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38 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
agribusiness |
commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations |
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agriculture |
the deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain |
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aquaculture |
farming of cultivated fish and shellfish under controlled conditions, in contrast to the harvesting of wild fish and shellfish |
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Boserup thesis |
the view that population growth independently forces a conversion from extensive to intensive subsistence agriculture |
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commercial agriculture |
term used to describe large-scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces and the latest technology |
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crop rotation |
the practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil |
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dairying |
the "farming" and sale/distribution of milk and milk products |
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domestication |
the successful transformation of place or animal species from a wild state to a condition of dependency on human management, usually with distinct physical change from wild forebears |
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double-cropping |
harvesting twice a year from the same field |
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extensive subsistence agriculture |
a form of agriculture characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area. Two dominant systems are nomadic herding an shifting cultivation. |
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fallow |
land previously cultivated that has been left unseeded for a season or more |
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feedlot |
a plot of land on which livestock are fattened for market |
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First Agricultural Revolution |
dating back 10,000 years, this achieved plant domestication and animal domestication, also known as the Neolithic Revolution |
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food desert |
an area characterized by a lack of affordable, fresh and nutritious food |
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genetically modified organisms (GMOs) |
crops that carry new traits that have been inserted through advanced genetic engineering methods, often through combination of DNA from a similar plant or animal species |
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Green Revolution |
the recently successful development of higher-yield, fast-growing varieties of rice and other cereals in certain developing countries, which led to increased production per unit area and a dramatic narrowing of the gap between population growth and food needs |
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horticulture |
the growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers |
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intensive subsistence agriculture |
a form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land. Consumption rice is an important example. |
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livestock ranching |
the raising of domesticated animals for the production of meat and other byproducts such as leather and wool |
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luxury crops |
non-subsistence crops such as tea, cacao, coffee, and tobacco |
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market gardening |
the small scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers. Distinguishable by the large diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, during a single growing season. Labor is done manually. |
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Mediterranean agriculture |
specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails |
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milkshed |
the area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied |
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monoculture |
dependence on a single agricultural commodity |
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pastoral nomadism |
a form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals that are solely dependent on natural forage |
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plantation |
a large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of one or two crops for sale, usually to a more developed country |
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rural settlement |
sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities |
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Second Agricultural Revolution |
a period of technological change from the 1600s to mid-1900s that started in Western Europe, beginning with pre-industrial improvements such as crop rotation and better horse collars, and concluding with industrial innovations to replace human labor with machines and to supplement natural fertilizers and pesticides with chemical ones |
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shifting cultivation |
cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings in which the forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning. These clearings are usually abandoned after a few years in favor of newly cleared forestland. Also known as slash-and-burn agriculture. |
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subsidy |
a government payment that supports a business or market |
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subsistence agriculture |
any of several agricultural economies in which crops are grown or livestock are raised nearly exclusively for local or family consumption |
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sustainable agriculture |
farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil-restoring crops with cash crops and reducing inputs of fertilizer and pesticides |
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swidden |
a path of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning |
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Third Agricultural Revolution |
currently in progress, this has as its principal orientation the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) |
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tragedy of the commons |
the observation that in the absence of collective control over the use of a resource available to all, it is to the advantage of all users to maximize their separate shares even though their collective pressures may diminish total yield or destroy the resource altogether |
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transhumance |
the seasonal migration of pastoralists and their livestock between highland lowland pastures |
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truck farming |
the intensive production of fruits and vegetables for market rather than for processing or canning; also known as horticultural farming or market gardening |
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von Thünen model |
a model that explains the location of agricultural activities in a commercial, profit-making economy. A process of spatial competition allocates various farming activities into rings around a central market city, with profit-earning capability the determining force in how far a crop locates from the market |