Unit 5: Agriculture Flashcards
Intensive Farming
-Agricultural practice of producing as much yield as possible from an area of land. —-High inputs, capital, and energy (chemical fertilizers/pesticides, labor, etc.)
-Use energy and machines to farm a lot FASTER
-In densely populated region and close to market
Extensive Farming
Agricultural practice of using fewer inputs on more land.
-Little input of capital and labor, and much lower outputs.
-Lots of human and animal labor
-Moderately populated regions
Shifting Cultivation
-Farmers clear land by slashing vegetation and burning debris (slash and burn)
-Grow crops on field for few years until soil nutrients is depleted then leave it fallow till nutrients is replenished
-1/4 of World’s land, 5% of people practice it
Pastoral Nomadism
-Herding of domesticated animals
-Relies on animals not crops
-Arid, where crops can’t exist
Transhumance
Seasonal migration of livestock
Intensive Subsistence
-Farmers expend large effort to produce max yield from parcel of land
-Area of high density, waste virtually no land
Crop Rotation
Rotate crops to avoid exhausting soil.
Plantation
-Large farm that specializes in one-two crops
-Cotton, sugar, tobacco, rubber, cocoa, coffee, etc
-Sparely populated areas
-Tropic and Subtropic areas
Mixed Crop & Livestock
-Integration of crops and livestock
-Most crops are fed to animals
-Most land for crops, but 3/4 of income comes from animal products
Corn Belt
-Most important mixed Crop and livestock farming region in US
-Extends from Ohio to the Dakotas, center in Iowa
Dairy Farming
-First outside ring of city, because of transportation and spoiling (Von Thunen Model)
-Improvements in transportation have allowed dairing to happen farther from market (Refrigeration in automobiles)
-Requires constant labor and attention all year
Grain
Seed from various grasses (Wheat, corn, barley, rice, etc)
Grain Farming
-Crops grown for human consumption mostly
-North America prairies names “Bread basket”
-This farming increases economic/political strength for US and Canada
-Grain farms sell output to manufactures of food products
Livestock Farming
Ranching: commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area
Semi-arid/arid land where vegetation too sparse
Mediterranean Agriculture
-Grown for human consumption
-Grown in lands bordering Mediterranean sea (South Europe, North Africa, West Asia)
-Olives, grapes, fruits, veggies
-Horticulture: Growing fruits, veggies, flower, tree crops
Commercial Gardening & Fruit Gardening
-Truck Farmers grow any fruit demanded by consumers
-Long growing season and humid climate
-Highly efficient large-scale operations
Truck Farming
-Bartering or the exchange of commodities
Clustered rural settlements
Agricultural-based community where families live in close proximity to each other with fields surrounding community
Dispersed rural settlements
Farmers living in individual farms isolated from neighbors (North America rural landscape)
Linear Rural Settlements
Compromise buildings clustered along a road, river, or dike to facilitate communications
Metes and Bounds
System that relies on descriptions of land ownership and natural resources (Streams or trees) to survey land
Mete=measurement
Bounds=boundaries
Township and Range
Rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands in interior of US
Long Lot
Land surveying where land is divided into narrow parcels stretching back from m rivers, roads, or canals.
Columbian Exchange
Widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in 15-16 centuries.
-North America: Beans, Cocoa, Corn, pineapples, potatoes, pumpkins, tobacco, llama, turkey,buffalo, etc
-Old World: Bananas, cattle, chickens, citrus fruits, coffee, horses, pigs, rice, sugarcane
Fourth Agricultural Revolution
New trends in engineering, digital agriculture with greater focus on protecting environment
(Local-food movement, organic farming, minimal chemicals)d
Green Revolution
Use of high-yield seeds, increase of chemicals, and mechanized farming
-Led by Norman Borloug
Positives: Increase food production, cheaper consumer prices, more jobs
Negatives: Increase use of fertilizers- lead to runoff, mono cropping decreased soil quality, machines cause soil compaction, pesticides consumed by other organisms, lower prices hurt farmers
Subsistence Farming
-Production of food primarily for consumption by farmer’s family and community. Not farming for profit or selling.
-Human/animal labor.
-Small farms, isolated business.
-Shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism
Commercial Farming
-Production of food to sell off farms and make profit.
-Products sold to food processing companies
-Machinery and scientific advances to increase productivity
-Dairying, Grain, Ranching, Mediterranean, Commercial Gardening, Plantation
Monocropping
Agricultural practice of growing single crop year after year on same land, never rotating crops. Depletes nutrients in soil, and causes less yields.
Agribusiness
Commercial agriculture characterized by integration and ownership of different steps in food-processing industry
Monoculture
Agricultural practice of producing/growing single crop/plant o livestock species/variety/breed in a field or farming systems at a time
Bid Rent Theory
-Explains how land value determines how extensive or intensive land is use
-Geographical economic theory that refers to how prices and demand for real estate change as distance from CBD increases
-Different land users will compete with one another for land close to center
-Rent at any location is equal to the value of its product minus production and transportation costs
Commercial Agriculture
Large-scale production of crops for sale, intended for widespread distribution to wholesalers of retail outlets.
-Wheat, maize, tee, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, banana, and cotton.
Commodity Chain
Process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods/commodities, and finally distribute them to consumers
Industrial Agriculture
Industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and rops
Uses innovation of machinery/farming methods, genetic tech, new markets, genetic, and world trade.
