Barrons Chapter 7
Terms
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- pesticides
- chemicals used on plants that do not harm the plants, but kill pests and have negative repercussions on the other species who ingest the chemicals.
- Agriculture
- the art and science of producing food from the land and tending livestock for the purpose of human consumption.
- mechanization
- in agriculture, the replacement of human labor with technology or machines.
- plantation
- a large, frequently foreign-owned piece of agricultural land devoted to the production of a single export crop.
- capital-intensive agriculture
- form of agriculture that uses mechanical goods such as machinery, tools, vehicles, and facilities to produce large amounts of agricultural goods-a process requiring very little human labor.
- extensive agriculture
- an agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area.
- urban sprawl
- the process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.
- animal husbandry
- an agricultural activity associated with the raising of domesticated animals, such as cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.
- subsistence agricultural economy
- any farm economy in which most crops are grown for nearly exclusive family or local consumption.
- commercial agricultural economy
- all agricultural activity generated for the purpose of selling, not necessarily for local consumption.
- livestock ranching
- an extensive commercial agricultural activity that involves the raising of livestock over vast geographic spaces typically located in semi-arid climate like the American West.
- slash-and-burn agriculture
- system of cultivation that usually exists in tropical areas where vegetation is cut close to the ground and then ignited. the fire introduces nutrients into the soil, thereby making it productive for a relatively short period of time.
- domestication
- the conscious manipulation of pland and animal species by humans in order to sustain themsleves.
- fertile crescent
- area located in the crescent-shaped zone near the south-eastern mediterranean coast (including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey), which one was once a lush environment and one of the first hearths of domestication and thus agricultural activity.
- pastoralism
- a type of agricultual activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter.
- biotechnology
- a form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microoranisms for specific purposes.
- shifting cultivation
- the use of tropical forest clearings for crop production until their fertility is lost. plots are then abandoned, and farmers move on to new sites.
- topsoil loss
- loss of the top fertild layer of soil is lost throught erosion. it is a tremendous problem in areas with fragile soils, steef slopes, or torrential seasonal rains.
- salinization
- process that occurs when soils in aird areas are brought under cultivation throught irrigation. in arid climates, water evaporates quickly off the ground surface, leaving salty residues that render the soil infertile.
- Agribusiness
- The set of economic and political relationships that organize food production for commercial purposes. It includes activities ranging from seed production, to retailing, to consumption of agricultural products.
- specialty crops
- crops including items like peanuts and pineapples, which are produced, usually in developing countries, for export.
- green revolution
- the development of higher-yield and fast-growing crops through increased technology, pesticides, and fertilizers transferred from the developed to developing world to alleviate the problem of food supply in those regions of the globe.
- hunting and gathering
- the killing of wild animals and fish as well as the gathering of fruits, roots, nuts, and other plants for sustenance.
- genetically modified foods
- foods that are mostly products of organisms that have had their genes altered in a laboratory for specific purposes, such as disease resistance, increased productivity, or nutritional value allowing growers greater control, predictability, and efficiency.
- swidden
- land that is prepared for agriculture by using the slash-and-burn method.
- dairying
- an agricultural activity involving the raising of livestock, most commonly cows and goats, for dairy products such as milk, cheese, and butter.
- intensive cultivation
- any kind of agricultural activity that involves effetive and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yield.
- feedlots
- places where livestock are concentrated in a very small area and raised on hormones and hearty grains that prepare them for slaughter at a much more rapid rate than grazing; often referred to as factory farms.
- labor-intensive agruiculture
- type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful.
- Von Thunen model
- an agricultural model that spatially describes agricultural in terms of rent. activities that require intensive cultivation and cannot be transported over great distances pay higher rent to be close to the market. conversely, activities that are more extensive, with goods that are easy to transport, are located farther from the market where rent is less.
- mediterranean agriculture
- an agricultural system practiced in the mediterranean-style climates of Western Europe, California, and portions of Chile and Australia, in which diverse specialty crops such as grapes, avocados, olives, and a host of nuts, fruits, and vegetables comprise profitable agricultural operations.
- planned agricultural economy
- an agricultural economy found in communist nations in which the government controls both agricultural production and distribution.
- transhumance
- the movements of livestock according to seasonal patters, generally lowland areas in the winter, and highland areas in the summer.
- industrial revolution
- the rapid economoic changes that occurred in agriculture and manufacturing in England in the late 18th century and that rapidly spread to other parts of the developed world.