Unit 2- Agriculture

Types of economic activity 1-Primary 2-Secondary 3-Tertiary 4-Quaternary 5-Quinary

1- Directly related to natural resources 2- Receiving raw materials and modifying them 3- The selling businesses 4- Information and knowledge based source 5- Government/media Example: citrus farms in Florida, packaging companies, Dole, insurance companies, FDA geography.about.com

Plantation agriculture

Big commercial farms in developing areas Example: coffee plantations in Brazil Textbook pg. 364

Biotechnology

Changing genetics of plants and animals for industrial or other reasons Example: high yield seeds of corn oxforddictionaries.com

Pesticides/herbicides

Chemicals used to kill weeds and animals to protect crops. dictionary.com

Livestock ranching

Commercial grazing of animals in large areas of land unfit for plant farming Example: cattle ranching in Texas Textbook pg. 372

Organic agriculture

Crops produced without pesticides or fertilizers Example: organic strawberries are more expensive because they don't use enhancers so the yield is less quizlet.com

Monoculture

Dependence on a single plant over a large space of land Example: corn farming quizlet.com

Agribusiness

Farming commercially in developed countries Example: cotton farms in North Carolina Textbook pg. 366

Subsistence agriculture

Farming for food, mainly for the farmer's family. Textbook pg. 350

Commercial agriculture

Farming to sell; farmers rarely consume much of what they produce Example: Dole oranges Textbook pg. 351

Intensive agriculture

Farms using as many people as possible to do hard work. Example: rice fields in China Textbook pg. 362

Truck farm

Fruit and vegetable farms selling to developed countries, generally packaged and frozen Textbook pg. 367

Debt for nature swap

Governments pay farmers to use more protective farming techniques. businessdictionary.com

Cereal grains/staple grains

Grain for eating that comes from grass Example: oats Textbook pg. 352

Horticulture

Growing fruits, vegetable, and flowers Example: strawberry fields Textbook pg. 371

Commodity chains

Links between production and distribution; is sold on the world market quizlet.com

Survey patterns- long lots, metes and bounds, Township and range

Long lots- houses along a river with equal access Metes and bounds- uses physical feature of geography to determine location and distance Township and range- land is divided into six mile square blocks called townships then further into one mile square blocks called ranges.

Extensive subsistence agriculture

Lots of land and minimal labor is used to raise plants and animals for the farmer's family reference.com

Transhumance

Moving from mountains to pastures seasonally Textbook pg. 359

Fertilizer

Natural or unnatural materials to support plant growth. Example: manure, potassium thefreedictionary.com

Luxury crops

Non-subsistence agriculture, plants grown for pleasure, not for sustenance Example: coffee, tea

Collective farm

A collection of farmers who work in socialist or communist countries but who mostly own their own farm tools. dictionary.com

Feedlot

A plot of land where animals are fattened for market dictionary.com

Renewable resource

A resource produced in nature faster than humans can consume it. Example: wood, forestry Textbook pg. 30

Non-renewable resource

A resource produced in nature slower than humans can consume it. Example: oil, gasoline Textbook pg. 30

Mediterranean agriculture

Agriculture based around mild seaside climates Example: olive farms in Italy Textbook pg. 371

Genetically modified organisms (GMO)

Altering the genetic makeup of plants and animals to yield a bigger and/or better payout; GMOs make up about 90% of crops in the US Textbook pg. 385

Tragedy of the commons

As human population increases, limited resources become strained, and sustainability is put into question. sustainable-environment.org

Double cropping

Planting and harvesting twice in one year; common in countries with warm winters like China Textbook pg. 363

Intertillage

Planting different crops in between already planted crops in the same field Example: generally done in less developed countries with little space quizlet.com

Intensive subsistence agriculture

Planting for food; takes hard work; generally worked by many people Example: wet rice planting in China Textbook pg. 362

Ridge tillage

Planting on ridge tops to protect soil Textbook pg. 386

Shifting cultivation -slash and burn, milpa, Swidden

Plants and slashed and burned to clear land, which is called Swidden or milpa, then planted and after a few years, left fallow Textbook pg. 360

Aquaculture

Raising seafood in a controlled environment Textbook pg. 382

Cadastral system

Recording the area, boundaries, and locations of land. Oxford Reference

Rural settlement- dispersed settlements/ nucleated settlements

Settlements away from a city, in the country, generally farmland. Dispersed settlements are far apart from each other, nucleated are closer. reference.com

Market gardening

Small horticulture farms where production is generally sold directly to consumers businessdictionary.com

Chemical farming

Using chemicals and fertilizers to maximize outcome of a farm. stonybrook.edu

Paddy

What Americans and Europeans wrongly call flooded rice fields Textbook pg. 363

Sustainable yield

Keeping and helping environmental quality; generally gets less money but costs less in the first place Textbook pg. 386

Dairying

Labor intensive raising of cows for milk Textbook pg. 368

Extensive agriculture

Large farms using minimal labor. Example: farms in the US with lots of machine use reference.com

Pastoralism

Herding animals and moving around with them Textbook pg. 359

Crop rotation

Switching crops from field to field so as not to strip the soil Textbook pg. 364

Extractive industry

Taking raw materials from the earth and selling to consumers Example: mining businessdictionary.com

Milkshed

The area around a city that can supply milk without going bad Textbook pg. 368

Agriculture/farming

The domestication of plants and animals for food or money Example: cattle ranches in Texas Textbook pg. 347

Green revolution

The invention of higher yield seeds and the more extensive use of fertilizers that began in the 1970s and 1980s Textbook pg. 385

Primogeniture

The passing of land to the oldest son. encyclopedia.com

Soil erosion

The removal of topsoil faster than it can naturally replace itself businessdictionary.com

Spring wheat/ winter wheat

Winter wheat is planted in fall and grows strong roots to survive winter and is harvested early summer; summer wheat is planted in spring and harvested in late summer Textbook pg. 370