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.
Economies of scale
The phenomenon where the average costs per unit of output decreases with the increase of the scale or magnitude of the output being produced by a firm.
Food deserts
An area with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.
Global chain supply
The cross-border organization of activities required to produce goods and services and bring them to consumers through inputs and various phases of development, production, and delivery.
High yield seeds
Seeds that produce large quantities of crops, including rice and wheat.
Local food movement
A movement that aims to promote local food consumption to develop more self-reliant and resilient food networks; improve local economies; or to help the health, environment, community, and society.
Wet rice
Rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then moved deliberately flooded field to promote growth.
Agriculture
The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain.
Sawah
A flooded field for growing rice.
Paddy
The Malay word for wet rice, increasingly used to describe a flooded field.
Livestock farming
The raising of animals for use or for pleasure. (Please do not ask me about this definition, search it up on google.)
Township and range
A system of land survey in the United States to divide land into a grid of squares called a “township” which is divided even more into sections. It is used to organize land ownership and property boundaries in western states.
Long lot
Long and narrow pieces of property.
Double cropping
Harvesting twice a year from the same field.
Crop rotation
The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.
Plantation
A large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of one or two crops for sale, usually to a more developed country.
Cereal grain
A grass that yields grain for food.
Organic agriculture
Crops and animals that are produced without genetic modification, pesticides, antibiotics, or chemicals.
Government subsidy
A government provides farmers with money to produce certain crops at inflated prices.
Free range
Open pastures and outdoor areas where animals roam freely and eat natural vegetation.
Metes and Bounds
The boundaries of a parcel of real estate that identified by its natural landmarks.
Bid-rent theory
A geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand for real estate changes as the distance from the Central Business District (refer to unit 13 definitions) increases. The further, the cheaper.
Terraces
A piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resembles steps, for the purpose of more effective farming.
Value added specialty crops
Raw agricultural products that have been modified or enhanced to have a higher market value and/or longer shelf life.
Export commodities
Raw materials, goods, or resources produced in one country to be shipped to other countries, where it is distributed ans sold.
2nd Agricultural Revolution
An increase in agricultural productivity through the improvement of crop rotation and breeding of livestock beginning in the UK in the 17th century.
Biodiversity
A term that describes the variety and variability of life on earth.
Biotechnology
The use of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to modify products, plants, and animals; or to develop other microrganisms with specific purposes.
Biotechnology
The use of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to modify products, plants, and animals; or to develop other microrganisms with specific purposes.
Community supported agriculture (Crop sharing)
A system in which a farm operation is supported by shareholders within the community who share both the benefits and risks of production.
Complex commodity chain
An organized network of labor and production processes which starts with the extraction or production of raw materials and concludes with the transportation of the finished product/commodity for the market.
Deforestation
The action of clearing a wide area of trees.
Dietary shifts
The changing diet of a large number of people to the point of influencing agricultural companies.
Fair trade
The concept in using developing countries to help create sustainability.
Von Thunen Model
A model that explains the relationship between the rest of land and the cost to transport the crop to market.
Climate
The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time.
Commercial market gardening and fruit farming
Intensive farming of fruits and vegetables for market sales and not canning.
Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution
The process that began when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.
Ridge tillage
A system of planting crops on ridge tops in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation.
