Unit 5 Vocab
Rice Sawahs
A flooded field for growing rice Sawahs are seen in Africa and the middle east. Used in intensive subsistence agriculture.
2 Types of Intensive Subsistence
A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expand a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land. Feeds most of the world. Done in: E Asia S Asia- Double cropping done here because it's warm all year SE Asia wet rice dominant SE China E India SE Asia not wet rice dominant Interior India NE China they grow: grain, legumes, millet, oats, corn, soybeans, cotton, hemp, and tobacco. Milder climate can practice crop rotation
Pesticides
Chemicals used on plants that do not harm the plants, but kill pests and have negative repercussions on other species who ingest the chemicals. Used on GMOs in commercial agriculture.
Rural Settlement Patterns
Sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. Live in villages, hamlets on farms, or in other isolated houses. Typically have an agricultural character, with an economy based on logging, mining, petroleum, natural gas or tourism Dispersed- farmers living on individual farms isolated from neighbors rather than alongside other farmers in the area. Owning discontinuous fields. Typically in New England and Britain, owning several discontinuous fields Nucleated- a number of families live in close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and farm buildings Includes: homes, barns, tool sheds, churches, schools, shops Is called a hamlet or a village
Aquaculture
The cultivation or farming (in controlled conditions) of aquatic species. In contrast to commercial fishing, which involves catching wild fish. Water based Ranching/livestock farming.
Desertification
The degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, or tree cutting. Usually caused by intensive agriculture when the land is given no nutrients and no time to fallow.
Agriculture
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 Their are two major types of agriculture, commercial and subsistence.
Crop Rotation
The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil. Cereal grains, intensive subsistence agriculture uses this.
Terracing
a terrace is a leveled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed as a method of soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid surface runoff slows down desertification, is used in Mediterranean farming
Grain Farming
A Farm that grows mainly the seed from various grasses; corn, oats, barely, rice, millet, wheat, ect. Grain farming is very taxing on soil and cause soil degradation leading to desertification if the land isn't given time to fallow.
Shifting Cultivation
A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift 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. A type of Subsistence agriculture, also known as slash and burn agriculture. In humid low latitude areas In SE Asia- corn S America- Manioc Africa- Millet, Sorghum
Cereal Grain
A grass yielding grain for food. Grown in both commercial and subsistence agriculture. Are a part of crop rotation and since they are very harsh on the soil the land is fallowed or a rest crop in order for it to regain some of its nutrients.
Plantation Farming
A large farm that specializes in one or two crops Tropics and subtropics Latin America- Coffee, sugarcane, bananas Africa- tobacco, cotton Asia- rubber, palm oil LDC's that sell to MDC's A type of commercial agriculture set in LDCs
Township and Range (Land Settlement Patterns)
A rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands of the U.S. interior. When people started to disperse (dispersed settlement) and the climate changed people had to adapt and change their farming type. (Wasn't in book, couldn't find any examples)
Carl Sauer and hearths of agriculture
According to prominent cultural geographer Carl Sauer, there are two types of cultivation, seed agriculture and vegetative planting. Stated that vegetative planting originated in SE Asia; identified seed agriculture hearths as India, Northern China, Ethiopia Identified Subsistence agricultural hearths. S in subsistence S in Sauer
Pastoral Nomadism
Agriculture based on herding domesticated animals. A form of subsistence agriculture, LDC version of Livestock Ranching, the farmers practice transhumance. Dry Climates where growing crops is impossible. Don't eat the animals harvest their byproducts and use this to barter for food. Central Asia- Horse SW Asia- Sheep and Goats N Africa- Camel
Subsistence Agriculture
Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family Types of subsistence agriculture include: Shifting cultivation A.K.A Slash and Burn, Pastoral Nomadism, and both types of intensive subsistence.
Commercial Agriculture
Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm Types of commercial agriculture include: Mixed crop and livestock, Ranching, Dairying, Grain Farming, Mediterranean, Truck, and Plantation farming.
Extensive Agriculture
An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area Opposite of intensive agriculture
Johann Heinrich Von Thunen model
An estate owner in N Germany, first proposed the model in 1826 in a book called The Isolated State which stated: a commercial farmer initially considers which crops to cultivate and which animals to raise based on market location. In choosing an enterprise, the farmer compares two costs- the cost of the land versus the cost of transporting products to markets. Concentric circles if no physical features disrupt it. Example of a circle around an urban area- milkshed
Mediterranean Farming
Closely related to Horticulture which is the growing of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and tree crops. These form the commercial base for Mediterranean agriculture, it is a type of commercial agriculture practiced in S Europe, N Africa, W Asia, California, Central Chile, S Africa, SW Australia Most by a sea, moist but harsh winters, summers hot but dry, hilly. Own livestock but don't use them to make a profit.
Truck Farming
Commercial gardening and fruit farming Is a type of commercial agriculture preformed in: SE U.S. long growing season, humid climate Grows, apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes Lots of machinery, uses immigrants for cheap work. Is a type of commercial agriculture
Sustainable farming
Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimizes pollution, typically by rotating soil-restoring crops with cash crops and reducing inputs of fertilizer and pesticides. Uses crop rotation, reduces inputs of fertilizers, commercial agriculture.
