Unit 5 Outline

Intensive farming practices

Intensive farming practices

investing a lot of resources and labor into small tracts of land in order to increase yield

Market gardening

the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants

Plantation agriculture

the form of Agriculture in which a single person or company owns a big farm and grows a single crop

Mixed crop/livestock systems

crops and livestock are raised on the same farm

Mediterranean agriculture

an agro-ecological strategy, an adjustment to particular climatic conditions in Mediterranean zones: mild, humid winter with no or very little frost, and a warm, dry summer

Extensive farming practices

system of crop cultivation using small amounts of labor and capital in relation to area of land being farmed

Shifting cultivation

an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot

Nomadic herding

the wandering, but controlled movement of livestock, solely dependent on natural forage

Ranching

the activity or business of breeding cattle on a ranch

Rural settlement patterns

the way in which people live and build communities in rural areas, or areas outside of urban centers

Clustered

an agricultural- based community in which a number of families live in close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and farm buildings

Dispersed

a settlement structure in which individual farms and small groups of farmsteads or hamlets occur in a cluster of scattered parcels of land

Linear

comprised of buildings along a road, river, dike, or seacoast

Rural survey methods

metes and bounds, township and range, and long lot

Metes and bounds

the boundaries of a parcel of real estate that identified by its natural landmarks

Township and range

rectangular blocks of land about 6 miles square

Long lot

long, narrow grants of land along the rivers

Hearths of plant and animal domestication

Mexico (corn), Peru (potatoes), the Middle East (wheat and barley), Africa (soybeans and millet), and east Asia (rice)

Fertile Crescent

wheat and barley, and several pulses (grain legumes)

Indus River Valley

peas, sesame seeds, dates, wheat, barely, lentils, mustard, and cotton

Southeast Asia

roots such as the taro and yam, and tree crops such as the banana and palm

Central America

beans, cotton, potatoes, maize

Patterns of Diffusion in Agriculture

migration, cultural exchange of information, print, the internet, and scientific education

Columbian Exchange

introduced a wide range of new calorically rich staple crops to the Old World—namely potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and cassava

Agricultural Revolutions

a number of cultural transformations that initially allowed humans to change from a hunting and gathering subsistence to one of agriculture and animal domestications

First (Neolithic)

started around 10,000 B.C. in the Fertile Crescent, where humans first took up farming

The Second Agricultural Revolution

an unprecedented increase in agricultural production in Britain arising from increases in labor and land productivity between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries

The Green Revolution

was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production

Agricultural Production Regions

South and Southeast Asia, Western and Central Europe, and Central America and the Caribbean

Subsistence

form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer's family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade

Commercial (monocropping/monoculture)

a form of agriculture that is based on growing only one type of a crop at one time on a specific field

Bid-rent theory

a geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases

Spatial Organization of Agriculture

the way that agricultural activities are distributed and organized across a particular area or region

Commodity chain

a process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods or commodities, and finally, distribute them to consumers

Economies of scale

a proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production

Carrying capacity

the number of people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental degradation

Von Thunen Model

The Global System of Agriculture

the complex network of economic, social, and environmental factors that shape the production, distribution, and consumption of agricultural goods around the world

Global supply chain

are networks that can span across multiple continents and countries with a purpose of sourcing and supplying goods and services

Consequences of Agricultural Practices

pollution

Pollution, land cover change, desertification, soil salinization

Overuse

Slash and burn, terraces, irrigation, deforestation, draining wetlands, shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism

Agricultural practices

Challenges of Contemporary Agriculture

climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss and from consumers' changing tastes in food and concerns about how it is produced

Biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, aquaculture, fertilizer/pesticide use, sustainability

transfer of antibiotic resistance, toxicity and allergenicity

Urban farming, community-supported agriculture (CSA), organic farming, value-added specialty crops, fair trade, local-food movements, dietary shifts

Food movements

Food insecurity, food deserts, distribution systems

geographic areas where residents have few to no convenient options for securing affordable and healthy foods

Women in Agriculture

numerous labor intensive jobs such as weeding, hoeing, grass cutting, picking, cotton stick collection, separation of seeds from fiber, keeping of livestock and its other associated activities like milking, milk processing, preparation of ghee, etc.