Comprehensive Agriculture Types, Revolutions, and Land-Use Models (Unit 5 on ap classroom)

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming mainly to feed the farmer and their family, not to sell.

Commercial Agriculture

Farming to sell products for money, usually large-scale.

Intensive Agriculture

Lots of labor or money on a small area of land (high input, high yield).

Extensive Agriculture

Uses lots of land, but less labor/money per acre (low input per area).

Shifting Cultivation

the cultivation of a plot of land until it resources are exhausted and then moving to another land.

ex: (Slash-and-Burn)- Clear forest by cutting and burning, farm for a few years, then move when soil is used up.

Pastoral Nomadism

People who move with their herds of animals looking for water and pasture

*usually occurs in more arid/ semi-dry climates areas where it is too dry or infertile to grow crops, so people cannot permanently settle and farm and instead must move around.

*pasture- land covered with grass or other plants that animals can eat

Plantation Agriculture

Large farm in tropical areas growing one cash crop (like sugar, coffee, cotton) often for export.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Farms that grow crops and raise animals together; crops often feed the animals.

truck farming (Speciality agriculture)

Growing fruits/veggies for markets

Dairy Farming

Raising cows for milk and dairy products.

Grain Farming

Growing grain crops like wheat, corn, barley, mainly for food or feed.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Farming in areas with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters (grapes, olives, citrus).

First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)

When humans first learned to farm and domesticate animals instead of only hunting/gathering.

Second Agricultural Revolution

1700s-1800s: Better tools, crop rotation, and new methods → big increase in food production in Europe.

Third Agricultural Revolution / Green Revolution

Occured in the 1960s/1970s: High-yield seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and cross breeding

Domestication

Taming and breeding plants/animals for human use.

Von Thünen Model

Model showing how different types of farming are located around a central city based on transport cost & land cost.

1. in the center there the town/village

2. First ring: intensive farming and dairy

3. second ring: forest

4. Third ring: grains/ cereal crops

5. fourth ring: ranching and livestock

High-Yield Variety (HYV) Seeds

Special seed types bred to give more grain per plant.

GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Plants/animals whose DNA has been changed in a lab to improve traits (bigger, pest-resistant, etc.).

*please remember that this is NOT a products of the 3rd agricultural revolution. GMO'S occured much later. Specifically they occured in the 90s/2000s

Agribusiness

Large-scale, commercial farming controlled by corporations (from seeds → farming → processing → sale).

Monocropping

Growing only one crop over a large area.

Commodity Chain

The steps a product goes through from farm to final consumer (grow → process → transport → sell).

*this can happen on a global scale as well

Food Security

When people have reliable access to safe, nutritious food.

Food Insecurity

Not knowing if you'll have enough safe, nutritious food.

Cash Crop

Crop grown to sell for money, not to eat locally (cotton, coffee, sugar).

Staple Crop

Main food people eat every day (rice, wheat, corn).

Desertification

Fertile land turning into desert (often due to overgrazing, deforestation, climate change).

Soil Degradation

Soil becomes less productive (from overuse, chemicals, erosion).

including: Soil salinization (when land in arid region is converted into farmland: salt get in soil --> strips soil of nutrients --> soil no longer good for farming

Deforestation

Large-scale cutting down of forests.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming that protects the environment and can continue long-term (crop rotation, less chemicals).

Irrigation

Artificially bringing water to crops (dams, sprinklers, drip systems).

Clustered Settlement

Houses and buildings grouped close together, near fields.

Dispersed Settlement

Farms and houses spread far apart.

Linear Settlement

Buildings lined up along a road, river, or coastline.

Fertile crescent (Southwest Asia)

Mediterranean / semi-arid climate

grows: Wheat ,barley, peas, olives, oats

domesticated: sheeps, goats, pigs, cattles

Yangtze River Valley (East Asia)

Subtropical & temperate climate

grows: Rice, Millet(grain), soybeans, walnuts

Sub-Saharan Africa

Tropical climate & savana

grows: Yams, coffee, sorghum (grain)

Mesoamerica

Subtropical/ tropical climate

grows: Maize, squash, beans, peppers

Domesticated: Turkey

South Asia

Indus River valley (tropical climate)

Grows: Wheat, barley, peas

domesticated: cattles, camels, buffalo

Metes and Bounds

A method of land description which uses natural land features to define property line

ex: My house is from the big oak tree to the river, then 100 feet north of blah blah blah

Township and Range (Rectangular surveys)

A rectangular/square land division (grid system)

long-lot survey system

long plot of land that all touch a river, road, or canal

Ranching

A practice that involves raising lives stocks on a large, open, and fixed land

Columbian Exchange

The interchange of plants, animals, diseases, and human populations between the Old World and the New World.

Biodiversity

the variety among species and ecosystems

hearth

The region from where stuff originated from

transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between summer and winter pasture (this is a form of pastoral nomadism)

free range

allowing animal to move around in a more natural environment

Process food

Food that has been tampered with in any way (washing, cutting, heating and so on)

organic farming

grown without artificial chemicals (more intensive)

bid rent

the price at which farmers are willing to rent/'bid" land based on their needs

*land that is closer to the town tends to be more expensive and intensive than land further from the town

Von Thunen equation

rent = Y (P-C) - YFM

Y- Crop yield per unit of land

P- Market price per unit yield

C- cost of production per unit/ acre

F- transport cost per unit/ mile (weight and perishability)

M- distance from the market

Crop yield

How much you can harvest per unit of land

Malthusianism theory

theory that states - Population growth will outpace food supply which will eventually lead to people killing one another or famine and diseases the typical yk

subsidies

when the government pays farmer to grow certain crops

One acre model

One acre of land for subsidence farming and the rest of the land is used for commercial farming

Functional zoning

Dividing space based on specific functions such as residential, commercial and industrial to avoid conflicting land uses

Ownership rule

legal entitlement to use and transfer property

ex: Primogeniture: land goes to chosen relative usually a man

Urban farming

the practice of growing fruits and veggies on a small private plots or shared community farms within the confines of a city

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A direct-to-consumer marketing arrangement in which farmers are guaranteed buyers for their produce at guaranteed prices and consumers receive fresh food directly from the producers

farmer's market

markets at which local farmers and food producers sell fresh locally grown items

Value-added agriculture

processing raw agricultural product to increase their market value

ex: A farmer (themself) processes raw milk into cheese and then selling it at a farmers market

fair trade movement

Produce are a little more pricey because the farmers producing them are getting payed a fair wage

food safety

keeping food safe to eat by following proper food handling and cooking practices

Food Insecurity experience scale

a survey developed by the food and agriculture organization ( FAO) it measure food insecurity

Köppen climate classification

System categorizing climates based on temperature and precipitation.

nucleated settlement

a type of community where buildings and homes are clustered closely together around a central point, such as a market, church, or public square

Terrace farming

cutting of "steps" into mountains or hills to create level plot farming

Draining wetlands

wetlands (swamps, marshes) were consider useless so draining the water out of them to make them farmable was a common practice.

Food Deserts

Areas where it is difficult to find affordable, healthy food options. More common in area where there is a lack of transportation to groceries store

Monoculture

Still planting one type of crop the difference is that they change the type of crop each year.

*Monocropping does not. they stick with the same crop every year

Southeast Asia

grows: sugar cane, root vegetables

domesticated: chickens and pigs