AP HUG Unit 5 Vocab/Concepts

Agriculture

The modification of the earth’s surface to grow plants or domesticate animals for food

Subsidy

Governmental support for a business

Agricultural shifts in core countries

• Farms have gone from small family farms to large corporate farms

• Corporate farms have made many commodity chains

• Technology has increased carrying capacity

• Agribusiness has allowed more people to join the agricultural sector

• Despite this, very few people work in agriculture today, and most of them are now men

• Cheap labor is exploited

• Efficiency has increased, while environmental harm has also increased and farms can be farther from markets

Negative environmental effects of agriculture

• Desertification

• Water supply pollution (pesticides, fertilizers, animal waste)

• Air pollution (animal waste, overgrazing, chemicals)

• Salinization

• Deforestation

• Draining of rivers and aquifers

• Loss of general soil fertility due to monocropping

• Soil erosion due to deforestation and overgrazing

• Soil compaction due to heavy machinery use

• Lack of biodiversity

• Diet preferences have resulted in only some plants and animals being eaten due to size, weight, and taste differences

Modification of the environment for agriculture

Terraced farming and irrigation (ditches and trenches)

Food production patterns and consumption influenced by

• Urban farming

• Community-supported agriculture (CSA)

• Organic farming

• Value-added specialty crops

• Fair trade movements

• Dietary shifts

Community-supported agriculture (CSA)

• Reduces food miles of crops and saves fossil fuels

• Farmers use organic and humane methods for plants and animals

• Make larger profits than others

Effects of organic farms

• No chemicals

• Healthier for environment (less pollution)

• Animals are raised without growth hormones (GMOs) or antibiotics, making their meat safer

Fair trade movements

• Farmers in developing countries make more profits and get more food

• Workers are typically treated better

• More sustainable methods are used

• Wealth disparity is diminished

Von Thunen Model

• Ring 1: Central city/market

• Ring 2: Intensive farming/dairying

• Ring 3: Forests

• Ring 4: Extensive farming

• Ring 5: Pastures

• Land price and labor intensity increases as it gets closer to the market

• Transportation rise as you get farther from the market

• Assumes land is isotropic and there is only one market

Modern changes to the Von Thunen Model

• The forest ring no longer exists

• Dairy and intensive farming rings split (dairying is closer)

• Landscape and climate vary

• There are many markets (some products are regional)

• Transportation costs are not as important

• Technology is more advanced (refrigeration and farm efficiency is better)

Reasons for food insecurity

• Food deserts (places without access to healthy food)

• Issues with distribution systems (lack of infrastructure, harsh government, and spoiling in LDCs)

• Adverse weather (Storms, droughts, etc.)

• Land lost to suburbanization

Women in agriculture

• Higher percentage in peripheral countries

• More women in labor-intensive and subsistence farming within a rural society

• Cultural reasons for numbers (ex: patriarchical society)

• In LDCs often play big roles in harvesting and cooking, limiting their ability to go to school or join the workforce

Agriculture chart

Intensive agriculture

• Lots of labor and capital input

• Usually small areas of land near markets

• Often high-cost land and high production per acre

• Often perishable goods

Ex: Milk, strawberries, feedlots

Feedlot

An animal that is fed a lot of food to be fattened

Ex: Fattened cows, pigs, and sheep

Milkshed

The area where milk can be produced and sent to a market without spoiling (type of functional region)

Transhumance

Movement of livestock according to the seasons

Pastoral nomadism

A lifestyle in which people move herds of domesticated animals to grazing areas (happens in dry Africa and Asia)

Extensive agriculture

• Little labor and capital input

• Usually big areas of land far from markets

• Often low-cost land and low production per acre

• Often non-perishable goods

Ex: Livestock ranching, grain production, etc

Commercial agriculture

Farming to sell goods (sometimes sell shares of food to corporations)

Plantation agriculture

Cash crops grown on large estates (mostly owned by core countries)

Cash crops

Crops grown for export and making money (often luxury)

Ex: Cotton in USA, rubber in Brazil

Luxury crops

Crops that are not essential

Ex: Coffee, cacao, tea, tobacco

Negative effects of exporting luxury crops in peripheral countries

• Normal crops must be imported at higher prices

• Water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, and salinization may result from poor farming technique

• Monocropping is risky

• Little infrastructure for transportation

Monoculture

Dependence on a single crop (very risky)

Commodity chain

The processes that occur from the ground to the consumer

Ex: The growth of lettuce to someone eating a salad kit

Vertical integration

The ownership of the companies that control a commodity chain

Ex: If oranges are peeled by Company A and packaged by Company B, both companies are owned by one and perform both processes

Shifting cultivation

Moving to more fertile soil (not the same as crop rotation)

Crop rotation

The rotation of crops within multiple fields to prevent the soil from using too much of certain nutrients

