AP HUMAN UNIT 5: Vocab 1

Agribusiness

Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.

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.

Crop Rotation

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

Desertification

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

Double Cropping

Harvesting twice a year from the same field.

Extensive Agriculture

An agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor and capital per unit of land area, typically using large plots of land.

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

Large-scale farming for profit using large amounts of land but minimal labor per unit of land (e.g., wheat farming or livestock ranching).

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

Involves large areas of land and minimal labor-intensive practices, but produces only for the immediate family or community (e.g., nomadic herding).

Grain Farming

The mass planting of grain crops such as wheat, corn, or barley, often practiced in regions too dry for mixed crop and livestock agriculture.

Green Revolution

Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers, often associated with the Third Agricultural Revolution.

Horticulture

The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Intensive Agriculture

A form of agriculture that requires a large amount of labor and capital relative to the land area to maximize yields.

Intensive Commercial Agriculture

High-input, high-yield farming for profit, often involving heavy use of fertilizers and machinery (e.g., dairy or truck farming).

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

A form of subsistence farming in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.

Market Gardening

The small-scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Specialized farming that occurs in dry-summer climates, focusing on crops like grapes, olives, and citrus.

Milkshed

The ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Integration of crops and livestock; most of the crops are fed to animals rather than consumed directly by humans.

Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals in dry climates where planting is difficult.

Plantation

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

Prime Agricultural Land

The most productive farmland based on soil quality, slope, and climate.

Ranching

A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area.

Reaper

A machine that cuts cereal grain standing in the field.

Ridge Tillage

A system of planting crops on ridge tops to reduce farm costs and conserve soil moisture.

Seed Agriculture

Reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization.

Shifting Cultivation

A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another every few years; also known as slash-and-burn.

Slash-and-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 designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil-restoring crops and reducing inputs.

Threshed

To beat out grain from stalks by hand or machine.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures.

Transnational Corporations

Large companies that operate in multiple countries, often managing different stages of the global food supply chain.

Truck Farming

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because 'truck' was a Middle English word meaning bartering.

Value-added Crops

Crops that have been processed to increase their market value (e.g., turning flour into bread).

Value-added Farming

The process of changing a raw agricultural product into something new to increase its market price.

Vegetative Planting

Reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants, such as cutting stems and dividing roots.

Vertical Farms

The practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, often in urban areas to save space.

Vertical Integration

When a single company owns and controls multiple stages of the production process (e.g., from seed to supermarket).

Von Thunen Model

A model that explains the spatial distribution of agricultural activities based on the relationship between transportation costs and the perishability of products.

Wet Rice

Rice planted on dry land in a nursery and then moved to a deliberately flooded field (paddy) to promote growth.

Winter Wheat

Wheat planted in the autumn and harvested in the early summer.