AP HuG 36 - 40

Nutrient Pollution

Consequence of overuse of fertilizer; occurs when excess nutrients seep down into groundwater or are carried into nearby waterways as runoff

Runoff

The flow of rain or irrigation water over land

Hierarchical Diffusion

Occurs when ideas leapfrog from one important person, community, or city to another, bypassing other persons, communities, or rural areas

Cassava

A root vegetable native to South America

Sorghum

A grain plant native to northeast Africa

Endemic

Native to or characteristic of a certain environment

Environmental Contamination

Chemical residue that builds up with each application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

Second Agricultural Revolution

Period that brought improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce that began in the late 1600s and through to the 1930s

Seed Drill

Machine for planting seeds in a row

Mechanical Reaper

Machine used to harvest grain crops mechanically: patented by Cyrus McCormick - 1831

Agrichemicals

Chemical compounds from petroleum and natural gas for use in agriculture

Synthetic Fertilizer

Industrially manufactured Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium made from Petroleum by products

Pesticide

Material used to kill or repel animals or insects that can damage crop growth

Herbicide

Pesticide designed to kill growth of unwanted plants (weeds) that compete with crops

Green Revolution

The U.S.-supported development of high-yield seed varieties that increased the productivity of cereal crops and accompanying agricultural technologies for transfer to less developed countries

Crossbreeding

Act of mixing different species or varieties of plants or animals to produce hybrids.

Hybrid

Offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties

Double-Cropping

Planting another crop on the same plot of land as soon as the first crop has been harvested

Multicropping

Planting two or three crops per year on the same level

Soil Salinization

Concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

Bid-rent Theory

Explains the demand for and price of land decrease as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases

Central Business District (CBD)

Dense cluster of offices and shops located at cities most accessible point, usually its center

Large-scale Commercial Operation

A large-scale farm oriented exclusively toward the production of agricultural commodities for sale in the market

Monocropping

Cultivation of a single commercial crop on extensive tracts of land

Agricultural Cooperative

Organization in which farmers pool resources in services or production: Resources are provided to individual farm members

Family Farm

Farming operation owned wholly by a family and sells products to a defined market

Commodity

Primary agricultural product or raw material that is bought, sold, and traded

Commodity Chain

Series of links connecting a commodities many places of production and distribution

Agribusiness

Large corporation that provides a vast array of goods and services to support the agricultural industry

Capital Expenditures

Assets that cost money, such as land, machinery, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, seeds, and livestock feed

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

Animal rearing system that confines livestock in high density cages only large enough to allow body to grow

Cool Chain

System that uses refrigeration and food-freezing tech to help keep farm produce fresh

Hinterland

The area surrounding a city

Von Thunen's Model

A model to explain how distance from a market and cost of transportation affects the spatial distribution of intensive and extensive agricultural practices

Global Supply Chain

Agribusinesses, organized at the global scale; encompasses all elements of growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, marketing, consuming, and disposing of food for people

Contract Farming

Arrangement between an independent farmer and an agribusiness company to produce a crop; the agribusiness provides the farmer with all the supplies needed to produce a crop in exchange for a guaranteed price and buyer

Proprietary Seed

Seeds that are developed and entirely owned by a company

Export Commodity

A cash crop that is produced for export to wealthier countries at the expense of crop production for local consumption

Famine

Extreme scarcity of food

Subsidies

Guaranteed prices for staple food crops