Chapter 14

Question 1

polyculture

Answer 1

planting a mixture of different crops in the same area. this involves planting a mix of perennial grasses, legumes, sunflowers, grain crops, and plants that provide natural insecticides in the same field.

Question 2

perennials

Answer 2

plant that can live for more than 2 years.

Question 3

annuals

Answer 3

plant that grows, sets seeds, and dies in one growing season.

Question 4

industrialized agriculture (high-input agriculture)

Answer 4

uses large amounts of fossil fuel energy, water, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides to produce single crops (monocultures) or livestock animals for sale.

Question 5

plantation agriculture

Answer 5

is a form of industrialized agriculture used primarily in tropical developing countries. Involves growing cash crops.

Question 6

traditional subsistence agriculture

Answer 6

typically uses mostly human labor and draft animals to produce only enough crops or livestock for a farm family’s survival.

Question 7

Tradition intensive agriculture

Answer 7

farmers increase their inputs of human and draft labor, fertilizer, and water to get a higher yield per area of cultivated land.

Question 8

green revolution

Answer 8

popular term for introduction of scientifically bred or selected varieties of grain (rice, wheat, maize) that, with high enough inputs of fertilizer and water, can greatly increase crop yields.

Question 9

second green revolution

Answer 9

involves introducing fast-growing dwarf varieties of rice and wheat into several developing countries in tropical and subtropical climates.

Question 10

interplanting

Answer 10

many traditional farmers simultaneously grow several crops on the same plot.

Question 11

polyvarietal cultivation

Answer 11

involves planting a plot with several varieties of the same crop.

Question 12

intercropping

Answer 12

growing two or more different crops at the same time on a plot.

Question 13

agroforestry (alley cropping)

Answer 13

crops and trees are grown together

Question 14

polyculture

Answer 14

many different plants maturing at various times are planted together.

Question 15

land degradation

Answer 15

occurs when natural or human-induced processes decrease the future ability of land to support crops, livestock, or wild species.

Question 16

soil erosion

Answer 16

the movement of soil components, especially surface litter and topsoil from one place to another.

Question 17

desertification

Answer 17

the productive potential of arid or semiarid land falls by 10% or more because of a combination of natural climate change that causes prolonged drought and human activities that reduce or degrade topsoil.

Question 18

salinization

Answer 18

repeated annual applications of irrigation water lead to the gradual accumulation of salts in the upper soil layers.

Question 19

waterlogging

Answer 19

saturation of soil with irrigation water or excessive precipitation so that the water table rises close to the surface.

Question 20

soil conservation

Answer 20

involves using ways to reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility.

Question 21

conventional-tillage farming

Answer 21

farmers plow the land and then break up and smooth the soil to make a planting surface.

Question 22

conservation-tillage farming

Answer 22

farmers use it to disturb the soil as little as possible while planting crops.

Question 23

terracing

Answer 23

can reduce soil erosion on steep slopes by converting the land into a series of broad, nearly level terraces that run across the land contour.

Question 24

contour farming

Answer 24

involves plowing and planting crops in rows across the slope of the land rather than up and down

Question 25

strip cropping

Answer 25

involves planting alternating strips of a row crop and another crop that completely covers the soil.

Question 26

cover crops

Answer 26

the planting of crops such as alfalfa, clover, or rye immediately after harvest to help protect and hold the soil.

Question 27

windbreaks (shelterbelts)

Answer 27

farms establish to reduce wind erosion, help retain soil moisture, supply wood for fuel, and provide habitats for birds, pest-eating and pollinating insects, and other animals.

Question 28

organic fertilizer

Answer 28

organic material such as animal manure, green manure, and compost, applied to cropland as a source of plant nutrients.

Question 29

commercial inorganic fertilizer

Answer 29

commercially prepared mixture of plant nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, and potassium applied to the soil to restore fertility and increase crop yields.

Question 30

animal manure

Answer 30

the dung and urine of cattle, horses, poultry, and other farm animals.

Question 31

green manure

Answer 31

consists of freshly cut or growing green vegetation plowed into the soil to increase the organic matter and humus available to the next crop.

Question 32

compost

Answer 32

produced when micro-organisms in soil break down organic matter such as leaves, food wastes, paper, and wood in the presence of oxygen.

Question 33

crop rotation

Answer 33

planting a field, or an area of a field, with different crops from year to year to reduce soil nutrient depletion.

Question 34

chronic undernutrition

Answer 34

people who cannot grow or buy enough food to meet their basic energy needs suffer.

Question 35

malnutrition

Answer 35

faulty nutrition, caused by a diet that does not supply an individual with enough protein, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients needed for good health.

Question 36

overnutrition

Answer 36

occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess body fat.

Question 37

third green revolution

Answer 37

or gene revolution, by using genetic engineering to develop genetically improved strains of crops and livestock animals.

Question 38

genetic engineering

Answer 38

insertion of an alien gene into an organism to give it a beneficial genetic trait.

Question 39

genetically modified food

Answer 39

is seen by its producers and investors as a potentially sustainable way to solve world food problems but critics consider it potential dangerous “Frankenfood”

Question 40

rangelands

Answer 40

are grasslands in temperate and tropical climates that supply forage and vegetation for grazing and browsing animals.

Question 41

overgrazing

Answer 41

occurs when too many animals graze too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a grassland area.

Question 42

fisheries

Answer 42

concentrations of particular aquatic species suitable for commercial harvesting in a given ocean area or inland body of water.

Question 43

aquaculture

Answer 43

to raise marine and freshwater fish like livestock animals in feedlots in ponds and underwater cages and from inland freshwater fishing from lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and ponds.

Question 44

trawler fishing

Answer 44

his used to catch fish and shellfish that live on or near the ocean floor.

Question 45

bycatch

Answer 45

most of the fish and other aquatic species are thrown back into the ocean dead or dying.

Question 46

purse-seine fishing

Answer 46

involves catching surface-dwelling species such as tuna, mackerel, anchovies, and herring, which tend to feed in schools near the surface or in shallow areas.

Question 47

longlining

Answer 47

involves putting out lines up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) long, hung with thousands of baited hooks.

Question 48

drift-net fishing

Answer 48

fish are caught by huge drifting nets that can hang as much as 15 meters (50 feet) below the surface and be up to 64 kilometers (40 miles) long.

Question 49

overfishing

Answer 49

is the taking of so many fish that too little breeding stock is left to maintain numbers

Question 50

fish farming

Answer 50

involves cultivating fish in a controlled environment and harvesting them when they reach the desired size.

Question 51

fish ranching

Answer 51

involves holding anadromous species such as salmon that live part of their lives in fresh water and part in salt water in captivity for the first few years of their lives, usually in fenced-in areas or floating cages in coastal lagoons and estuaries.

Question 52

sustainable (low-input agriculture, organic farming or agroecology)

Answer 52

uses technologies based on ecological knowledge to increase yields, control pests, and build soil fertility.