Unit 5: Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use

These flashcards cover key terms from Unit 5: Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use, including definitions and concepts crucial for understanding agricultural systems, practices, and terminology.

Agriculture

The process by which humans alter the landscape in order to raise crops and livestock for consumption and trade.

Climate regions

Areas that have similar climate patterns generally based on their latitude and their location on coasts or continental interiors.

Commercial agriculture

Farmers grow crops and raise livestock for profit to sell to customers.

Subsistence agriculture

Farmers consume the crops that they grow and raise, usually using simple tools and manual labor.

Intensive agriculture

Farmers or ranchers use large amounts of inputs, such as energy, fertilizers, labor, or machines, to maximize yields from an area of land.

Extensive agriculture

Farmers use fewer amounts of inputs (labor and capital) and typically result in less yields.

Central business district (CBD)

The central location within a city where the majority of consumer services are located.

Pastoral nomadism (Nomadic herding)

Herders and families who move to do their farming, often in various locations.

Shifting cultivation

Subsistence agriculture in which farmers practice growing crops or grazing animals on a piece of land for a year or two.

Plantation agriculture

Large-scale commercial farming of one particular crop grown for distant markets.

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Intensive commercial integrated system in which both crops and livestock are raised for profit.

Agricultural landscape

Landscapes resulting from the interactions between farming activities and a location’s natural environment.

Market gardening

Fruits and vegetables grown near an urban market and sold to local suppliers.

Mediterranean agriculture

Agriculture practiced in regions with hot-dry summers and mild winters, often involving irrigation.

Transhumance

The seasonal herding of animals from higher elevations in the summer to lower elevations in the winter.

Agroecosystem

An ecosystem modified for agricultural use.

Foragers

Small nomadic groups who had primarily plant-based diets.

First Agricultural Revolution

Origin of farming marked by the domestication of plants and animals.

Domestication

Deliberate effort to grow plants and raise animals to adapt them to human demands.

Cash crop

A crop produced for its commercial value.

Fertile Crescent

First major hearth of agriculture in Southwest Asia.

Agricultural hearth

Areas where different groups began to domesticate plants and animals.

Columbian Exchange

The global movement of plants, animals, ideas and disease between the Americas, Europe, and Africa.

Second Agricultural Revolution

Initiated in the 1700s, utilizing advances of the Industrial Revolution for increased food supplies.

Enclosure system

Laws enabling landowners to enclose land for their own use.

Crop rotation

Planting different crops from year to year on the same plot to restore soil nutrients.

Global supply chains

Networks that enable the delivery of a product between different countries.

Third Agricultural Revolution

Started in the early 20th century; focused on developing global agricultural systems.

Green Revolution

Development of high-yield strains of grain crops during the 1950s and 1960s.

Hybridization

Breeding two plants with desirable characteristics to produce a single seed with both.

Genetically modified organism (GMO)

Seeds altered using engineering techniques to enhance growth and resistance.

Bid-rent theory

Distance decay relationship between proximity to market and land value.

Monoculture

Agricultural practice of planting one crop or raising one type of animal annually.

Monocropping

Cultivation of one or two crops rotated seasonally.

Agribusiness

Large scale system including production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products.

Reservoirs

Artificial lakes created for irrigation purposes.

Vertical integration

When a company controls more than one stage of the production process.

Subsidies

Government-provided low-cost loans and payments to combat production costs.

Commodity chain

Network connecting production places with distribution to consumers.

Aquifers

Layers of underground materials that contain usable water.

Biodiversity

Variety of organisms living in a location.

Von Thünen Model

Economic model suggesting product types produced based on market distance.

Precision agriculture

Utilization of technologies to maximize crop yields with precise input application.

Fair trade movement

Campaign aimed at fixing unfair agricultural practices to support farmers.

Dual-agricultural economy

Two agricultural sectors in the same country with different technology levels.

Desertification

Land degradation in dry areas turning fertile land into desert.

Salinization

Accumulation of salts in soil, decreasing plant health.

Terrace farming

Creating flat surfaces on hillsides for farming.

Debt-for-nature swaps

Peripheral countries exchanging borrowing for conservation investments.

Wetlands

Low-lying areas with significant water levels.

Deforestation

Removal of large tracts of forest land.

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Traditional farming method clearing land by cutting and burning for nutrients.

Biotechnology

Science of altering organisms to create new products.

Food insecurity

Lack of access to adequate food due to financial or resource limitations.

Food desert

Neighborhoods with limited access to healthy, affordable food.

Tariff

Tax on imported goods.