Commercial Agriculture
Found in MDCs, is the production of food primarily for sale off the farm
RWE: US Midwest
Subsistence Agriculture
Found in LDCs, is the production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer's family.
RWE: farmers in Asia
Agriculture
Deliberate modification of Earth's surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain.
Vegetative Planting
The reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants, such as cutting stems and dividing roots.
RWE: Christmas Cacti, Celery
Seed Agriculture
The reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization.
RWE:
Agribusiness
The system of commercial farming found in the United States and MDCs; food is sold to food-producing industries.
RWE:
Transhumance
A seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pasture areas
RWE:
Shifting Cultivation
Farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris (Also called Slash-and-Burn Agriculture).
Farmers grow crops on he land intensively until nutrients are depleted then stop so soil can recover.
Swidden
The cleared land for Shifting Cultivation.
Also known as lading, milpa, chena, and kaingin.
Pastoral Nomadism
A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals.
RWE: Middle East
Pasture
Grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as the land used for grazing.
RWE: Africa
Intensive Subsistence Farming
Where farmers must work more efficiently with small parcel of land; use all available space
Wet Rice
The practice of planting rice on dry land and then moving seedlings to a flooded field to promote growth.
Sawah
The Flooded field for growing rice. Indonesian
Paddy
Synonymous with Sawah, used by Europeans and North Americans.
Double Cropping
Intensive Farming of obtaining two harvests per year from one field. Common in places with warm winters
RWE: wheat in summer, corn/soy beans in fall
Crop Rotation
Practice of rotation of use of different feilds from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting soil.
RWE: each feild rotates between a grain, a rest crop, and others
Plantation
A large farm that specializes in ome or two cash crops
RWE: cotton or tobacco
Cereal Grain
Oats, Wheat, Rye or Barley
Milkshed
The ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling.
RWE:
Sustainable Agriculture
Practices that preserve and improve the environment
Desertification
When land in semiarid regions deteriorates to desert like conditions because of human actions
Spring Wheat
Dakotas, Montana, and Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Planted in spring and harvested in late summer.
Winter Wheat
Kansas, Colorado, an Oklahoma. Crop is planted in autumn and develops a strong root system. Ripe by the beginning of summer.
Grain
The seed from various grasses, such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, and others.
Green Revolution
The introduction of higher-yield seeds and increased use of fertilizers to expand production; occurred in the 1970s and 80s