APHG unit 5 gradesavers

Mediterranean climate

warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters; grows figs, olives, grapes, dates

Tropical Climate

warm, humid, heavy rain

Intensive agriculture

Owners use lots of resources to maximize production/lots of money usually in a small space. Large inputs to maximize yields

Market gardening

When fruits and vegetables are grown near an urban market and sold directly to local suppliers, stores, and restaurants

plantation agriculture

labor intensive, cheap labor, large plots of land to grow crops

Mixed crop/livestock system

an intensive commercial production of animals and crops on the same farm

Extensive agriculture

type of agriculture where farmers use a small amount of inputs, resulting in less yields, large land and less labor

shifting cultivation/swidden agriculture

type of subsistent extensive farming where farmers grow crops on a piece of a land for a year or two, and when the soil loses fertility, they move to another field

Nomadic Herding

Continuous movement of livestock in search of food for animals

Ranching

the commercial grazing of animals confined to a specific area

Transhumance

the seasonal migration of animals from higher elevations in the summer to lower elevations and valleys in the winter

Rural settlement pattern

sparsely settled areas, away from large cities, usually villages

Clustered Settlement pattern

groups of homes that are in close proximity to each other, with fields and pastures around their settlements

Dispersed settlement pattern

patterns in which people live in homes spread out throughout an area of land, characterized by farms and not villages

Linear settlement pattern

when buildings and human activities are organized close to a body of water or along a transportation route

Rural survey method

Technique used to reestablish different parts of land

Metes and bounds

system used to describe plot boundaries using physical geography features along with distances and direction

Township and range

surveyed land using longitude and latitude in square mile sections

Long lot

system in which farms are long, with thin sections of land that run perpendicular to a body of water or road

Domestication

changing plants and animals to make them useful for humans

Fertile Crescent

land between Tiris and Euphrates rivers, Middle east, the first major hearth of agriculture, located in SW Asia

Indus River Valley

3rd major hearth of agriculture, located in South Asia

Southeast Asia

2nd major hearth of agriculture, with crops such as mangos, taros, and coconuts

Central America

5th major hearth of agriculture with crops such as maize (corn), squash, and peppers

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of plants, animals, and disease between Americas, Europe, and Africa

First Agricultural Revolution

neolithic revolution, changed from hunting and gathering to agriculture and domestication of plants and animals

Second Agricultural Revolution

started in 1750 in Great Britain; used the advances of the Industrial Revolution mechanization to increase food supplies and support population growth

Enclosure Acts

a series of laws enacted by the British government that enabled landowners to purchase and enclose land for their own use that had previously been common land used by peasant farmers.

Crop rotation

the system of growing a different crop in a field each year to preserve the fertility of the land/soil

Green revolution

Development of higher-yield and faster growing crops via increased technology, the advances in plant biology of the mid 20th century

High-yield seed

crops that produce more food because they're genetically modified to do so

Hybridization

A breeding technique that takes desirable traits from organisms to make one desirable organism

Mechanized farming

farming techniques that rely on machines instead of labor to more efficiently produce crops

Capital intensive agriculture

uses expensive machinery and other inputs to produce large amounts of agricultural goods

Labor intensive agriculture

Type of agriculture that uses a lot of force by farmers and workers (a lot of manual work) to produce large amounts of agricultural goods

Subsistence Agriculture

form of agriculture where the primarily goal is to feed the farmer and their family

Commercial Agriculture

crops are produced for profit off of the farm

Monocropping/monoculture

practice of only one crop or one animal is raised on a piece of land

Bid-rent theory

theory that price and demand on real estate changes depending on the distance from the central market

Feedlots (CAFOs)

confined spaces in which livestock have limited movement, raising them on hormones and hearty grains to prepare them for slaughter at a much faster rate

Agribusiness

farms ran as corporations, large-scale system that includes the production, processing, and distribution

Transnational corporations

agribusinesses that function in multiple nations

Vertical integration

when a company controls more than one stage of the production/manufacturing process

Commodity chain

process to gather resources, transform them into goods, and transport them to customers

Carrying capacity

max people or crops that an area can sustain

Cool chains

transportation networks that keep food cool throughout a trip

Von Thunen's model

hypothesizes that perishability of the product and transportation costs to the market each factor into a farmer's decisions regarding agricultural practices & land use.

Horticulture

a type of agriculture that includes market gardening/truck farming and dairy farming

Comparative Advantage

natural occurring beneficial conditions, that would prompt farmers to plant crops differently compared to Von Thunen's Model such as better climate and soil

Global supply chain

the continuous buying and selling of goods and services, all the steps needed to get a good or service from supplier to consumer

Luxury crops

Non-essential crops to humans but have a HIGH profit such as tea, cacao, coffee, and tobacco

Export Commodity

a good or service produced in the home country and sold to another

Subsidies

financial support from the government that supports a business or market

Pollution

Release of harmful materials into the environment

Land cover change

The study of how land is used and the impact of changing land use

Desertification

degradation of fertile land, causing it to become infertile (common in arid areas)

Soil salinization

when salts from water used by plants remain in the soil and salts buildup in the soil

Conservation

the sustainable use and management of Earth's natural resources

Slash and burn agriculture

When farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris

Terrace farming

building a series of steps or flat land for farming on the sides of hills or mountains

Irrigation

Supplying land with water through a network of canals

center-pivot irrigation

a type of irrigation that waters crops using sprinkler systems on huge turning wheels around a pivot

deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves for human purposes

wetlands

low-lying water-saturated land area that supports aquatic plants

biotechnology

form of technology that uses living organisms (usually genetics) to modify and improve the quality of products

genetically modified organisms

An organism whose genetic material has been altered through some genetic engineering technology or technique.

aquaculture

the practice of raising and harvesting fish and other forms of food that live in water

sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.

biodiversity

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

fertilizer

a chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility

pesticide

chemicals used to kill insects or other organisms that might harm crops

Urban farming

The practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food within an urban area (village, town, city) with the goal of providing locally grown food

community-supported agriculture

A system in which consumers pay farmers in advance for a share of their yield, usually in the form of weekly deliveries of produce & brings producers and consumers into a type of partnership

value-added specialty crops

crops with special qualities or crops that are difficult to acquire and are able to be sold of higher profits

fair trade

deserved prices are paid to producers in developing countries, a concept used in developing countries to help create sustainability

local-food movement

collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies, aims to connect food producers and consumers in the same area

food insecurity

lack of access to food because of limited resources

food desert

areas with little to no access to fresh, nutritious foods

gender inequality

the inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income, and status

gender-specific obstacles

discriminatory practices that prevent an individual of a certain gender from reaching their potential productivity