Unit 5: Agriculture

An economic problem in which every individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource. As the demand for the resource overwhelms the supply, every individual who consumes an additional unit directly harms others that can no longer enjoy the benefits.

a flooded field for growing rice

Large-scale production of crops and livestock for sale, intended for widespread distribution to wholesalers or retail outlets in order to make a profit.

The purposeful tending of crops and livestock in order to produce food and fiber for wither sustenance or economic gain.

achieved plant domestication and animal domestication 10,000 years ago

Correlate with the Von Thünen Model; explain the location of activities in a commercial, profit-making economy. Sorts various farming activities into rings around a central market city, and profit-earning capability is the determining force in how far a crop is from the market.

Service sector industries concerned with the collection, processing, and manipulation of information and capital. Examples - finance, administration, insurance, and legal services.

The raising of domesticated animals for the production of meat and other byproducts such as leather and wool.

A machine perfected by Cyrus McCormick which greatly improved the yield of farmers (by up to 10 times) by decreasing the amount of time and labor needed to harvest crops. Instead of harvesters cutting grain with a scythe and bundling grain into bales, the reaper was pulled by 2 horses and both cut and bundled grain.

the encroachment of desert conditions on moister zones along the desert margin.

Economic activity associated with the provisions of services.(ex. transportation, baking).

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.

Harvesting twice a year from the same field. OR The practice of growing two crops in the same space during one growing season.

Cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings in which the forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning.

General term for the businesses that provide the vast array of goods and services that support the agriculture industry. Characterized by the integration of different steps in the food processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.

When individual farmhouses lie quite far apart.

When villages are close together with relatively small fields surrounding them; compact.

Any plant gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season.

The routes through which cultural traits or other things are spread.

An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor.

A cereal is a grass, cultivated for the edible components of grain. Grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop. They are, therefore, stable crops.

Activities that encompass higher education and research that require high levels of specialized knowledge or skill. These include researchers and top level executives. They are often highly sought after by the middle class.

A model that displays a pattern of concentric rings that represents the use of land and distribution of agricultural activities in a city area. The innermost ring represents the central city, which is surrounded by an area that is used for market gardening, dairy production and other commodities that were perishable and commanded high prices. The ring surrounding that would be forested and would provide the inner city with wood. The ring surrounding that would contain farms that produced less perishables and bulkier goods like grains. Finally, the final ring would contain land that would primarily be used for ranching and livestock. The underlying message is that transport costs would govern the use of land.

A machine that harvests, threshes, and cleans grain crops.

Currently in progress, has as its principal orientation the development of genetically modified organisms and also involves increase in chemical fertilizers. It is corresponded with the exponential growth occurring around the world, a direct result of the second agricultural revolution and its profound effect on Europe's ability to feed itself. Mostly commercial farming.

Area of land covered with grass and/or other plants used to feed and graze livestock such as cattle or sheep.

The traditional building style that is constructed using the locally available resources for residents in the local area.

Economic activity concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment. I.E mining, fishing, lumbering, and especially agriculture.

Economic activity involving the processing of raw materials and their transformation into finished industrial products, as know as the manufacturing sector.

Precursor to Industrial Revolution in the 19th c., the second agricultural revolution used changes in methodology (crop rotation, harvesting, storage) and the increased technology from the Industrial Revolution (seed drill) as a means to increase farm productivity that allowed a shift in work force beyond subsistence farming. This led to greater and more reliable food supply, urbanization, and a shift of labor to work in factories .This revolution started exponential population increase.

Reproduction of plants through annual introduction of seeds, which results in sexual fertilization.

A seasonal periodic movement of pastoralists and their livestock between highland and lowland pastures.

A garden in which vegetables are grown for sale in a market.

Agricultural system that uses large amount of labor, smaller amount of land, and is closer to market. (Mostly seen in less developed countries.)

Agricultural system that uses low inputs of labor per unit land area and large amounts of land. It often involves large farms or ranches and is often further from market.

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.

The recently successful development (through science and technology) of higher-yield fertilizers and fast-growing varieties of rice and other cereals. Successfully used in certain developing countries, this led to increased production per unit area and a dramatic narrowing of the gap between population growth and food needs in those regions.

The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape. The layers of buildings, forms, and artifacts sequentially imprinted on the landscape by the activities of various human occupants.

The early phase of the Stone Age where people were still hunters and gatherers using stone tools.

Diffusion of an idea or innovation that is not suitable for the environment in which it diffused into (e.g., New England-style homes in Hawaii, or Ranch-style homes in northeast US).

A paddy field --> which is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing semiaquatic rice.

An area of land cleared for cultivation by slashing and burning vegetation.

The art or practice of garden cultivation and management; the cultivation of a garden, orchard, or nursery; the cultivation of flowers, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants.

Ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling.

Rice as a growing crop or when harvested but not yet milled.

Genetic modification of an animal such that it is rendered more amenable to human control.

An agricultural method developed by ancient cultures for separating grain from chaff by throwing it in the air and allowing the wind to blow away the chaff and allow the grain to fall back down.

A small village or small settlement in a rural area.

Model of land use that illustrates the trade off between land values and the distance from a central point of attraction.

Deliberate tending of crops to gain certain desired attributes.

Concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment.

A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals.

The removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use.

The practice of raising plants—especially fruits and vegetables, but ornamentals as well—without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.

An agricultural and horticultural practice of growing one or more vegetable crops on a large scale for shipment to distant markets where cultivation is limited by climate.

A small community or group of houses in a rural area, larger than a hamlet and usually smaller than a town.

The difference paid to farmers by a government between a target price and market price.