Agribusiness
Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations
agricultural hearths
areas of settlement during the neolithic period, especially along major rivers, from where farming and cultivation of livestock eminates
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.
Biotechnology
A precise science that involves altering the genetic strands of agricultural products to increase productivity. It is developed mainly in science laboratories and is then tested on farm fields around the world, where it has been, for the most part, extrem
Cereal grain
A grass yielding grain for food.
Columbian Exchange
The trading of food stuffs between the Western and Eastern Hemisphers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries with the trans-ocean trade routes (rice from Asian, potatoes to North America, etc)
Desertification
Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily due to human actions like excessive crop planting, annual grazing, and tree cutting
dispersed settlement program
individual farmhouses are far apart (dispersed) due to extensive agriculture practices
enclosure
fencing or hedging of large blocks of land for experimening with new farming techniques
erosion
the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves, etc. -- loss of farmible soil
extensive agriculture
an agricultural system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit land area
extensive subsistence agriculture
use of large amounts of land with minimal labor per land unit (pastoral nomadism and shifting cultivation)
Green Revolution
Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers
hamlets, villages
homes grouped into small clusters of buildings (villages if slightly larger)
industrial revolution
the rapid economic changes that occured in agriculture and manufacturing in England in the late 18th century and that rapidly spread to other parts of the developed world - required the 2nd Agricultural Revolution to free up and produce a labor force
intensive agriculture
any kind of agriculture activity that involves effective and efficient use of labor on small plots of land to maximize crop yield
intertillage
The growing of various types of crops where farming is done almost exclusively by hand
irrigation
the channeling of water to fields
labor intensive agriculture
Type of agriculture that requires large levels of manual labor to be successful
livestock ranching
an extensive commercial agricultural activity that involves the raising of livestock over vast geographic spaces typically located in semi-arid climates like the American West
location theory
theory that explains how economic activity is related to the land where goods are produced (milk and perishables closer in, herding far out)
mediterranean agriculture
in agriculture system practiced in the Mediterranean-style climates of Western Europe, California, and portions of China and Australia, in which diverse speciality crops such as grapes, avacados, olives, and a handful of nuts, fruits, and vegetables compr
mercantilism
In agriculture, the replacement of human labor with technology or machines
metes and bounds
System using natural features to define the boundaries of irregularly shaped parcels of land - used mainly in rural and coastal areas where the rectangular survey system does not suite the terrain.
Milkshed
The area surrounding a city in which milk is supplied; in Von Thunen's model, the milkshed is in the first ring closest into the city due to the fact that milk spoils quickly (as opposed to grains and other food stuffs that have a longer shelf life)
mixed livestock with crop production
A type of farming where cows raised on a farm are fed with crops that are grown on the same farm.
neolithic revolution
period during which people gave up wandering and settled into the cultivation of crops and domesication of animals
nomadism
practive of moving frequently from one place to the other, dictated by the need for pature for animals
nucleated settlement pattern
individual villages/homes close together with small surrounding fields (Indonesia)
organic agriculture
Crops produced without the use of synthetic or industrially produced pesticides or fertilizers
Paddy
Malay word for wet rice, commonly but incorrectly used to describe a sawah
pampas
prairie - area dedicated to grazing cattle and sheep (South America)
Pastoral Nomadism
A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals (extensive - large amounts of land per food unit with less labor)
Pasture
Grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing
patriarchal system
societies in which men hold the power in the family, economy, and government
plantation agriculture
Often occurring in less developed countries, plantation agriculture involves the cultivation of one crop to be sold in more developed countries (e.g. coffee plantations in Costa Rica)
post-industrial societies
societies in which, because of the industrial revolution, most people are in the tertiary sector (Not involved with making good - service sector)
primary economic activities
Subsistence farming based on little mechanization. This is currently performed by aboriginal tribes in Australia.
primary sector
portion of economy involving drawing the raw materials from the enviorment - farming, fishing, mining, etc.
primogeniture
system where the eldest son in a family, or in exceptional cases, a daughter inherits all of the parent's land, resulting in large land parcels that are tended individual (Europe, America, compared to Asia where the land is divded among the heirs)
quartiary economic industries
Activities that produce nothing one can physically touch but are important in society (e.g. selling internet time or providing satellite technologies, such as cell phone usage).
quaternary sector
subset of the tertiary sector involving 'overhead' jobs - research and development, supervision, information technology, etc.
Reaper
A machine that cuts grain standing in the field
rectangular survey system
Also called the Public Land Survey, the system was used by the US Land Office Survey to parcel land west of the Appalachian Mountains. The system divides land into a series of rectangular parcels.
Second Agricultural Revolution
Coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, the Second Agricultural Revolution used the increased technology from the Industrial Revolution as a means to increase farm productivity. This revolution started exponential population increase.
Secondary economic activities
Industrial activities in which factories take raw materials, such as natural resources, and produce some type of product for either trade or sale. Many people in the United States are still employed in secondary economic activities.
secondary sector
portion of economy involving turning raw materials into goods (manufacturing, petroleum into gas, metal into tools, etc)
Seed Agriculture
Reproduction of plants through annual introduction of seeds, which results in sexual fertilization
seed agriculture
The taking of seeds from existing plants and planting them to produce new plants.
seed drill
invention that more effectively planted seeds
shifting cultivation (swidden agriculture)
A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period. Common in Slash & Burn in the Rain Forest farming (Rain Forest
slash and burn agriculture
The process of burning the physical landscape for both added space and additional nutrients put in the soil.
speciality crops
crops including items like peanuts and pineapples, which are produced, usually in developing countries, for export
Spring wheat
Wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer. Planted where winter wheat cannot grow - Dakatas, Montana, Washington State - (other European countries) - also part of the UV bread basket.
Subsistence Agriculture
Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family
subsistence agriculture
Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family
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
tertiary economic industries
Service activities in which an increasing number of people are involved in selling goods rather than producing them.
Third Agricultural Revolution
Also called the Green Revolution, this transformation began in the latter half of the 20th century and corresponded with exponential population growth around the world.
Truck farming
Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning batering or the exchange of commodities.
Vegetative planting
Reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants.
von Thunen model
an agricultural model that spatially describes agricultural activities in terms of rent
wattle
poles and sticks woven tightly together and then covered with mud. Used in African houses for walls with a thatched rood - also in SE Asia and the Amazon Rain Forest -- can be from bamboo, leaves, etc. Other building material types - brick, wood, stone.
Wet rice
Rice planted on dryland in a nursery, then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth - used in Asia and other areas in which land is scarce and high yield from minimal land is needed.
Winter wheat
Wheat planted in the fall and harvested in the summer. - part of the Bread Basket in America (Kansas, OK, Colorado)