Benefits: Cheap and Plentiful food, convenience for consumers, improves all levels of food production
Drawbacks: Environmental and social costs, damage to fisheries, pesticide poisoning, pollution from fossil fuels
Global Supply Chain
Dynamic worldwide network when company purchases of uses goods/services from overseas. Involves people, info, processes, and resources involved in production, handling, and distribution of materials and finished products or providing a service to the costumer.
Land-altering agricultural practices
Slash and burn
Terraces
Irrigation
Deforestation
Draining wetlands
Shifting cultivation
Pastoral nomadism
Von Thunen Model
-Theorizes rural land use by emphasizing the importance of transportation costs associated with distance from market.
-High transportation costs=closer to market and vice versa
-1st Ring: Garden and dairy products, must reach market quickly
-2nd: Woodlots, weight=high transportation costs
-3rd: Grains, field crops, easy to transport
-4th: Animal grazing,, ranching, requires lots of space
Assumptions:
-Isolation (one market in one area, no outside influence)
-Site Factors (land is flat and fertility uniform)
-Transportation (No significant transport infrastructure)
Did not consider: Social customs/government influence plant choices, IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION and TECH, regional markets/corporations
Organic Farming
Use natural processes and seeds that aren’t genetically altered.
Value Added Products
Change in physical state or form of product through processing or enhancing.
Fair Trade
Set business practices voluntarily adopted by the producers and buyers of agricultural commodities and handmade crafts that are designed to advance many economic, social, and environmental goals
Local food movements
Aims to connect food producers and consumers in same geographic region, to develop more self-reliant food networks; improve local economies, or to affect the health, environment, community, or society of a particular place.
Also greatly decreases fuels use in transportation costs.
Food Insecurity
Struggling to receive or obtain efficient amount of food for proper health and nutrition. Through insufficient money/resources.
Malnutrition
Lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right food.
Food Desert
Area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
Food Oasis
Area with higher access to supermarkets or vegetables shops with fresh foods
Strategies to increase food supply
-Expand land area used or agriculture
-Methods of higher production
-Identity of new food sources
-Increasing exports from other countries
Density Measurements
-Arithmetic Density: number of people divided by overall land area (how many people in a place)
Physiological Density: number of people divided by arable land (how many people are supported by farm land)
Agricultural Density: Number of farmers divided by arable land (how developed is country) MDCs have smaller density, more tech
Agriculture
Deliberate modification of the Earths surface through domestication of plants and animals
Seasonal Migration
Migrating according to seasons between cooler/warmer mountainous/valley locations
Nomadism
Practice of hunting and gathering to find food, but with no major pattern/routine in locations or route of travel
Elements that affect agriculture
Climate, elevation, soil, and topography
Vladimir Koppen Climate regions
Tropical: Warm year-round with lots of rain
Dry: Continental interiors, arid, very little rain
Temperate: Moderate temps, adequate rain (long summer, short winter)
Continental: Wet winter and how summer (northern hemisphere)
Polar: Tundra & Icecap, very cold
Agricultural Hearths
-Area where different groups began to domesticate plants and animals.
-Hearths of independent innovations that people developed over time through trail and error, and with luck.
OG Agricultural Hearths
Central America: Cocoa beans, pepper, maize, palm oil
Andean Highlands: Beans, potatoes, tomatoes
West Africa: Coffee, peas, millets, sesame
East Africa: Beans, Olives, peas, cottonseed oil
Fertile Cresent: Barley, beans, peas, rye, wheat
Indus River valley: Barley, cotton, peas, sesame, wheat
North central china: Apples, grapes, lemon, rice, tea, fruit
Southeast Asia: Bananas, cloves, coconuts, sugarcane, tea
First Agricultural Revolution
-11,000 years ago, lasted 1000+ years
-Shift from foraging to farming
-Occurred at different Hearths at different times
-Led to development of specialized labor, complex society, ruling class, social organization, religion, first cities and civilizations
Second Agricultural Revolution
-17-19th centuries
-New practices and tools starting in Britain
-Higher crop yields, horses, advancements in fertilizer and drainage.
-caused labor surplus, which led to industrial revolution
-crop rotation invented
Sedentary
settling in one place and making that place a permanent home
Enclosure system
-communal lands replaced individual farms owned by community and managed by owner or tenants
Third Agriculture Revolution
20th century-today
-Electrical power and mechanization
-Synthetic fertilizers and pestacides
-GMOs and genetic innovation
-Led
Genetically Modified Organisms
Manipulation of genetic makeup of plants and animals to be better
Dual Agricultural Economy
Two agricultural sectors in same country/region that have different levels of tech and different patterns of demand
Hybridization
Creating hybrid plants to promoted desired characteristics and resistance
Vertical Integration
When a company controls more than one stage of the production process (reduce costs, improves efficiencies, increases profits)
Farm subsidies
low cost loans, insurance, and payments provided by U.S government
Commodity Dependence
Occurs when countries depends on a single export cash crop (dangerous and risky)
Agricultural Landscapes
landscapes resulting from the interactions between farming activities and locations natural environment
Agro Ecostyem
an ecosystem modified for agricultural use
Terracing
Process of carving parts of hill into small, level growing plots
Aquifers
layers of underground and gravel and rocks that contain and can release lot soft water
Desertification
Form of land degradation that occurs when soil deteriorates to desert-like condition
Precision Agriculture
Uses variety of cutting-edge tech to apply inputs such as water and fertilizers with pinpoint accuracy to specific parts of fields to maximize crop yields
Aquafarming
Farming of fish, crustacean,s mollusks, aquatic plants, algae, and other organisms
Cultivating water populations under controlled conditions
