Unit 5 Vocabulary

Question 1

Genetically Modified Organisms

Answer 1

Refers to a crop whose genetic structure has been altered to make it more useful and efficient for human purposes. GMOs are
often controversial because some scientists claim that their health effects are questionable

Question 2

Grain Farming

Answer 2

Farming of cereal grains such as grasses, corn, wheats, oats, and barley

Question 3

Green Revolution

Answer 3

Umbrella term for agricultural improvements such as new agricultural technology, new high-yield seeds and fertilizers.
Increased production of food led to increased populations.

Question 4

Horticulture

Answer 4

The intensive production of fruits and vegetables for market rather than for processing or canning (synonym for truck
farming)

Question 5

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

Answer 5

A form of subsistence agriculture that involves effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop
yields. Popular in East, South, and Southeast Asia, because the ratio between farmers and arable land is so high, most of the
work is done by the family by hand or by animal with processes refined over thousands of years.

Question 6

Intertillage

Answer 6

Subsistence practice of planting taller, stronger crops to shelter lower, more fragile ones from tropical downpours to mimic
the natural structure of the rainforest – often shifting cultivation

Question 7

Irrigation

Answer 7

Water movement systems devoted to the hydration of crops, mainly on large scales today

Question 8

Land Reclamation

Answer 8

The process of draining land inundated with either fresh or salt water to increase land available for agricultural production

Question 9

Livestock Ranching

Answer 9

The raising of domestic animals for the production of meat and other byproducts such as leather and wool

Question 10

Luxury Crops

Answer 10

High-priced, relatively rare crops which are not necessary for human survival.

Question 11

Mediterranean Agriculture

Answer 11

Specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails.

Question 12

Milkshed

Answer 12

The ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling.

Question 13

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Answer 13

Crops are consumed directly by livestock instead of humans.

Question 14

Monoculture

Answer 14

Dependence on a single agricultural commodity

Question 15

Neolithic Revolution

Answer 15

The Neolithic revolution happened around 10000-12000 years ago. Humans transitioned from hunter gathering to farming.
This was the beginning of the agricultural/farming revolution

Question 16

Organic Agriculture

Answer 16

Approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic
inputs

Question 17

Paddy

Answer 17

Malay word for wet rice, commonly but incorrectly used to describe a sawah.

Question 18

Pastoral Nomadism

Answer 18

A form of agriculture where livestock are herded either seasonally or continuously in order to find fresh pastures on which to
graze.

Question 19

Pasture

Answer 19

Grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing.

Question 20

Pesticides

Answer 20

Chemicals used on plants to keep away pests such as bugs.

Question 21

Plantation Farming

Answer 21

Production of usually one main cash crop (or often luxury crop) on a large swathe of land. It is most common in tropical
climates.

Question 22

Primary Sector

Answer 22

Economic activity concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment.
Such as: mining, fishing, lumbering, and especially agriculture.

Question 23

Prime Agricultural Land

Answer 23

The most productive farmland

Question 24

Primogeniture

Answer 24

System which the eldest son in a family–or in exceptional cases daughter– inherits all of a dying parent’s land.

Question 25

Quarternary sector

Answer 25

Service sector industries concerned with the collection, processing, and manipulation, of information and capital. Examples
include finance, administration, insurance, and legal services.