Agricultural Systems, Global Food Security, and Soil Science

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering global food security, international trade, soil horizons, crop nutrition, agronomic practices, and agricultural history based on the lecture notes.

Food Insecurity

A condition occurring when affordability does not keep up, preventing people from accessing the variety of food they need.

Food Security

The condition in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences.

Bottom Billion

Approximately one billion undernourished people living across 60 countries, trapped by conflict, natural resource traps, being landlocked with bad neighbors, or bad governance in a small country.

Undernourishment (Hunger)

A persistent, insufficient diet that affects $7.8\%$ of the global population.

Food Dollar Farm Share

The share received by farmers from the sales of raw food commodities, of which only about half stays with the farmer.

Food Dollar Marketing Share

The financial share that goes toward enterprises involved in all post-farm activities, representing a larger portion than the farm share.

Food Freedom Day

Observed on February 8, 2025; marks the date by which the average Canadian household has earned enough income to pay for its entire year of groceries.

Bt Corn

Genetically modified corn containing a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis that encodes a protein crystal toxic to lepidopteran insects.

Roundup Ready Crops

Crops (including corn, soy, cotton, and canola) modified with an EPSP synthase gene from Agrobacterium that prevents Roundup from binding to the enzyme.

Cry Proteins

More than 100 different proteins originating from various strains of Bacillus Thuringiensis that are specifically toxic to certain insect orders.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement

The main international agreement and governing body that sets the rules of global trade among 164 member countries.

CUSMA

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, ratified by Canada on March 13, 2020.

Tariff

A tax paid by the importer in addition to the cost of goods, which increases market prices for consumers, reduces demand, and ultimately affects the exporter.

Supply-Side Managed System

A domestic agricultural system where production quotas limit farm supplies and product pricing is determined by the cost of production.

Eutrophication

The addition of excess nitrogen and phosphorus into large water bodies, stimulating explosive growth of algae and vegetation that causes oxygen depletion.

Subsurface Tile Drainage

A drainage network composed of perforated pipes installed diagonally beneath the soil surface, heavily concentrated in the US Midwest.

Sustainability

The practice of meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Triple Bottom Line

The sustainability framework defined by the intersection of three components: people, planet, and profit.

Biocapacity

The capacity of a specific ecosystem or area to regenerate biological resources and absorb human-generated wastes, particularly carbon, under current management and technology.

Ecological Footprint

The amount of land and water area required to sustain a population's consumption of biological resources and assimilate the waste it generates.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A comparative indicator evaluating country development by incorporating broader societal aspects alongside standard economic growth.

Land Subsidence

The downward settling or sinking of the ground surface caused when massive quantities of groundwater are extracted from fine-grained sediment formations.

Macronutrients (Plant)

Primary essential plant nutrients required in large quantities, specifically nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Secondary Nutrients (Plant)

Essential plant nutrients required in moderate quantities: calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.

Nitrification

The biological process in soil where ammonia is oxidized into nitrate by specialized bacteria.

Denitrification

The bacterial conversion and loss of soil nitrogen via the release of $N_2$ gas into the atmosphere.

Leaching

The loss of soluble nutrients, such as $NO_3^-$, downward out of the soil profile along with percolating soil water.

Mineralization

The microbial conversion of organic nitrogen into plant-available inorganic forms (ammonium and nitrate).

Immobilization

The biological uptake and incorporation of available soil nitrogen into microbial biomass, rendering it temporarily unavailable to plants.

Potash

Mined potassium salts extracted from geological deposits; Canada holds the largest reserves globally.

O Horizon

The topmost soil layer comprised largely of organic matter and humus, ranging from thick to thin or entirely absent depending on the soil type.

A Horizon

The mineral topsoil horizon containing mixed organic matter; the primary and most fertile zone for plant growth.

E Horizon

An eluviated horizon that has been heavily leached of clay, minerals, and organic matter, leaving concentrated quartz, sand, and silt particles.

B Horizon

The subsoil layer characterized by an accumulation of leached minerals and clays washed down from the overlying A or E horizons.

Soil Texture

The permanent physical classification of soil determined by its proportional percentages of sand, silt, and clay particles.

Soil Structure

The geometric arrangement and bonding of individual sand, silt, and clay particles into aggregates, which can be modified by agricultural practices.

Salinization

The accumulation of water-soluble salts in soil layers, predominantly driven by high temperatures and aridity in irrigated lands (most prevalent in Iraq).

Soil Erosion

The physical detachment and transport of geologic parent material or topsoil from one location to another by wind, water, or tillage.

Sr31

A rye chromosome segment introduced into wheat that confers increased grain yield alongside resistance to multiple rust diseases.

Allelopathy

The biological process in which a plant releases biochemical compounds that inhibit the germination or growth of neighboring or subsequent plants.

Growing Degree Days (GDD)

A cumulative thermal measurement calculated throughout the growing season based on daily maximum, minimum, and base temperatures to track plant development.

Durum Wheat

The hardest class of wheat, containing $12\%$ to $16\%$ protein, primarily utilized in pasta manufacturing.

Hard Red Spring Wheat

A spring-seeded wheat containing $13\%$ to $16.5\%$ protein, recognized as an exceptional bread flour wheat.

Specialty Crop

Intensively managed crops focused on quality rather than bulk volume, requiring lower acreage, high hand labor, specialized equipment, and close proximity to fresh markets.

Agronomy

The scientific discipline and management system focused on large-scale field crop production and soil management.

Horticulture

The branch of agricultural science devoted to the production, cultivation, and management of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a country over a defined period, calculated as $GDP = \text{consumption} + \text{spending} + \text{capital} + \text{net exports}$.

Producer Support Estimate (PSE)

An economic indicator reflecting the gross annual monetary transfers from consumers and taxpayers to support agricultural producers.

Organic Farming

An agricultural production system that completely avoids synthetic chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, growth hormones, and growth regulators.

LCT Gene

The human gene encoding the lactase enzyme, whose persistent mutations provided substantial selective advantages in dairy-consuming populations.

Columbian Exchange

The extensive historical movement and transfer of crops, animals, human populations, communicable diseases, and cultural ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug

The plant pathologist and geneticist known as the 'Father of the Green Revolution' and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for developing high-yielding, semi-dwarf, disease-resistant wheat cultivars.

Norin 10

A Japanese semi-dwarf winter wheat cultivar used to reduce plant height, preventing lodging when heavy amounts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer were applied.

Green Revolution

The widespread agricultural transformation that adapted improved crop cultivars and paired them with modern technologies (mechanization, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides) across developing countries.