HGAP terms - Unit 5

Agriculture

The planting and harvesting of domesticated plants and the raising of domesticated animals for food

Domesticated plant

A plant that is deliberately planted, protected, cared for, and used by humans and is genetically distinct from its wild ancestors

Domesticated animal

An animal that depends on people for food and shelter and is different from its wild ancestors in looks and behavior as a result of close contact with humans

Farmers

(TERM) who raise crops and livestock to sell in the market at a profit rather than raising them for their own consumption

Physical geography

The study of Earth’s physical characteristics and processes: how they work, how they affect humans, and how humans affect them

Nutrients

Components of topsoil (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) necessary for plants to survive, grow, and reproduce

Topography

The arrangement of shapes on Earth’s surface

Climate

The average pattern of weather over a 30-year period for a particular region

Weather

The day-to-day atmospheric conditions that affect daily decisions

Tropical wet climate

A climate located along the equator that experiences rain every day of the year

Tropical wet and dry climate

A climate located along the equator that has a dry season with little to no rain, usually in the winter; is often subject to monsoons

Monsoon

Seasonal reversal of winds with a general onshore movement in summer and a general offshore movement in winter; onshore winds bring (TERM) rains

Monsoon rains

Long periods of heavy rains every day at the end of a short dry season

Arid climate

A climate that receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain annually

Semiarid (steppe) climate

A climate that receives about 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain annually that can support farming;

Moderate climate

A climate with an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius); found north and south of the equator on the edges of tropical climates

Humid subtropical climate

A climate with long, hot summers and short, mild winters with variable precipitation; found on east coasts of continents

Marine west coast climate

A climate characterized by moderate temperatures during long summers and cool winters

Mediterranean climate

A climate with winter precipitation, unusually mild winters, and clear skies with abundant sunshine

Continental climate

A climate that has a large range of temperatures and moderate precipitation; found in the interior of continents, north of the moderate climate zones

Humid continental climate

A climate with a wide range of temperatures, moderate precipitation, and four distinct seasons; experiences warm to hot summers, moderate to abundant rainfall (20–50 inches [50–150 centimeters] annually), and cold winters with precipitation falling as snow

Humid cold climate

A climate with frigid temperatures nearly year-round; found in northern reaches of the continental climate zone and often described as subarctic

Intensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that use high levels of labor and capital relative to the size of the landholding

Subsistence agriculture

Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, rather than principally for sale in the market

Commericial agriculture

Farming oriented exclusively toward the production of agricultural commodities for sale in the market

Market gardening

A small-scale farming system in which a farmer plants one to a few acres that produce a diverse mixture of vegetables and fruits, mostly for sale in local and regional markets

Truck farm

A scaled-up version of market gardening, with more acreage, less crop diversity, and a stronger orientation toward more distant markets

Plantation

Large landholding devoted to capital-intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for the global marketplace

Mixed crop/livestock agriculture

A diversified system of agriculture based on the cultivation of cereal grains and root crops (such as potatoes and yams) and the rearing of herd livestock

Cereal grains

Seeds that come from a wide variety of grasses cultivated around the world, including wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, and maize (corn)

Millet

A fast-growing cereal plant that is widely grown in warm regions with poor soil

Root crops

Vegetables that form below ground and must be dug at maturity, such as cassava, potatoes, and yams

Cash crop

A crop raised to be sold for profit rather than to feed the farm family and the livestock; common cash crops are cotton, flax, hemp, coffee, and tobacco

Peasants

Small-scale farmers who own their fields, rely chiefly on family labor, and produce both for their own subsistence and for sale in the market

Paddy rice farming

A system of wet rice cultivation on small level fields bordered by impermeable dikes; the fields (paddies) are flooded with 4–6 inches (10–15 centimeters) of water for about three-quarters of the growing season

Grain farming

A highly mechanized commercial farming system that specializes in the production of cereal grains; requires large farms and widespread use of machinery, synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically engineered seeds

Livestock fattening

An intensive system of animal feeding utilizing fenced enclosures to fatten livestock, mostly cattle and hogs, for slaughter and processing for the market

Feedlot

A fenced enclosure used for intensive livestock feeding that serves to limit livestock movement and associated weight loss

