Unit 5A - Agriculture

Question 1

Agriculture

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Aquifer

Answer 2

An area of underground permeable rock that stores groundwater.

Question 3

Arable

Answer 3

Land hat is suitable for growing crops.

Question 4

Bycatch

Answer 4

The unintentional catch of nontarget species while fishing.

Question 5

CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations)

Answer 5

Area where livestock are raised in very high densities.

Question 6

Contour plowing

Answer 6

An agricultural technique in which plowing and harvesting are done parallel to the topographic contours of the land to minimize soil erosion.

Question 7

Cover crops

Answer 7

Plants, such as rye, alfalfa, or clover, that can be planted immediately after harvest of the main food crops to minimize soil erosion.

Question 8

Drip irrigation

Answer 8

An efficient method of supplying water to crops using tubes that drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.

Question 9

Fallow

Answer 9

Inactive and unproductive land.

Question 10

Fertilizer

Answer 10

A substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility.

Question 11

Flood irrigation

Answer 11

An efficient method of distributing water to crops using canals to allow water to flow over the whole field.

Question 12

Furrow irrigation

Answer 12

Moderately efficient method of supplying water to crops by digging trenches to allow the water to flow through.

Question 13

GMO crops

Answer 13

Crops which have had the genes of another organism inserted into them to enhance certain positive trait

Question 14

Green revolution

Answer 14

Period of agricultural advancement that increased production through improved seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, and mechanization.

Question 15

Groundwater

Answer 15

Water that fills the cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers.

Question 16

Intercropping

Answer 16

An agricultural method in which two or more crop species are planted in the same field at the same time.

Question 17

IPM (Integrated Pest Management)

Answer 17

An agricultural practice that uses a variety of techniques to control pests and minimize the use of chemical pesticides.

Question 18

Monoculture

Answer 18

Agricultural practice of growing a single crop species over a large area of land.

Question 19

No-till agriculture

Answer 19

An agricultural method in which farmers do not turn the soil between seasons, used as a means of reducing erosion.

Question 20

Overgrazing

Answer 20

Destruction of vegetation caused by too many grazing animals consuming the plants in a particular area at a rate faster than they can recover

Question 21

Perennial crops

Answer 21

Plants that do not die at the end of the growing season but live for several years, which means they can be harvested annually without replanting.

Question 22

Pesticide treadmill

Answer 22

The process through which a farmer uses more pesticides, with increasing costs, as the effectiveness of pesticides decreases due to resistance.

Question 23

Pesticides

Answer 23

Chemicals that kill crop-destroying organisms

Question 24

Saltwater intrusion

Answer 24

Movement of salt water into freshwater aquifers in coastal areas when groundwater is withdrawn faster than it is recharged by precipitation.

Question 25

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Answer 25

A farming technique in which trees are cut down and burned to clear the land for growing crops.

Question 26

Soil salinization

Answer 26

Salt buildup in the soil from evaporation of irrigation water.

Question 27

Spray irrigation

Answer 27

An moderately efficient method of supplying water to crops using large overhead sprayers.

Question 28

Strip cropping

Answer 28

cultivation in which different crops are sown in alternate strips to prevent soil erosion.

Question 29

Subsistence farming

Answer 29

Producing just enough food to meet the needs of your family.

Question 30

Terracing

Answer 30

Carving small, flat plots of land from hillsides and mountain slops to use for farming.

Question 31

Soil tilling

Answer 31

The turning over of soil before planting crops.

Question 32

Waterlogging

Answer 32

Degradation of the soil that occurs when soil remains underwater for prolonged periods.

Question 33

Windbreaks

Answer 33

Rows of large trees or bushes planted between fields to help block the wind and prevent soil erosion.

Question 34

Aquaculture

Answer 34

The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions

Question 35

Biocontrol

Answer 35

Use of one kind of organism that is a predator or parasite of a pest species in order to reduce or eliminate populations of the pest.

Question 36

CCD (colony collapse disorder)

Answer 36

A condition in a beehive where the worker bees die causing the colony to stop functioning

Question 37

Cone of depression

Answer 37

lowering of the water table around a pumping well

Question 38

Crop rotation

Answer 38

the system of growing a different crop in a field each year to preserve the fertility of the land

Question 39

CSA (community supporting agriculture)

Answer 39

Program in which people buy shares of a local farmer's crop and receive fruits or vegetables each week during the summer and fall.

Question 40

Feedlots

Answer 40

Places where livestock are concentrated in a very small area and raised on hormones and hearty grains that prepare them for slaughter at a much more rapid rate than grazing; often referred to as factory farms.

Question 41

Fishery

Answer 41

a commercially harvestable population of fish within a particular ecological region

Question 42

Green Manure

Answer 42

Freshly cut or still-growing green vegetation that is plowed into the soil to increase the organic matter and humus available to support crop growth.

Question 43

Groundwater recharge

Answer 43

A process by which water percolates through the soil and works its way into an aquifer.

Question 44

HYV (high yield variant) crops

Answer 44

Crops such as Rockefeller Rice which have been selectively bred to produce more food per hectare.

Question 45

Manure lagoon

Answer 45

Human-made pond lined with rubber built to handle large quantities of manure produced by livestock.

Question 46

POPs (persistent organic pollutants)

Answer 46

Long-lived carbon-based compounds such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial compounds (ex BPA, PCBs, PBDEs)

Question 47

Synthetic fertilizer

Answer 47

Produced commercially, normally with the use of fossil fuels. Also known as inorganic fertilizers.

Question 48

Trawling

Answer 48

type of fishing done with net dragged across bottom the of the sea

Question 49

USDA Organic

Answer 49

a certification for products that contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt). Any remaining product ingredients must consist of approved non-agricultural substances (as listed by USDA) or non-organically produced agricultural products that are not commercially available in organic form.

Question 50

Desertification

Answer 50

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.