Geography Ch. 9

Agriculture

Agriculture

the growing of crops and the tending of livestock, has replaced hunting and gathering as the most significant of the primary activities

Aquaculture

the breeding of fish in freshwater ponds, lakes, and canals or in fenced-off coastal bays and estuaries or page 266enclosures

Demand curve

shows how the market will expand as prices drop and the good becomes more affordable and attractive to more customers

Economic geography

The study of how people earn their living, how
livelihood systems vary by area, and how economic activities are spatially interrelated and linked

Extractive industry

removing nonrenewable metallic and nonmetallic minerals, including the mineral fuels, from the earth’s crust

ex: mining and quarrying

Genetically modified seeds

are created by combining the genetic material of different species

Green revolution

Complex of seed and management improvements adapted
to the needs of intensive agriculture and designed to bring larger harvests from a given area of farmland.
• For Example, genetic improvements

Gathering industries

based on harvesting the natural bounty of renewable resources, though once in serious danger of depletion through overexploitation

ex: fishing and forestry

Informal economy

is composed of activities that are unlicensed, lack formal contracts, and generate unreported earnings

Market equilibrium

is marked by the point of intersection of the supply and demand curves and determines the price of the good and the quantity bought and sold

Maximum sustainable yield

the largest volume or rate of use that will not impair its ability to be renewed or to maintain the same future productivity

Mediterranean agriculture

a specialized farming economy, however, is known for grapes, olives, oranges, figs, vegetables, and similar commodities

Overfishing

catches above reproduction rates

Planned economy

associated with communist-controlled societies, producers or their agents dispose of goods and services through governmental agencies that control both supply and price

Plantation agriculture

specialized crops are influenced by both physical geographic conditions and present or, particularly, former colonial control of areas

Polyculture

production of several different crops, often in the same field—is practiced

Primary activity

Harvest or extract something from the earth.
• Hunting and gathering, grazing, agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining.

• Agriculture.
• Gathering Industries.
• Extractive Industries.

Purchasing power parity (PPP)

takes account of variations in prices between countries

Quaternary sector of the economy

Secondary activity

Add value to materials by changing their form or combining them into more useful and more valuable commodities (form utility).
• Manufacturing and processing industries, power
generation, construction industry.

• Manufacturing.
• Processing.
• Construction.
• Power Production.

Shifting cultivation

maintains soil fertility by tested traditional practices in tropical wet and wet-and-dry climates

Subsistence economy

goods and services are created for the use of the producers and their kinship groups

Supply curve

tells us that, as the price of a good increases, more of that good will be made available for sale

Sustainable agriculture

advocates emphasis of local knowledge, local markets, smaller-size operations, and farm diversification

Tertiary activity

Provide services to the primary and secondary
sectors and goods and services to general
community and individuals.

Wholesale and Retail Trade.
Transportation and Communication
Services.
Business Services.
• Finance, Insurance, Real Estate.
• Accounting, Advertising, Architecture,
Engineering, Legal Services.
Consumer Services.
• Eating and Drinking Establishments.
Personal Services, Tourism.
Education, Fire Protection, Health Care,
Nonprofit Organizations, Police.

Tragedy of the commons

the economic reality that, when a resource is available to all, each user, in the absence of collective controls, thinks he or she is best served by exploiting the resource to the maximum, even though this means its eventual depletion

Transhumance

a special form of seasonal movement of livestock to exploit specific locally varying pasture conditions

Transition economies

free market structures or are only partially retained in the lesser degree of economic control associated with governmental supervision or ownership of selected sectors of increasingly market-oriented economies

Von Thünen rings

One of earliest models developed to analyze human activity
patterns.
Developed in early 19th Century.
• When transportation systems were less efficient.
• Before governmental influences were the norm.