Human geography unit 5

Agribusiness

The integration of various steps of production in the food-processing industry

Aquaculture

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

Arable land

Land that is capable of producing food and is suitable for farming

Bid-Rent theory

The theory that when something is in high demand(land near the market), it is going to cost more.

Biodiversity

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

Carrying capacity

The maximum number of people that an environment can support

Clustered settlement

A rural settlement pattern, where family homes and farm businesses are located close together, with farmlands surrounding them

Colombian exchange

The global movement of plants and animals between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas following the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492

Commercial agriculture

When crops are grown for profit only and not for personal consumption

Commodity chain

A processed used by corporations to gather resources and transform them into goods, then transport them to customers

Community-supported agriculture

Plots of land used for growing food that are farmed collectively, and used to benefit the whole community

Crop rotation

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

Dairy farming

Raising animals for the purpose of harvesting milk

Deforestation

The removal of large large tracts of forest by natural or man-made means

Desertification

The transition of land from fertile to arid

Dispersed settlement

A rural settlement pattern characterized by isolated farms rather than clustered villages

Distance decay

A geographical theory that states the interaction between two places decreases as the distance between them increases

Domestication

Raising plants and animals for human use

Double cropping

The planting and harvesting of the same parcel of land twice a year

Enclosure acts

A series of laws enacted by the British government that enabled land owners to purchase an enclosed land for their own use that had previously been common land used by peasant farmers

Extensive farming

Agriculture that uses fewer inputs of capital and paid labor relative to the amount of space being used

Fair trade movement

An effort to promote higher incomes for farmers, particularly in developing countries, and to protect workers’ rights

Feedlot

Places where livestock are concentrated in a very small area and raised on hormones and hearty grains that prepare them for a slaughter at fast rate.

Fertile crescent

A region of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East (1st)

Fertilizer

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

Food desert

A community where there is no access to fresh, healthy, affordable food options because there is a lack of food or grocery stores or farmer markets

Genetically modified organisms (GMO)

A crop whose genetic structure has been altered to make it more useful for human purposes

Grain farming

Growing of grains, primarily wheat, for the consumption of people

Green Revolution

The development of higher-yielding, disease-resistant, faster-growing varieties of grains

Horticulture

A type of agriculture that produces perishable items that farmers need to get to the market quickly (milk, cheese, eggs)

Intensive farming

Agriculture that involves greater inputs of capital and paid labor relative to the amount of space being used

Irrigation

The process of diverting water from its natural course or location to aid in the production of crops

Linear settlement

A settlement pattern in which farms are clustered along a road with fields behind them

Long lot

A rural survey method use by the French and in regions of North America previously dominated by the French that involves long rectangular plots of farmland along rivers that have equal access to water

Luxury crops

Crops that are not essential to human survival but have high profit margins

Market gardening

Growing fruits and vegetables, primarily for the purpose of freezing and canning

Mediterranean farming

Agriculture practiced in regions with hot dry summers and mild winters, narrow valleys, and simple vegetation systems

Metes and bounds

A rural survey method where land is divided based on the features of the physical landscape and distance and direction

Mixed crop/Livestock farming

An integrated system where crops grown are used to feed the livestock on the same farm

Monoculture

Specializing in the growing if a single crop

Neolithic (first) Agricultural Revolution

The origin of farming, marked by the initial domestication of plants and animals

Organic food

Food produced without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizer, or other unnatural processes

Pastoral nomadism

The movement of herds of animals to different pastures within a territory

Pesticides

A substance used for destroying insects or other organisms that are harmful to cultivated plants or animals

Plantation farming

Large commercial farming specializing in one crop

Ranching

The commercial grazing of animals confined to a specific area

Second agricultural revolution

Beginning in the 1700s, the advances of the industrial revolution were to increase food supplies and support population growth

Shifting cultivation

Farming that includes moving crops from one field to another, clearing the land and burning for vegetation

Soil degradation

When soil loses its ability to support plant growth and is more easily eroded by wind or water

Soil salinization

When soil in an arid climate has been irrigated for use as farmland and the water evaporates, leaving salt residue behind that eventually causes the land to become infertile

Subsistence agriculture

When farmers grow food crops to feed themselves and their families

Suitcase farm

A farm on which no one lives and the planting and harvesting is performed by farmers who live nearby or by migrant workers

Sustainability

Use of the Earth’s resources that ensure their availability for future generations to use

Terrace farming

When humans build a series of steps into the side of a hill, creating flat surfaces for the purpose of agriculture

Third agricultural revolution

The revolution that began in the 1960s and included the green revolution. it was marked by an agribusiness model and involved better and more efficient farming equipment and practices

Township and Range

A rural survey method where land is divided using latitude and longitude. Land is divided into large squares that can subsequently be divided into smaller squares

Urban culture

The practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around towns or cities

Von Thunen’s land use model

An economic model that suggested a pattern for the types of products That farmers would produce at different positions relative to the market where they sold their goods