Dairying

A farming system that specializes in the breeding, rearing, and utilization of livestock (primarily cows) to produce milk and its various by-products, such as yogurt, butter, and cheese

Extensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that require little hired labor or monetary investment to successfully raise crops and animals

Shifting cultivation

The cultivation of a plot of land until it becomes less productive, typically over a period of about three to five years; when productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land that has been prepared by slash-and-burn agriculture

Slash-and-burn agriculture (swidden agriculture)

Agriculture that involves cutting small plots in forests or woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the round and release nutrients, and planting in the ash of the cleared plot

Intercropping

The farming practice of planting multiple crops together in the same clearing

Nomadic herding (pastoralism)

A system of breeding and rearing herd livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, by following the seasonal movement of rainfall to areas of open pasturelands

Tundra

The vast, flat, treeless arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen

Livestock ranching

The practice of using extensive tracts of land to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides, of wool

Rural area

Area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population, and housing not included in an urban area

Rural settlement

Small group of people living outside of an urban area

Agricultural landscape

The visible imprint of agricultural practices

Grain elevator

Large storage facility for grain

Suitcase farm

In U.S commercial grain agriculture regions, a farm on which no one lives; planting and harvesting are done by hired migratory crews

Silo

Round or square tower-like structure that stores feed for the livestock on the farm

Settlement pattern

The ways in which people organize themselves on the land

Clustered settlement/farm village

A tightly bunched farm settlement that has anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants

Farmstead

Center of farm operations, which includes the farmhouse, barns, shed, livestock pens, and family garden

Dispersed settlement/isolated settlement

A settlement pattern in which families live relatively distant from one another

Linear settlement pattern

A settlement pattern in which buildings are arranged in a line, often along a road or river; limited to areas where legal systems dictated that property lines must be rectangular

Survey methods

The methods used by surveyors to lay out property lines

Cadastral survey

Systematic documentation of property ownership, shape, use, and boundaries

Metes and bounds

Survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delineate property boundaries

Township and range

Land survey system created by the U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785, which divides most of the country’s territory into a grid of square-shaped townships with 6-mile sides

Long-lot survey system

A unit-block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that is typically 10 times longer than it is wide

Domestication

The long-term process through which humans selectively breed, protect, and care for individuals taken from populations of wild plant and animal species to create genetically distinct species

First Agricultural Revolution

Period during which the early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals and the cultivation of seed crops led to the development of agriculture

Teosinte

Large wild grass native to Mexico that produced the small ears of maize (corn) that were a favored food among early groups in Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

The cultural region in the Americas that includes the diverse civilizations in the modern-day countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

Biodiversity

The variety and variability among species and ecosystems

Hearth

A center where innovations or new practices develop and from which the innovations or new practices spread or diffuse

Fertile Crescent

Area in Southwest Asia that includes the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates; the earliest center for domestication of seed plants

Indus River valley

Area along the (TERM) that flows from the highlands of Tibet and continues down along the border between present-day Pakistan and India; a site of the earliest domestication of plants and herd animals

Columbian exchange

The interaction and widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, disease, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Second Agricultural Revolution

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

Seed drill

A machine for planting seeds in a row

Mechanical reaper

A machine used to harvest grain crops mechanically; patented by Cyrus McCormick in 1831

Agrichemicals

Chemical compounds obtained from petroleum and natural gas for use in agriculture; (TERM) includes fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides

Synthetic fertilizer

Industrially manufactured nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, made from petroleum by-products; contains higher concentrations of nutrients for plants than natural fertilizers

Pesticides

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

Herbicide

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

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

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

The act of mixing different species or varieties of plants or animals to produce hybrids

Hybrid

The 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 land

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

Soil salinization

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

Soil salinity

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

Capital expenditures

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

Bid-rent theory

Explains how the demand for and price of land decrease as its distance from the central business district increases

Central business district

A dense cluster of offices and shops located at a city’s 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 (monoculture)

The cultivation of a single commercial crop on extensive tracts of land

Agriculture cooperative

An organization where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity such as services or production; services or production resources are provided to individual farm members

Family farm

A farming operation wholly owned by a family or family corporation that sells its products to some defined market, either directly or through a cooperative

Commodity

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

Commodity chain

A series of links connecting a commodity’s many places of production and distribution