Fallow

The condition of the field not currently being used during crop rotation

Contour plowing

A type of plowing that prevents erosion by raising the area that the seed is planted

Intertillage

The space between crops (increased over time due to improved knowledge)

Ridge filling

Planting on ridges after harvesting a crop

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Trees and vegetation are cut down and burned for nutrients

Subsistence agriculture

Farming for one’s needs (includes trading for essentials)

Methods of modifying crop environment

• Space: clearing or modifying land

• Light: Artificial light

• Water: Irrigation

• Nutrients: Fertilizers

• Temperature: Greenhouses and other buildings

Boserup Hypothesis

The opposite of Malthusian theory, saying that food production methods will improve

First Agricultural Revolution

• Idea developed by Carl Sauer

• Plants are domesticated

• People begin to move away from hunter-gathering

• Inefficient at first

• Primarily root crops (vegetative farming)

• Animals are domesticated and animal plow is used

Second Agricultural Revolution

• Great Britain in the 18th century

• During IR (machines needed more resources, but more efficient farming means more factory workers)

• Steel plow, McCormick harvester, seed drill, grain storage, tractors

Third Agricultural Revolution (Green Revolution)

• The creation of high yield varieties of crops spread across the world

• Reduced genetic variation

• GMOs become primary food source (more resistant to pests and weeds)

• New herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers were made

• Transportation, machinery, and irrigation methods improved

• Created a large desparity between core and peripheral countries

Ex: Mexican corn is almost only one variety

GMO controversy

• WHO and other organizations consider them safe

• They typically aren’t harmful, but pesticides and other products used on them may be

• It is very uncommon to find non-GMO products today

Aquaculture

Fish farms

Blue Revolution

The increased efficiency and production of fish farms

Concerns of Green and Blue Revolutions

• Concerns about water and soil usage

• Concerns about the reduction of biodiversity

• Reluctance to use ferilizers and pesticides

• Debates over the sustainability of such practices

Primary Economic Activity (EA)

Close to the ground

Ex: Agriculture, fishing, etc

Secondary Economic Activity (EA)

Manufacturing

Ex: Creation of textiles, building of cars, etc

Tertiary Economic Activity (EA)

Services

Ex: Medicine, teaching, sales

Quaternary Economic Activity (EA)

Research and development, finance

Ex: Amgen, accountants, engineers

Quinary Economic Activity (EA)

Leadership and authorities

Ex: CEOs, president of US

Where plants originated

• SE Asia: Taro, bananas, mangos, and coconuts

• East Asia/China: Rice and soybeans

• Fertile Crescent/Southwest Asia: Wheat, barley, and grains

• Mesoamerica: Corn, squash, beans, and potatoes

• Sub-Saharan Africa: Yams, sorghum, and coffee

Where plants are grown today

• Taro, bananas, mangos, and coconuts: East Indies, India

• Rice and soybeans: Japan, Korea, China

• Wheat, barley, and grains: Europe, Middle East, Northern/Eastern Africa

• Corn, squash, beans, and potatoes: Americas

• Yams, sorghum, coffee: Southern Africa

• Olives, grapes, figs, citrus, assorted veggies: Mediterranean

• Cocaine: Colombia

• Heroin: South and Southeast Asia

Where animals came from

• Goats: Fertile Crescent

• Dogs: Fertile Crescent

• Pigs: Fertile Crescent

• Sheep: Turkey

• Cows: India/Middle East

• Horse: Central Asia

• Llama: South America

• Alpaca: Andes Mountains

• Chicken: Bangladesh area

Modern domestication

• Animals have gotten smaller over time (except for feedlots)

• We no longer domesticate new animals

• Hunter-gatherers are much less prominent today due to domestication

• Nomadic herding pretty much only occurs in Africa and Asia

Columbian Exchange

• Occurred after the Spanish conquered South America and Mesoamerica

• Across the Atlantic

• Maize, squash, and potatoes were taken to Europe

• Coffee, sugar, horses, and cattle were brought to the Americas

Trade routes

• Silk Road brought plants and animals to and from Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe

• Indian Ocean brought plants and animals to and from South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe

Cadastral system

A system for how land ownership and property is defined

Township and range survey system

A cadastral system that appoints land in geometric squares and rectangles

Metes and bounds survey system

A cadastral system with boundaries dictated and demarcated by natural features

Longlot survey system

A cadastral system with long plots of land that shares access to a resource (typically a river)

Primogenture

When the oldest son or first daughter to marry’s husband gets the land from their father

Koppen Classification System

The classifcation system for climates

• A: Hot, warm, and humid (equatorial)

• B: Dry (desert-ish)

• C: Humid and temperate (Europe, Northern California)

• D: Humid and cold (New England, Canada, Russia)

• E: Cold and polar (Antarctica, the Arctic)

• H: Highlands

Isotropic

Flat and featureless land (assumed by many land use models)