APHUG: Agriculture

Agribusiness

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

Agricultural Hearth

Region of origin of agricultural innovation.

Agricultural Revolution

The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.

Agriculture

Deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain.

Agronomist

One who studies the science of soil management and crop production.

Agronomy

The science of soil management and crop production.

Aquaculture

(or aquafarming) The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions.

Bioclimatic

Of or relating to the relationship of climate and living matter.

Biotechnology

The manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products.

Carp

A large variable Asian soft-finned freshwater fish that is often raised for food.

Cereal Grain

A grass that yields grain for food.

Commercial Agriculture

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

Crop

Any plant gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season.

Crop Rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.

Crustacean

Any of a large class of mostly water-dwelling arthropods (as lobsters, shrimps, crabs, wood lice, water fleas, and barnacles) having an exoskeleton of chitin or chitin and a compound of calcium.

Cultivate

To prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops.

Dairy Farm

A form of commercial agriculture that specializes in the production of milk and other dairy products.

Desertification

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

Double Cropping

Harvesting twice a year from the same field.

Export

A commodity conveyed from one country or region to another for purposes of trade.

Famine

An extreme scarcity of food.

Fertilizer

A substance (such as manure or a chemical mixture) used to make soil more fertile.

Fishing

The capture of wild fish and other seafood living in the waters.

Free Trade

Trade based on the unrestricted international exchange of goods with tariffs used only as a source of revenue.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)

A living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Green Revolution

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