APHG Unit 5: Agricultural Patterns Vocabulary

Agribusiness

Commercial agriculture characterized by integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.

Aquaculture (aquafarming)

the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food.

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.

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.

Clustered rural settlement

A rural settlement in which the houses and farm buildings of each family are situated close to each other and fields surround the settlement.

Commercial agriculture

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

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

Community-supported agriculture (CSA)

individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the growers and consumers provide mutual support

Desertification (semiarid land degradation)

degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions such as excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting

Dispersed rural settlement

A rural settlement pattern characterized by isolated farms rather than clustered villages.

Double cropping

growing more than one crop a year on the same land

Enclosure system

taking and fencing off land formerly shared by peasants to create larger fields

Extensive agriculture

An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area.

Fair trade

Alternative to international trade that emphasizes small businesses and worker owned and democratically run cooperatives and requires employers to pay workers fair wages, permit union organizing, and comply with minimum environmental and safety standards.

Food security

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.

Genetically modified organism (GMO)

an organism produced by copying genes from a species with a desirable trait and inserting them into another species

Green Revolution

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

Horticulture

The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

High-yield seeds

seeds that have been engineered to be stronger and more productive. They will produce more crops peer seed, need less water, and can survive in warmer climates

Intensive agriculture

any agricultural system involving the application of large amounts of capital and/or labor per unit of cultivated land; may be part of either subsistence or commercial economy

Industrial agriculture

agriculture characterized by machinery, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and GMOs to maximize production and efficiency

Job specialization

The process by which a division of labor occurs as different workers specialize in different tasks over time

Labor intensive agriculture

Type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful.

Linear rural settlement

comprise buildings clustered along a road, river, or dike to facilitate communications

Long-lot survey system

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

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.

Monoculture

farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year

No tillage

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.

Nucleated settlement pattern

settlement clustered around a central point, such as a village green or church

Organic agriculture

Approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.

Pastoral nomadism

A traditional subsistence agricultural system in which practitioners depend on the seasonal movements of livestock within marginal natural environments.

Post-industrial societies

Societies where technology supports a Service-and-Information based economy

Prime agricultural land

the most productive farmland

Ridge tillage

System of planting crops on ridge tops, in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation.

Seed agriculture

Reproduction of plants through annual introduction of seeds

Seed drill

created by Jethro Tull, it allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths; this boosted crop yields

Shifting agriculture (Swidden agriculture)

An agricultural method in which land is cleared and used for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients.

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Another name for shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris.

Specialization

the concentration of the productive efforts of individuals and firms on a limited number of activities

Spring wheat area

Wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer.

Subsistence agriculture

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

Sustainable agriculture

Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil- restoring crops with cash crops and reducing in-puts of fertilizer and pesticides.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures.

Truck farming

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities.

Undernourishment

Dietary energy consumption that is continuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy life and carrying out light physical activity.

Value-added specialty crops

Crops that grow in value when made into a certain product.

Village

a community of people smaller than a town

Wattle

poles and sticks woven tightly together and then covered with mud. Many African houses are constructed with this way with a thick thatched roof.

Wet (lowland) rice

Rice planted on dryland in a nursery, then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth.

Winter wheat area

Area in which grain is planted in autumn, survives the winter, and ripens the following summer (Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma)