Agriculture Jonah Criswell

market gardening

the growing of vegetables or flowers for market

organic farming

the use of natural substances rather than chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enrich the soil and grow crops

Second Agricultural Revolution

tools and equipment were modified, methods of soil preparation, fertilization, crop care, and harvesting improved the general organization of agriculture made more efficient

fair trade

trade in which fair prices are paid to producers in developing countries.

slash and burn

A farming method involving the cutting of trees, then burning them to provide ash-enriched soil for the planting of crops

Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals.

shifting cultivation

A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.

food deserts

urban and rural low-income areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods

Biotechnology

A form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes.

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

Metes and Bounds

A method of land description which involves identifying distances and directions and makes use of both the physical boundaries and measurements of the land.

Community Supported Agriculture

A process in which consumers buy shares from local farmers in exchange for weekly produce

township and range system

A rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands of the U.S. interior.

irrigation

A way of supplying water to an area of land

Extensive Farming Practices

an agricultural production system that uses small inputs of labor, fertilizers, and capital, relative to the land area being farmed.

Indus River Valley

chronologically, the third urban hearth, dating 2200 BCE

Rural Settlement Patterns

differing densities and arrangements of population

long-lot

divided land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals

economies of scale

factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises

Value-added specialty crops

"value added" goods have some other product in them or item attached to them to make them unique and able to sell at higher price.

subsistence agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family

Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm.

Draining wetlands

Clearing natural swamp areas to create fields

Desertification

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

deforestation

Destruction of forests

clustered

Gathered closely together in a group

carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

Intensive Farming Practices

Not a lot of land and lots of labor

Urban farming

Processing and distribution of food around settlements is healthier and brings new jobs

Local food movement

Produced within a fairly limited distance from where it is consumed

Aquaculture

Raising marine and freshwater fish in ponds and underwater cages

Green Revolution

Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers.

Rural survey methods

Surveying methods in rural areas

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between Native Americans and Europeans

Hearths of Domestication

The origins of domesticated plants and/or animals.

diffusion of agriculture

The spread of an idea (such as a method of farming or a certain crop) from it's hearth to new locations.

Mediterranean climate

a climate marked by warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters

Food insecurity

a condition in which people do not have adequate access to foods

Global Supply Chains/food distribution

a feature of economic globalization wherein different pieces of production are spread across geographic locations

GMOs

genetically modified organisms

Bid rent theory

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the Central Business District (CBD) increases.

Von Thunen Model

model developed by vonThunen, German economist and landowner, to explain the forces that control the prices of agricultural commodities and how those variable prices affect patterns of agricultural land utilization

soil salinization

salt buildup in the soil

dispersed

scattered, spread, broken up

commodity chain

series of links connecting the many places of production and distribution and resulting in a commodity that is then exchanged on the world market

Terraces

steplike ledges cut into mountains to make land suitable for farming

Linear

straight line