Chapter 9

No tillage

Definition: A farming practice that leaves all of the soil undisturbed and the entire residue of the previous years left untouched on the fields. Example: No tillage farming is natural composte.

Sawah

Definition: A flooded field for growing rice Example: There are thousands of Sawahs in Eastern China.

Ranching

Definition: A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area. Example: Ranching is common in the Southwest U.S.

Pastoral nomadism

Definition: A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals. Example: Pastoral nomadism doesnt yield much money and is mainly for the nutrition of the farmer.

Intensive subsistence agriculture

Definition: A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land. Example: Intensive subsistence farming is when a farmer eats what he grows.

Shifting cultivation

Definition: 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. Example: Shifting cultivation areas are some of the msot abundant in the world.

Cereal grain

Definition: A grass yielding grain for food. Example: There are several cereal grains.

Plantation

Definition: A large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of one or two crops for sale, usually to a more developed country. Example: America used to have lots of plantations.

Commercial agriculture

Definition: Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm. Example: Commercial Agriculture is practiced mainly in MDC's.

Slash-and-Burn agriculture

Definition: Another name for shifting cultivation, so named because feilds are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris. Example: Slash and burn agriculture kills two brids with one stone; clearing and fertilizing.

Crop

Definition: Any plant gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season. Example: There are thousands of kinds of crops.

Mixed crop and livestock farming

Definition: Commercial farming characterized by integration of crops and livestock, with most of the crops being fed to the animals rather than consumed directly by humans. Example: Mixed crop and livestock farming is efficient in that farmers grow the food for their animals.

Desertification

Definition: Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting. Example: Desertification renders alnd useless.

Double cropping

Definition: Harvesting twice a year from the same field. Example: Double cropping yields two times the crops.

Prime agricultural land

Definition: Most productive farmland. Example: Prime agricultural land is also the most expensive.

Food security

Definition: Physical, social, and economic access at all times to safe and nutritious food sufficient to meet dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Example: Food security is a significant problem in Africa.

Green revolution

Definition: Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers. Example: The green revolution was a huge boost in commercail agriculture.

Grain

Definition: Seed of a cereal grass. Example: Grain is in all the bread we eat.

Ridge tillage

Definition: System of planting crops on ridge tops, in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation. Example: Ridge tilladge is jsut another agriculturl breakthrough.

Dietary energy consumption

Definition: The amount of food that an individual consumes, measured in kilocalories. Example: Dietary energy consumption has become a huge deal these days.

Milkshed

Definition: The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied. Example: A milshed is a circle typically with a radius of 300 miles.

Agriculture

Definition: 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. Example: Agriculture is a necessity to human well being.

Horticulture

Definition: The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Example: Horticulture is msot commmon in MDC's and nnot LDC's.

Crop rotation

Definition: The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil. Example: Crop rotation is necessary to maintain a farm.

Agricultural revolution

Definition: The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. Example: The agricultural revolution occured hudnreds of years ago.

Dairy farm

Definition: A form of commercial agriculture that specializes in the production of milk and other dairy products. Example: Dairy farms are common in the North and Canada.

Genetically modified organism (GMO)

Definition: A living organism that posses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology. Example: GMO's are very controversial but susccessfull.

Overfishing

Definition: Catching fish faster than they can reproduce. Example: Overfishing is a serious problem in the South China Sea.

Agribusiness

Definition: Commercial agriculture characterized by integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations. Example: Tyson meats is a company that practices agribusiness.

Paddy

Definition: Malay word for wet rice, increasingly used to describe a flooded field. Example: The term paddyhas been mistranslated by english speakers.

Fishing

Definition: The capture of wild fish and other seafood living in the waters. Example: Fishing can be a hobby and job.

Aquaculture (aquafarming)

Definition: The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions. Example: Aquaculture is very popular in coastal areas.