APHG Unit 5

Agriculture

The practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food and other products

Cultural Practices

Measures that humans take to ensure the productivity of crops

Intensive Farming

Agriculture that requires a lot of labor and capital and is usually located near large populations with small slots of land and is characterized by high yield per acre

Extensive Farming

Requires small amounts of labor and capital and uses large plots of land away from populations and is characterized by low yield per acre

Plantation Farming

Commercial Monoculture with a large commercial farm that produces one cash crop to be sold in developed countries and exploit cheap labor in former subtropic colonies

Market Gardening

Commercial farms that specialize in fresh fruits and vegetables that are transported to market and to keep labor costs low they use machines, but for delicate items they use migrant workers

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Commercial farmers grow crops to fatten livestock for slaughter in meat packing plants or use on dairy farms

CAFO

Consolidated Animal Feedlot Organization

Broilers

Chickens

Shifting Cultivation

Subsistence farmers own a large area in the sub tropics but only clear part of it at a time to farm and the rainforest is cleared, burned and planted with several different crops in cynical process to maintain soil fertility (slash and burn)

Nomadic Herding

Subsistence nomadic herders graze cattle, sheep, goats, etc. in semi-arid climates and move animals from pasture to pasture. Also, Mobility means a few workers, possessions or accumulation of wealth. They depend on their animals for survival.

Ranching

Commercial farmers own large areas used for grazing cattle and sheep to sell on the market and ranch land is often unsuitable for any type of farming (less expensive than farmland)