Unit 2: Agricultural and Rural Land Use

shift from hunting animals and gathering food to the keeping of animals and the growing of food on a regular basis around 8000 BCE; happened independently in different places over a long period of time; first agricultural revolution

largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support

growing and selectively breeding crops to for more productive, better-tasting plants to grow future generations

origins of vegetative and seed agriculture; Central America and northwestern South America, Western Asia (Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys), Southeast Asia (Indus River Valley, North China)

breeding and taking care of animals to sell or use byproducts; made it possible to eat meat without hunting

Southwest Asia (e.g., the Fertile Crescent), Southeast Asia, and the Americas

purposely interbred or hybridized animals from wild breeds

diffusion that took place after Columbus arrived to the Americas in 1492; Eastern hemisphere met Western hemisphere

New World to Old World (corn, beans, chile, tomato, avocado, pineapple, potato, yuca, tobacco, rubber, peanuts, chocolate, turkey), Old World to New World (wheat, rice, coffee, apples, citrus, horses, cattle, hogs, chickens, sheep, goats)

increased efficiency of crop production and distribution which led to a surplus of crops in 17th century Europe and North America; promoted migration to cities through preindustrial improvements like 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.

replacement of human labor with technology or machines

machine that sowed seeds in rows and covered up the seeds in rows

far greater amounts of crop production on small plots of land

making goods in large quantities

increased use of fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium

technology that supplies dry land with water

began with the development of high-yield seeds (e.g., rice, wheat, maize), resulting in the increased use of chemical and mechanized farming; rapid development and transfer from the developed world to the developing world of higher-yield and fast-growing crops beginning in the 1940s through new and improved technology, pesticides, and fertilizers for the purpose of alleviating world hunger

seeds that produce larger than average amounts of crops

genetically modified organism, part of 3rd agricultural revolution

using living organisms in a useful way to produce commercial products like pest resistant crops

chemicals used on plants that do not harm the plants, but kill pests and can have negative repercussions on other species who ingest the chemicals (including humans)

land suitable for agriculture

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

most developed country, countries with higher per capita income, greater access to healthcare and education, mostly service-based economies; main examples; Canada, USA, most of Western Europe, Australia, Japan

newly industrialized country, countries transitioning from agricultural economies to manufacturing/industrial economies. Per capita income and access to health care and education is increasing; main examples: Mexico, Brazil, Russia, India, China

least developed country, countries with lower per capita income, less access to health care and education, and mostly agricultural economies; main examples: countries in Sub-Saharan and Central Africa, Afghanistan

prevalent in LDCs, production of only enough food to feed a farmer's family with no surplus to sell

form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals

form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period; 1) clear land to grow crop, 2) harvest crop, 3) move on

specific type of shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris

a patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning

production of food surpluses with most crops to be sold to people outside a farmer's family

businesses that provde goods and services that support agriculture

crops grown for money; more specifically refers to more specialized crops located mainly in or near the tropics (e.g., sugar, cotton, rubber, bananas, oranges, etc.)

specialized crops not essential to human survival, historically grown on plantations by European colonial powers (tea, coffee, tobacco, cacao)

an agricultural system characterized by high use of labor per unit land area

an agricultural system characterized by low use of labor per unit land area

when farmers grow crops on a clear field for only a few years until the soil nutrients are depleted. The farmers then leave the soil for a few year so the nutrients in the soil can be restored; uncropped land

intensive commercial agriculture in tropical and subtropical climates specializing in the production of one or two crops, usually to be sold to more developed countries

extensive commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over a large area

intensive commercial farming on a plot of land where livestock are fattened for market

intensive rice planting on dryland in a nursery, then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth

price and demand for land decreases as the distance toward the central business district increases

model which shows the location of agriculture in regard to a comercial economy that is similar to the concentric model

intensive small scale production of fuits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops, right outside city, ring 1

intensively raising cattle to sell dairy products, right outside city, ring 1

ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling

land where lumber can be harvested for fuel, ring 2

extensive crop production for commercial and subsistence use , ring 3

extensive animal production for commercial and subsistence farming, ring 4

process of taking over and fencing off land once shared by peasant farmers

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

commercial gardening and fruit farming, named after a Middle English word meaning bartering or exchanging commodities (trueque in Spanish)

the cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions

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.

degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting

process that occurs when soils in arid areas are brought under cultivation through irrigation. In arid climates, water evaporates quickly off the ground surface, leaving salty residues that render the soil infertile

clearing and destruction of forests to harvest wood for consumption, clear land for agricultural uses, and make way for expanding settlement frontiers

food that can be prepared and served very quickly, sold in restaurant and served to customers in packaged form

approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.

dietary energy consumption that is continuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy life and carrying out light physical activity

grass that yields grain for food

growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers

removing part of the plant and putting it in the ground to grow a new plant (fruits and berries)

taking seeds from existing plants and planting them to produce new plants (used by most farmers today)

a flooded field for growing rice

Malay word for wet rice, commonly but incorrectly used to describe a sawah

machine that cuts cereal grain standing in a field

outer covering of a seed

machine that reaps, threshes, and cleans grain while moving over a field

to beat out grain from stalks

husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing

seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures

wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer

wheat planted in the autumn and harvested in the early summer

credited with saving 1 billion people worldwide from starvation, this Nobel laureate was known as the "Father of the Green Revolution" for creating disease-resistant, high-yield crops such as wheat and introducing them to developing countries such as Mexico, Pakistan, and India

agricultural geographer who formalized the transition from extensive subsistence forms of agriculture to more intensive cultivation of the land necessary to support greater populations

alternative to Industrial trade that emphasizes small bussinesses and worker owned/democraticall run cooperatives and requires employers to pay workers fair wages, permit union organizing, and comply with minimum environmental and safety hazards

market forces direct trade; often includes middle-men