.
Shifting Cultivation
Growing crops on a cleared field for a few years until soil loses its nutrients, then leaving for several years with no crops being planted there so the soil can recover.
Swidden
A clearing tht is created after an area is slashed and burned.
Pastoral Nomadism
A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domestic animals.
Pastoral=”sheep herding”
Transhumance
Seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pasture areas.
Trans=across
Pasture
Grass or other plants that feed grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing.
INTENSIVE Subsistence Agriculture
“Intensive” - the farmers must work more intensely than usual to susist (survive) on a parcel of land.
Wet Rice Planting
Planting rice on dry land in a nursery and then moving the seedlings to a flooded field to promote growth.
Paddy
The Malay word for “wet rice”, spoken by Europeans and North Americans. Also known as “sawah” to Indonesians.
Double Cropping
Alternating between wet rice in summer and wheat/barley grown in winter. Common in south China and Taiwan, where the winters are relatively warm.
•harvesting two crops in a given year
Crop Rotation
Using different fields year to year to avoid exhausting soil quality.
Plantation
Large farm specializing in one or two crops.
COTTON, SUGARCANE, COFFEE, RUBBER, TOBACCO, cocoa, bananas, tea, coconuts, palm oil
Cereal Grain
A grass yielding grain for food.
•ex: oats, rye, wheat, or barely.
Milkshed
Ring surrouding a city from which milk can be supplied.
Grain
Seed from various grasses, like wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, and more.
Ranching
Commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area.
Usually where soil is too poor and climate too cold/dry to support crops
Horticulture
The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
Truck Farming
Farming of fruit and commercial gardening, mostly in S East US.
(“Truck” is an Mid English word meaning “to barter”)
Sustainable Agriculture
An agricultural practice that preserves and enhances environmental quality.
Ridge Tillage
Sytem where crops are planted on ridge tops.
Desertification
Human actions causing land to deteriorate into a desertlike condition, unsuitable for farming.
Green Revolution
Invention and rapid diffusion of more productive agricultural techniques (during 70’s and 80’s)