Capital intensive
Form of agriculture that uses mechanical goods such as machinery, tools, vehicles and facilities to produce large amounts of agricultural goods; a process requiring very little human labor Rarely seen in subsistence agriculture not the same as intensive subsistence
Biomass Fuel
Fuel that derives from plant material and animal waste. Can be used to help solve some pollution problems in MDC's and LDc's but might cause economic problems in countries that rely on exporting oil as a source of income. Would contribute to the Green Revolution.
GMOs
Genetically Modified Organisms Mostly seen in MDCs and commercial agriculture
Double Cropping
Harvesting twice a year from the same field. Crop rotation used in order to plant and harvest more than once a year.
Dr. Norman Borlaug
Increased wheat and maize yield worldwide, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, A US scientist who worked on wheat in Mexico during the 1940s and 1950s He started the green revolution
Settlement Patterns
Linear- modern village type that follow major roads, often one single thoroughfare lined with houses, businesses, and public buildings St. Lawrence River in Québec Round- houses that circle around a central corral for animals, with fields extending outside the ring of houses Found in Kraal villages in S Africa, Gewandorf in rural Germany Clustered- have more than one major road that they build along, and they also have housing that clusters around large public buildings, such as churches, temples, mosques, livestock corrals, or grain bins Most MDC cities, urban and suburban Walled- developed in ancient days in order to protect villagers from attack, often surrounded by moats Som old villages in colonial America would build walls to keep Indians out.
Hunting and Gathering
Lived in small groups of no more than 50 people, because a large number would exhaust resources. Botswana Bushman still practice hunting and gathering. Before invention of agriculture both commercial and subsistence.
Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
Most common form of agriculture in U.S. W of the Appalachians and E of the 98 Longitude in Europe from France to Russia, most crops feeding animals not people. A part of Commercial agriculture.
Dairy Farming
Most important form of agriculture practiced on farms near the large urban areas of NE U.S., SE Canada, NW Europe. Dairy farming is mainly done in the milkshed around a large urban area, when it is not in the milkshed the dairy farm usually sells the milk to be processed
Feedlots/CAFOs
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 then grazing Used in commercial agriculture when livestock is raised and live in herds. Often referred to as factory farms.
Classification of Economic Activities
Primary- Economic activity concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment; such as mining, fishing, lumbering, and especially agriculture. The first step in Agribusiness, is in both subsistence and commercial agriculture. Ex: right on the farm Secondary- Economic activity involving the processing of raw materials and their transformation into finished industrial products; the manufacturing sector The second step in Agribusiness, is involved in mainly commercial agriculture. Ex: factories, general mills Tertiary- Economic activity involving the selling of manufactured and processed goods. Final step in agribusiness, is involved mainly in commercial agriculture. Ex: Walmart
Green Revolution
Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high yield seeds and fertilizers. Helped prevent a global famine, led to the creation of the worlds first GMO's.
Collective Farm
Regards a system of agricultural organization whereas farms laborers are not compensated via wages. Rather, the workers receive a share of the farm's net productivity A farm or a group of farms organized as a unit and managed and worked cooperatively by a group of laborers under state supervision, especially in a communist country. Group Subsistence farming, they receive a share of the farms harvest to survive.
Slash and Burn
So named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris. Another name for shifting cultivation, a type of subsistence agriculture In SE Asia- corn S America- Manioc Africa- Millet, Sorghum
Milkshed
The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied. An area in the Von Thunen model.
Deforestation
The clearing and destruction of forests to harvest wood for consumption, clear land for agricultural uses, and make way for expanding settlement frontiers Used in slash and burn agriculture, however in deforestation the forest usually isn't allowed to grow back or fallow.
Livestock Ranching
The commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area Where vegetation in too sparse and soil is too poor to support crops. Not the same as pastoral nomadism, animals are kept in one area instead of herded to different places.
Horticulture
The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Used in Meditteranean agriculture around the Meditteranean sea and California
Agribusiness/Agrobusiness
The integration of different steps in the food processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations Commercial farming is closely tied to other businesses, use lots of machinery
Transhumance
The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains to lowland pastures Used in pastoral nomadism
Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
The shift from hunting of animals and gathering of food to the keeping of animals and the growing of food on a regular basis around 8,000 BC Was the beginning of Subsistence agriculture and its respective variations: shifting cultivation, slash and burn, pastoral nomadism, ect
Organic Agriculture
The use of crop rotation, natural fertilizers such as manure, and biological pest control-as opposed to artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, additives, and GMOs-to promote healthy, vigorous crops. Uses crop rotation, no GMOs.
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 Was the beginning of Commercial farming which produced a surplus. It also sparked the many branches of commercial agriculture such as: mixed crop and livestock farming, Dairy farming, Grain farming, Mediterranean farming, ect.
Land-rent curve
a 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. It states that different land users will compete with one another for land close to the city center. In urban areas, in both MDCs and LDCs hard for a farmer to own land near the CBD. In the Johann Von Thunen model most agriculture is down outside of an urban area commercially like dairying, it is done outside of the CBD but close enough to it that transportation cost is low.
Labor intensive agriculture
type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful Two types of intensive agriculture, both subsistence agriculture, wet rice dominant and wet rice not dominant.
