Chapter 9: Food and Agriculture Flashcards
Commercial agriculture
Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm.
Subsistence agriculture
Agriculture designed to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer’s family.
Soil salinization
The evaporation of water in dry areas leaving mineral salt on surface and land, leading the arable land to become unsuitable for farming.
Undernourishment
Dietary energy consumption that is continuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy life and carrying out light physical activity.
Agribusiness
Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food processing industry (known as vertical integration), usually through ownership by large corporations.
Fertilizer
A chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility.
Cash crop
A crop that is grown for sale rather than for the farmer’s own use.
Shifting cultivation
A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.
Slash-and-burn agriculture
The process in which farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris.
Columbian Exchange
The transfer of plants and animals, as well as people, culture, and technology, between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, as a result of European colonization and trade.
Pastoral nomadism
A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals.
Genetically modified organisms (GMO)
Biotechnological, scientific, and genetic manipulation of crops to improve productivity,
Feedlots
Places where beef cows are kept before slaughter without natural vegetation. Animals are fed corn and grains.
Downer cattle
Feedlot raised cows that appear ill or lame, used in pet food and feed. Not used for human consumption.
Conservation tillage
A method of soil cultivation that reduces soil erosion and runoff.
Dairy farm
A form of commercial agriculture that specializes in the production of milk and other dairy products.
Fishing
The capture of wild fish and other seafood living in the waters.
Herbicide
A chemical to control unwanted plants.
Mixed crop and livestock farming
Commercial farming characterized by integration of crops and livestock; most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans.
Monocropping
The practice of growing the same single crop year after year.
No tillage
A farming practice that leaves all of the soil undisturbed and the entire residue of the previous year’s harvest left untouched on the fields.
Overfishing
The capturing of fish faster than they can reproduce.
Pesticide
A substance to control pests including weeds.
Draining wetlands
The process of removing water from a wetland ecosystem to convert the area to other land uses such as agriculture.