2B - AP HUG Unit 5: Agriculture

Third Agricultural Revolution

Scientific and technological development brought into agriculture

Genetically Modified Organisms

Plants and animals whose genetic makeup has been modified

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after 1492 AD.

First Agricultural Revolution

The shift from foraging to farming 11000 years ago

Domestication

The deliberate effort to grow plants and raise animals while using selective breeding for desired traits

Foragers

Small nomadic groups who had (primarily) plant based diets.

Nomadic Herding or Pastoral Nomadism.

A practice of people moving their cattle as needed for grazing.

Transhumance

The movement of herds from higher elevations during the summer to lower elevations during the winter, and vice versa.

Shifting Cultivation

The practice of growing crops, and/or grazing animals on a piece of land for one or two years, then abandoning it, when nutrients have depleted.

Slash and Burn

The practice of burning slashed vegetation for an ash fertilizer.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Systems

When both crop and livestock are raised for profit

Extensive Agriculture

When farming has relatively few inputs and investment in labor and capital.

Plantation Agriculture

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

Market gardening

A farm that produces agricultural crops, which are then sold locally.

Monoculture

The agricultural system of planting a type of plant and or raising animals annually.

Linear settlement

A settlement in which houses and buildings extend in a long line following a land feature

Monocropping

The cultivation of one or two crops that are rotated seasonally.

Crop rotation

The varying of crops from year to year allow for restoration of valuable nutrients

Agriculture

The purposeful cultivation of plants are animals to produce goods for survival.

Climate regions

Areas that have similar climate patterns.

Mediterranean agriculture

Agriculture, consisting of growing hardy trees and shrubs while raising sheep and goats.

Subsistence Agriculture

When farmers grow food for their families consumption.

Commercial agriculture

When farmers grow crops and the raised livestock for profit to sell to customers.

Bid rent theory

Explains how land value determines how a farmer uses the land

Central business district

The central location of a city

Intensive agriculture

When farmers expend a great deal of effort to produce as much yield as possible from some land.

Clustered settlement

A settlement in which residents live in close proximity with each other.

Dispersed settlement

A settlement in which houses and buildings are isolated from one another.

Agricultural hearth

Where different group groups begin to domesticate plants and animals.

Fertile crescent

The heart were domestication first took place in southwest Asia.

Second agricultural revolution

When new tools and practices were implemented into agriculture.

Enclosure system

Farms owned by individuals.

Greener Revolution

The off shoot of the third agriculture revolution that introduced it to the periphery.

Infrastructure

The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities required for operations of success.

Dual agricultural economy

Two agricultural sectors in the same country that have different levels of technology and patterns of demand.

Agribusiness

The large scale system that includes the production processing and distribution of agricultural products and equipment.

Salinziation

The process by which water-soluble salts build up in the soil.

debt-for-nature swaps

In exchange for local investment in conservation measures, the banks agree to forgive a portion of the country’s debt.

desertification

A form of land degradation that occurs when soil deteriorates to a desert-like condition.

biodiversity

The variety of organisms living in a location.

aquifers

Layers of underground sand, gravel, and rocks that contain a usable amount of water.

wetlands

Areas of land that are covered by or saturated with water.

terracing

The process of carving parts of a hill/mountainside into small, level growing plots.

reservoirs

Artificial lakes created by building damns across a river/lake.

agroecosystem

An ecosystem modified for agricultural use.

deforestation

Loss of forest land.

fair trade

A global campaign to fix unfair wage practices and protect the ability of farmers to earn a living.

agricultural landscapes

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

farm subsidies

Low-cost loans, insurance, and payment.

tariffs

A tax or duty to be paid on a particular import or export.

vertical integration

A process that occurs when a company controls more than one stage of the production process.

commodity chain

The establishment of a complex netowrk.

hybrid

When different varieties of plants are bred to enhance desired characteristics and improve disease resistance.

von Thunen model

A model that hypothesizes that the perishability of a product and transportation costs affect farmer’s decisions.

Global Supply Chain

Commodity chains on a global scale.

cash crop

A crop that is produced for its commercial value.

biotechnology

The science of altering living organisms to create new products for specific purposes.

agricultural biodiversity

The variety and variability of plants, animals, and micro-organisms that are used for food and agriculture.

precision agriculture

A movement that uses a variety of cutting-edge technology at a pinpoint accuracy scale.

food security

Reliable access to safe, nutritious food that can support a healthy and active lifestyle.

food insecurity

The disruption of a household’s food patterns because of poor access to food.

suburbanization

The shifting of population from cities into surrounding suburbs.

food deserts

Areas where residents lack access to healthy, nutritious foods because the stores that sell them are far away.

economy of scale

The reduced cost of producing food items as the quantity of production increases.