FINAL 8 - Feed the world Flashcards

1
Q

Arable Land

A

Is temporarily used for crops, meadows or pastures including land purposefully left temporarily fallow

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2
Q

Agricultural Land

A

Is arable land plus land used for permanent, long term crops that don’t need to be replanted yearly
Eg.) fruits, nut trees

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3
Q

What affects farmable land?

A
  • Climate
  • Water
  • Altitude
  • Deforestation
  • Climate change
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4
Q

Water Scarcity

A
  • About 43 countries suffer form water scarcity today

- By 2030, almost half the worlds population will be living in areas of high water stress

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5
Q

How do geographers look at agriculture?

A
  • They describe practices, techniques, strategies: seasonal patterns, implications for soil management and types of crops used
  • They explain why activities vary from place to place
  • The investigate the effects of climate, religion, government policies and soil characteristics
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6
Q

Why study agriculture?

A
  • It is a major aspect of human - environment relationships

- It is affect by climate, religion, government policies and soil characteristics

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7
Q

What is agriculture?

A

A science, art, and business directed at the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance and profit

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8
Q

Environmental factors that condition agriculture:

A
  • Climate and weather
  • Soil characteristics
  • Topography
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9
Q

Climate/weather

A
  • Plants and animals require certain conditions to survive and grow properly
  • Low temperatures equal slower growth rates which limits the geographic range of crops
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10
Q

Soils

A

The best soils for a crop usually has a loamy texture, high organic content and abundant nutrients

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11
Q

Relief and topography

A
  • Altitude temperature

- It is difficult to mechanize on steep slopes

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12
Q

Human factors that condition agriculture:

A
  • Cultural traditions (treatment of animals)
  • technologies (mechanization, biotechnology)
  • Government policies (land forms, subsidies)
  • Economic globalization (NAFTA)
  • Deforestation and soil salinization
  • Anthropogenic climate change
  • Desertification and sea level rise
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13
Q

What are different types of farming/food production?

A
  • Subsistence farming
  • Shifting cultivation
  • Pastoralism
  • Commercial agriculture
    Industrial agriculture
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14
Q

Subsistence Farming/horticulture

A
  • Main goal is to grow enough food to eat, as well as some surplus for the market
  • Fewer chemical inputs
  • Labour intensive
  • Smaller farms
  • Practiced mainly in poorer countries
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15
Q

Shifting Cultivation

A
  • Practiced mainly in humid tropical forest regions
  • A form of rotational agriculture
  • Diverse mixture of crops used
  • Supports relatively low population densities
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16
Q

Intensive subsistence cultivation

A
  • Very labour intensive
  • Raised fields or terraces
  • Can support large populations
  • Often two or more harvests per yer
17
Q

Pastoralism

A
  • Practiced mainly in cold and dry climates
  • Most practice transhumance herding (horses, camels, goats)
  • Traditional movements of nomadic pastoralists
18
Q

Commercial agriculture

A
  • Production for the market
  • The dominant type of agriculture in “core” countries
  • Includes large agribusiness as well as small family farms
  • they respond to supply and demand which affects prices and decisions on what to plant
19
Q

The industrialization of agriculture

A

The process whereby the farm has moved from being a centre piece of agriculture production to becoming a mere part of integrated multilevel industrial processes that include production, storage, processing and retailing

20
Q

Industrialized agribusiness

A
  • Regional or global in scope depending on the type of agriculture
  • Heavy reliance on agrochemicals
  • Highly mechanized
  • Larger farms/plantations
  • Processing
21
Q

How have dramatic increases in food been possible?

A
  • Mechanization
  • Chemical farming (synthetic fertilizers and pesticides)
  • New processing, transportation and storage methods
22
Q

Solutions to food shortages:

A

Hybrid crop varieties
Irrigation
GMO’s

23
Q

Hybrid crop varieties

A
  • Mature faster
  • produce more food per plant
  • Some bred to respond better to fertilizers
  • Can reduce vulnerability to pests
24
Q

Irrigation

A

Increases yields and allows more harvests per year however it is an unsustainable use of groundwater

25
Q

GMO’s

A
  • Can create crops that are resistance to insects without the use of pesticides
  • They also have higher nutritional value and longer shelf life which saves money and reduces fossil fuels and pollution
26
Q

Benefits of Organic farming

A
  • No synthetic pesticides of fertilizers
  • No growth hormones or antibiotics
  • No GMO’s
  • They will cost more
27
Q

Will it be possible to keep producing more and more food for our growing population?

A

It is unlikely as all the best lands are under cultivation and expansion of cities

28
Q

Agriculture

A

is a science, an art and a business directed at the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance and profit.