AP Human Geography - Agriculture

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

Commercial Agriculture

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

Market Gardening

A small

Truck Farm

A scaled

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

Plantation

Large landholding devoted to capital

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

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

Paddy Rice Farming

A system of wet rice cultivation on small level fields bordered by impermeable dikes; the fields (paddies) are flooded with 4

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, most 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

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

Slash

and

Intercropping

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

Nomadic Herding (Nomadic Pastoralism or 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, or woll

Green Revolution

The U.S.

Crossbreeding

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

Hybrid

The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties

Double

Cropping

Multicropping

Planting two or three crops per year on the same land

Hierarchial 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

Soil Salinization

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

Soil Salinity

A measure of the concentration of dissolved salts in the soil; high soil salinity results from poor irrigation practices

Large

Scale Commercial Operation

Monocropping (Monoculture)

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

Agricultural 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

In agriculture, a primary product that can be bought and sold, such as coffee, rice, or milk

Commodity Chain

A series of links connecting a commodity's many places of production, distribution, and consumption

Agribusiness

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

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

Animal rearing system that confines livestock (such as cattle, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and hogs) in high

Cool Chain

The system that uses refrigeration and food

Dead Zones

Sections of a body of water where there is very little aquatic life

Deforestation

Clearing and destruction of forests to clear land for agriculture use

Desertification

The process by which once

Water Control Land Reclamation

The process of draining land inundated with either fresh water or salt water to increase areas for agricultural production

Irrigated Agriculture

Farming that relies on the controlled application of water to cultivated fields

Water Mining

The use of deep

Aquifer

Underground water deposited hundreds of thousands of years ago

Biofuel

A fuel derived from organic wastes or plant materials

Biodiesel

Fuel made from vegetable oils

Sustainable Agriculture

A commitment to satisfying human food and textile needs and to enhancing the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole, now and in the future; it requires a balance among feeding the growing population, minimizing environmental impacts, and ensuring social justice

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)

A living organism, including crops and livestock, that is produced through genetic engineering

Aquaculture

The cultivation and harvesting of aquatic organisms under controlled conditions

Mariculture

The farming of saltwater species such as shrimp, oysters, and marine fish

Urban Farming

The practice of growing fruits and vegetables on small private plots or shared community gardens within the confines of a city

Community

Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Farmers' Market

A venue (ranging from a few stalls in the street to covered enclosures extending a few city blocks) in which farmers sell their produce directly to consumers

Organic Farming

The production of crops and livestock using ecological processes, natural biodiversity, and renewable resources rather than industrial practices and synthetic inputs

Conventional Farming

Farming that depends of manufactured synthetic inputs, GMO seeds, and other industrial practices

Value

Added Specialty Crop

Fair Trade

A certification program that supports good crop prices for farmers and environmentally sound farming practices

Slow

Food

Locavores

People who dedicate themselves to slow

Food Desert

Area with limited access to fresh, nutritious foods

Food Security

According to the United Nations, the situation in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life

Food Insecurity

Occurs when large numbers of people experience long periods of inadequate diets

Division of Labor

How a group divides the range of tasks within a social system; in subsistence systems, tasks are generally divided based on age and gender