Chapter 9 AP HUMAN GEO

No tillage

DEFINITION: A farming practice that leaves all of the soil undisturbed and the entire residue of the previous year's harvest left untouched on the fields. SIGNIFICANCE: No tillage helps to plants. EXAMPLE: This can be found in areas in the middle of the USA.

Sawah

DEFINITION: A flooded field for growing rice. SIGNIFICANCE: Sawah are important in growing rice - an important crop. EXAMPLE: This can be found in Asian countries.

Ranching

DEFINITION: A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area. SIGNIFICANCE: Ranching is an important way to contribute food to the people. EXAMPLE: This can be found in western USA.

Dairy farm

DEFINITION: A form of commercial agriculture that specializes in the production of milk and other dairy products. SIGNIFICANCE: Many people are reliant on dairy to keep them healthy. EXAMPLE: Many dairy farms can be found around cities.

Pastoral nomadism

DEFINITION: A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals. SIGNIFICANCE: Pastoral nomadism is the lifestyle of many. EXAMPLE: The people who range raindeers in Russia.

Intensive subsistence agriculture

DEFINITION: A form of subsistence agriculture characteristics of Asia's major population concentrations in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land. SIGNIFICANCE: Many people are reliant on this type of agriculture. EXAMPLE: Many families in LDCs rely on this.

Shifting cultivation

DEFINITION: A form of subsistence agriculture in which people sift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period. SIGNIFICANCE: Shifting cultivation is significant due to its impact and importance on growing food. EXAMPLE: Shifting cultivation can be found almost everywhere.

Cereal grain

DEFINITION: A grass that yields grain or food. SIGNIFICANCE: The world is reliant on cereal grain. EXAMPLE: Corn.

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. SIGNIFICANCE: Plantations are important ways to grow food fast. EXAMPLE: Farms in South America.

Genetically modifies organism

DEFINITION: A living organism that processes a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology. SIGNIFICANCE: There is a lot of controversy surrounding MDCs. EXAMPLE: Corn is often an GMO crop.

Ridge tillage

DEFINITION: A system of planting crops on ride tops in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation. SIGNIFICANCE: Ridge tillage is an important way to grow crops. EXAMPLE: Ride tillage can be found all over.

Subsistence agriculture

DEFINITION: Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family. SIGNIFICANCE: This is a lifestyle of many people. EXAMPLE: This can be found in many LDCs.

Commercial agriculture

DEFINITION: Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm. SIGNIFICANCE: Commercial agriculture is used in many MDC's and keep's people fed and alive. EXAMPLE: Mr. Sprankle's family farm.

Slash-and-burn agriculture

DEFINITION: Another name for shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris. SIGNIFICANCE: Slash and burn is a used type of agriculture and can be found many places. EXAMPLE: Can be found in South America and other places with dense rainforests.

Crop

DEFINITION: Any plant gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season. SIGNIFICANCE: Without crops we could not live. EXAMPLE: Corn.

Overfishing

DEFINITION: Capturing fish faster than they can reproduce. SIGNIFICANCE: Overfishing is significant due to it's effect on the environment. EXAMPLE: Overfishing can be found in Asia's rivers and ponds.

Agribusiness

DEFINITION: Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations. SIGNIFICANCE: Agribusiness is significant because many people rely on agribusiness. EXAMPLE: Selling milk to Wawa to then sell to others.

Mixed crop and livestock farming

DEFINITION: Commercial farming characterized by integration of crops and livestock; most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans. SIGNIFICANCE: Many people rely on this type of agriculture. EXAMPLE: This can be found throughout the world.

Truck farming

DEFINITION: Commercial gardening and fruit farming so named for the Middle English word truck, meaning "barter" or "exchange of commodities." SIGNIFICANCE: This is how many people share food. EXAMPLE: Carrots, Grapes, Avocados.

Desertification

DEFINITION: Delegation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions such as excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting. Also known as semiarid land degradation. SIGNIFICANCE: Desertification is threatening our world and agricultural land. EXAMPLE: Desertification is spreading throughout America and other places such as Africa.

Undernurishment

DEFINITION: Dietary energy consumption that is continuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy life and carrying out light physical activity. SIGNIFICANCE: Undernourishment is a big problem in this world. EXAMPLE: Those not eating enough can be undernourished.

Double cropping

DEFINITION: Harvesting twice a year from the same field. SIGNIFICANCE: Double cropping creates more food for people to eat. EXAMPLE: Double cropping in Asia yields twice the amount of rice.

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. SIGNIFICANCE: Food security is important because it is important to be able to rely on food. EXAMPLE: In MDCs there is more food security than in LDCs.

Green revolution

DEFINITION: Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yeild seeds and fertilizers. SIGNIFICANCE: The Green Revolution changed life drastically for many LDCs. EXAMPLE: India had a very successful Green Revolution.

Wet rice

DEFINITION: Rice planted on dry land in nursery and then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth. SIGNIFICANCE: Wet rice is an important food that many rely on. EXAMPLE: Wet rice can be found in parts of Asia.

Grain

DEFINITION: Seed of cereal grass. SIGNIFICANCE: Grain is a very important crop. EXAMPLE: Rice.

Paddy

DEFINITION: The Malay word for wet time, increasingly used to describe a flooded field. SIGNIFICANCE: Paddys are important to the creation of rice. EXAMPLE: Paddys can be found in Asia.

Dietary energy consumption

DEFINITION: The amount of food that an individual consumes, measured in kilocalories. SIGNIFICANCE: One must consume a certain about of kilocalories a day in order to stay healthy. EXAMPLE: Americans tend to eat a large number of kilocalories compared to others.

Milkshed

DEFINITION: The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied. SIGNIFICANCE: Milkshed is important because it determines how far away dairy farms can be from cities. EXAMPLE: The milkshed is around 300 miles around a city.

Fishing

DEFINITION: The capture of wild fish and other seafood living in the waters. SIGNIFICANCE: Fishing is a way to capture important food. EXAMPLE: Capturing tuna from the Atlantic Ocean is considered fishing.

Aquaculture (or aquafarming)

DEFINITION: The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: Aquaculture is significant due to it's ability to feed the world. EXAMPLE: Nets in the ocean.

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. SIGNIFICANCE: Agriculture is significant because without it, we wouldn't have food. EXAMPLE: Farming.

Horticulture

DEFINITION: The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. SIGNIFICANCE: Horticulture is a very important job and many rely on it. EXAMPLE: The growth of grapes in California.

Prime agriculture land

DEFINITION: The most productive farmland. SIGNIFICANCE: This is important because it yields the best crops. EXAMPLE: In America, the prime agriculture land tends to surround cities.

Crop rotation

DEFINITION: The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil. SIGNIFICANCE: Crop rotation keeps soil full of nutrients. EXAMPLE: In 2017 you plant corn in the left field and wheat in the right field. In 2018 you plant wheat in the left filed and corn in the right field.

Transhumance

DEFINITION: The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures. SIGNIFICANCE: This is an important part of people's livestyles. EXAMPLE: This can be found I'm many places around the word that deal with ranching.

Agricultural revolution

DEFINITION: The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. SIGNIFICANCE: Without the agricultural revolution, the world today would be much different. EXAMPLE: Seeds.

Swidden

EXAMPLE: A patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning. SIGNIFICANCE: This is an important part of slashing and burning which keeps many people alive and fed. EXAMPLE: This can be found in many dense forests.