APHUG Unit 5 Vocab quiz pt 1

Nomadic Herding/Pastoral Nomadism

Breeding and raising herd livestock like cattle, sheep, or goats by following the seasonal movements of rainfall to areas of open pastureland.

Nomadic Herding/Pastoral Nomadism (working def.)

People moving from place to place with their cattle to find fresh grass and water as the seasons change.

Example of Nomadic Herding

Mongolian nomads

Benefits of Nomadic Herding

Marginal land, seasonal grazing, livestock-based economy, strong cultural identity

Flaws of Nomadic Herding

Climate vulnerability, overgrazing risk, poor access to services, land conflicts

Sedentary Cultivation

Cultivating crops or raising livestock in a single, permanent location, rather than migrating

Examples of Sedentary Cultivation

Ancient summers in Mesopotamia, Modern farms in the UK

Benefits Sedentary Cultivation

Greater efficiency, enables agricultural innovation and development of plots, artificial selection

Flaws of Sedentary Cultivation

Environmental degradation from repeated use of land

Subsistence Agriculture

Living in a way where you produce almost everything you need to survive (food, clothes, and shelter) on your own

Example of Subsistence Agriculture

Rural rice farming village in Southeast Asia - Growing rice to support their own households and villages, being one of the key foods

Benefits of Subsistence Agriculture

• Provides direct access to food and resources reducing reliance on markets

• Strong connection to the land and the seasons cycles

• Encourages community and shared responsibility

Flaws of Subsistence Agriculture

• Economic instability due to lack of income

• Few opportunities for social mobility or economic growth

• Difficulty to adapt when populations grow or resources decline

Swidden/ Shifting Cultivation

Farming system where land is cleared by slash and burn, farmed briefly, and then left fallow while farmers move to a new plot so the land can recover

Example of Swidden/ Shifting Cultivation

African or Southeast Asian farms

Process of Slash & Burn farming

1. Slashing of vegetation

2. Burning of vegetation

3. Farming

4. Forest recovery

Benefits of Swidden/ Shifting Cultivation

• Low cost, uses simple tools and basic knowledge

• Ash from burning adds nutrients, increasing soil fertility

• Supports the subsistence farming and local food needs

Flaws of Swidden/ Shifting Cultivation

• Low efficiency compared to modern farming

• Soil nutrients are quickly exhausted if land is reused too soon

• Deforestation, habitat loss, biodiversity incline

Domestication

Taking plants and animals outside of their natural habitat and maneuvering it to benefit the human population

Example of Domestication (Livestock and Crop)

• Modern wheat versus Ancient wheat

• Wheat being adapted to give higher amounts of grain to feed a growing population

Benefits of Domestication (Livestock and Crop)

• Reliable food supply

• Stepping away from hunting life styles to building settled communities

Flaws of Domestication (Livestock and Crop)

• Reduces genetic diversity in crops

• Environmental damage because of intense farming

• Concerns in livestock treatment as selective breeding can be a harmful process for animals

The First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic)

• The early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals

• The cultivation of seed crops, leading to the development of agriculture

The First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic) working def.

Marked the shift from relying on hunting and gathering to growing crops and raising animals, allowing settlements to form

The 2nd Agricultural Revolution (British)

• Period of bringing improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce

• Beginning in the late 1600’s and continuing through the 1930’s

The 2nd Agricultural Revolution (British) working def.

Innovation and increased food production, leading to improved diets, longer life expectancies and a larger workforce available for industrial labor

Examples of the first agricultural revolution

• Fertile crescent (wheat and barley

• Mesoamerica (maize)

Flaws of the the first agricultural revolution

• Diets became less varied and sometimes less nutritious

• Increased vulnerability to famine and crop failure

• Introduction to social inequality and land ownership disputes

Innovations of the second agricultural revolution

• The seed drill (planted seeds in neat rows at controlled depths instead of scattering them by hand)

• Four field crop rotation (Rotates four different crops across the same field over four years)

Benefits of the second agricultural revolution

• Increased food supply to support growing pop.

• Reduced need for manual labor through mechanization

• Improved soil fertility and crop growth

Flaws of the second agricultural revolution

• Enclosures displaced small farmers

• Increased rural to urban migration and urban poverty

The Green Revolution (3rd AR)

A global effort to massively increase food production using modern farming technology

Example of the green revolution

• Mexico going from importing wheat to exporting wheat

• Improved irrigation and fertilizers

Agribusiness

• Companies provide the services in production, processing, and distribution for farming

• Large corporations that provide many services to support the agricultural industry

Example of agribusiness

Tsyon Foods

Benefits of agribusiness

• Increases a large scale of agricultural products

• Lowers food prices

• Easier for global trade

Flaws of agribusiness

• Detrimental to the environment and biodiversity

• Challenges small farmers

• Predatory practices (Farmer dependency)

Monoculture vs. Intercropping

Monoculture is growing a single crop on a specific plot of land - Intercropping is growing two or more crops alongside one another in the same field or growing are

Benefits of Monoculture

• Specialized machinery & techniques (due to only one crop to worry abt)

• Allows operating at a larger scale in the bulk purchase of seeds

• Producing a crop for which there is high market demands

Flaws of Monoculture

• Frequent removal of the same nutrients from the soil (without replenishment)

• At high risk of pests & disease

• Replacing diverse ecosystems with a single crop species

Example of Monoculture

• Rice farming in China and Vietnam

Benefits of Intercropping

• Allows taller, stronger crops to shelter fragile ones

• Reduces the chance of complete crop losses from disease & pests

• Relatively little tending to the plants is necessary until harvest time

Flaws of intercropping

• Demands more time than monocropping

• Not easily adapted to mechanized farming methods

• Staggered harvesting (different crops need different types of care)