Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land Usage

Nomadism

seasonal migration pursuing crops and prey animals

Irrigation

infrastructure to direct and control flow of fresh water

Primary economy

activity based on collection, extraction, or harvest of natural resources

Staple crops

make up much of the regional diet and provide energy

Animal husbandry

rearing and raising animals for meat, eggs, and hides

Intensive agriculture

requires lots of labor and focuses on small areas of land

Extensive agriculture

requires less labor over larger area of land

Subsistence farming

grows just enough food to feed one’s family or community

Monoculture cultivation

growing one reliant, major crop

General farming

monoculture farming ended, start of multi crop cultivation and animal husbandry

Fermentation

chemical process that breaks down substances or changes them

Cash cropping

growing large amounts of agricultural product sold for profit

Plantations

large farming estates staffed by slave labor or sharecroppers.

Human ecology

the study of relationships between humans and their environment

Food web

visual chart depicting soil conditions, climate, and human input

Crop rotation

involves planting a crop within a plot of land, then alternating or rotating crops

Nitrogen

essential element in fertile soil

Multicropping

more than one crop planted within a unit of land

Double cropping

planting two crops right after each other on the same plot of land within a 12 month cycle

General cultivation schedule (growing season)

planting in the spring, growing in the summer, harvesting in the fall

Winter wheat

wheat in places with more moderate winters, planted during the fall and harvested in the spring

Aquifers

underground fresh water reserves

Non-food crops

grown to produce goods for manufacturing

Dust Bowls

soil is dusty and eroded due to drought, high-speed winds, unsustainable farming

Conservation agriculture

farming that preserves natural resources and minimizes ecological impact

Slash and burn agriculture

forests are burned and cultivated until the soil is depleted

Deforestation

clearing or removing trees, often to a detrimental cost

Desertification

human processes which deplete vegetative land into a desert

Soil salinization

evaporation of water leaves mineral salts trapped on the soil surface

Seed agriculture

collecting seeds from growing plant life and storing them to grow again seasonally

Horticulture

identifying plant types best suited to types of climate and soil and deliberately cultivating them there

Brahman cattle

hybrid breed from European cattle and Indian Zebu cattle

Growing areas

land units where crops and animals are raised based on identified needs

Columbian Exchange

transfer of plants, crops, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds

Scientific horticulture

scientists develop plant and animal breeds based on environmental conditions

Dwarf varieties

shorter breeds of rice and wheat that were more durable

Ammonium nitrate

early artificial fertilizer used to enrich nitrogen-depleted soils

Green Revolution

period of agricultural development and new technology following WWII

Vertical integration

business practice of including all steps of production from start to finish

Secondary economic activity

processing or manufacturing raw goods, usually crops

Tertiary economic activity

employing marketing and sales avenues for finished products

Agribusiness

farming as a large-scale commercial activity

Genetic engineering

branch of biotechnology involving insertion of DNA into an organism with the intention of altering it

Factory farming

livestock raised in poor conditions on an industrial scale

rGBH

recombinant bovine growth hormone injected into cows to stimulate growth

Downer cattle

cows too sick to be killed for human consumption but still used in feed for pets or other animals

Specialized agricultural products

produced using natural, holistic methods in agrarian practices

Non-GMO project

nonprofit organization using third-party verification to determine products are not genetically modified

Organic

food products free of genetic engineering, pesticides, antibiotics, and artificial hormones

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

disorder transmitted mainly through cows causing neurological damage

Aquacultures

farming/cultivation of aquatic species

Truck farms

commercial farming and gardening that produces specialty items

Suitcase farmers

farmers who work in agriculture seasonally

Heirloom crops

consistent crops produced through open pollination

Johann Heinrich von Thunen

published “The Isolated State” about land use and labor intensity

The Isolated State

argued land use in human settlements was based on labor intensity of farming and animal husbandry

Walter Christaller

German geographer who popularized the concept of central place theory

Central Place theory

settlements of central places provide resources to surrounding areas

Cost-to-distance relationships (in land usage)

land closest to the center would be the most expensive, prices decreased further away

Labor value (and distance from the center of a human settlement)

labor closest to a settlement center would be the most expensive, labor costs decreased further away