HG Quiz Terms & Concepts

Subsistence vs. Commercial Agriculture:
• Subsistence: Farming primarily to feed the farmer’s family.
• Commercial: Farming aimed at producing crops for sale and profit.

Shifting Cultivation:
• A system where land is cultivated temporarily and then left fallow to restore its fertility.

Hunting and Gathering:
• A subsistence strategy based on collecting wild plants and hunting animals rather than farming.

Pastoral Nomadism:
• The herding of livestock by people who frequently move to find fresh pasture.

Plantation:
• A large-scale farm, often monocultural, that grows cash crops (like sugar or cotton) with specialized labor.

Mediterranean Agriculture and Horticulture:
• Farming practices in Mediterranean climates that often include diverse small-scale crops, fruits, and vegetables.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming:
• A system that combines crop production with raising animals, promoting nutrient cycling and diversification.

Community Gardening:
• Shared gardens managed by a community, often in urban settings, for local food production.

Second and Green Revolutions:
• The Second Revolution refers to mechanization and industrialization of agriculture; the Green Revolution involves modern crop varieties and chemical inputs starting in the 1950s.

Von Thünen’s Model:
• A model that explains agricultural land use patterns based on the cost of transportation and the perishability of goods.

GMOs and Organic Foods:
• GMOs: Genetically modified organisms engineered for traits like pest resistance or higher yield.
• Organic Foods: Produced without synthetic chemicals, relying on natural processes and inputs.

Value Added:
• The increase in a product’s worth through processing, marketing, or other improvements.

Extensive vs. Intensive Agriculture:
• Extensive: Farming that uses large areas of land with relatively low inputs and yields per unit area.
• Intensive: Farming that uses high inputs (labor, fertilizers, technology) on smaller land areas to achieve higher yields.