AP Human Geography Unit 5 Quiz 1 Mrs. Yi

Agribusiness

Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations. Encompasses all businesses involved in commercial farming from seed production to retailing and distribution.

Agriculture

The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain.

Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm, with the primary goal of making a profit.

Crop

Grain or fruit gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season.

Crop Rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil and replenish nutrients.

Desertification

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

Double Cropping

Harvesting twice a year from the same field during a single growing season.

Extensive Agriculture

Agriculture that uses more land to produce yields, typically with lower inputs of labor and capital per unit of land.

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

Commercial agriculture characterized by large land areas, mechanization, and lower labor inputs. Examples include grain farming and ranching.

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

Subsistence agriculture that uses large areas of land with minimal inputs. Includes pastoral nomadism and shifting cultivation.

Grain Farming

Commercial agriculture focused on growing cereal grains (wheat, corn, rice, barley) for human consumption and animal feed.

Green Revolution

The rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially high-yield seeds and fertilizers, from developed to developing countries to increase food production.

Horticulture

The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, typically on a smaller scale with higher labor inputs.

Intensive Agriculture

Agriculture that uses relatively less land but higher inputs of labor, capital, or technology to produce maximum yields from a parcel of land.

Intensive Commercial Agriculture

Commercial agriculture that maximizes yield through high inputs of labor, capital, or technology on relatively small land areas. Examples include truck farming and dairy farming.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land. Common in densely populated regions of Asia.

Market Gardening

The small-scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers, characterized by high diversity of crops on small land areas.

Mediterranean Agriculture

A type of agriculture practiced in Mediterranean climate regions, characterized by specialty crops such as grapes, olives, citrus fruits, dates, and vegetables adapted to hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Milkshed

The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied, typically extending about 150 miles today due to refrigeration.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Commercial farming characterized by integration of crops and livestock, where most of the crops grown are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans.

Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals, involving the seasonal migration of people and livestock in search of pasture.

Plantation

A large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of one or two crops for sale, usually to a more developed country.

Prime Agricultural Land

The most productive farmland with the best soil quality, climate, and topography for agriculture.

Ranching

A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area, typically in arid or semi-arid regions.

Reaper

A machine that cuts cereal grain standing in a field during harvest.

Ridge Tillage

A system of planting crops on ridge tops in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation.

Seed Agriculture

Reproduction of plants through annual introduction of seeds, which result from sexual fertilization. This is the most common form of agriculture practiced today.

Shifting Cultivation

A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.

Slash-Burn Agriculture

Another name for shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris.

Spring Wheat

Wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer.

Subsistence Agriculture

Agriculture in which farmers produce food primarily for their own consumption rather than for sale, with the goal of self-sufficiency.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming practices that link ecology, culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, maintain healthy environments, and create viable food and farming communities for the long term.

Threshed

To beat out grain from stalks by trampling it or using machinery to separate the grain from the chaff.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures, typically moving to cooler highland areas in summer and warmer lowland areas in winter.

Transnational Corporations

Companies that operate in multiple countries, often controlling various stages of production and distribution across national borders. In agriculture, these corporations may control large-scale farming operations globally.

Truck Farming

Commercial gardening and fruit farming characterized by the production of perishable crops for nearby urban markets. Named from the Middle English word "truck" meaning bartering or exchange of commodities.

Value-added Crops

Specialty crops that command higher prices in the market due to unique characteristics, quality, or processing. Examples include organic produce, specialty fruits, and artisanal products.

Value-added Farming

Agricultural practices that increase the economic value of farm products through processing, marketing, or other enhancements beyond basic production.

Vegetative Planting

Reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants through methods such as cutting stems or dividing roots, rather than using seeds.

Vertical Farms

The practice of producing food in vertically stacked layers, vertically inclined surfaces, or integrated into other structures, often using controlled-environment agriculture technology in urban areas.

Vertical Integration

A business practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product from raw materials to distribution. In agriculture, this means a company may control farming, processing, packaging, and retail sales.

Von Thunen Model

An economic model that explains the pattern of agricultural land use in relation to distance from the market. The model suggests that crops requiring more labor or those that are perishable are grown closer to the market, while less perishable crops and those requiring less attention are grown farther away, arranged in concentric rings.

Wet Rice

Rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then moved to a deliberately flooded field (sawah) to promote growth. Common in intensive subsistence agriculture in East and Southeast Asia.

Winter Wheat

Wheat planted in the autumn and harvested in the early summer, common in regions like the U.S. Great Plains (Kansas and Nebraska).