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neolithic revolution
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
carrying capacity
largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support
plant domestication
growing and selectively breeding crops to for more productive, better-tasting plants to grow future generations
hearths of plant domestication
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)
animal domestication
breeding and taking care of animals to sell or use byproducts; made it possible to eat meat without hunting
hearths of animal domestication
Southwest Asia (e.g., the Fertile Crescent), Southeast Asia, and the Americas
animal husbandry
purposely interbred or hybridized animals from wild breeds
Columbian exchange
diffusion that took place after Columbus arrived to the Americas in 1492; Eastern hemisphere met Western hemisphere
agricultural examples of the Columbian exchange
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)
second agricultural revolution
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.
mechanization
replacement of human labor with technology or machines
seed drill
machine that sowed seeds in rows and covered up the seeds in rows
expanded food production
far greater amounts of crop production on small plots of land
mass production
making goods in large quantities
chemical farming
increased use of fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
irrigation pumps
technology that supplies dry land with water
green revolution
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
high yield seeds
seeds that produce larger than average amounts of crops
GMOs
genetically modified organism, part of 3rd agricultural revolution
biotechnology
using living organisms in a useful way to produce commercial products like pest resistant crops
pesticides
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)
arable land
land suitable for agriculture
factory farm
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
MDC
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
NIC
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
LDC
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
subsistence farming
prevalent in LDCs, production of only enough food to feed a farmer's family with no surplus to sell
pastoralism
form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals
shifting cultivation
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
slash-and-burn agriculture
specific type of shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris
swidden
a patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning
commercial agriculture
production of food surpluses with most crops to be sold to people outside a farmer's family
agribusiness
businesses that provde goods and services that support agriculture
cash crop
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.)
luxury crop
specialized crops not essential to human survival, historically grown on plantations by European colonial powers (tea, coffee, tobacco, cacao)
intensive agriculture
an agricultural system characterized by high use of labor per unit land area
extensive agriculture
an agricultural system characterized by low use of labor per unit land area
fallow
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
plantation
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
ranching
extensive commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over a large area
feedlot
intensive commercial farming on a plot of land where livestock are fattened for market
wet rice
intensive rice planting on dryland in a nursery, then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth
bid-rent theory
price and demand for land decreases as the distance toward the central business district increases
von Thunen's model
model which shows the location of agriculture in regard to a comercial economy that is similar to the concentric model
market gardening
intensive small scale production of fuits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops, right outside city, ring 1
dairy farming
intensively raising cattle to sell dairy products, right outside city, ring 1
milkshed
ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling
forests
land where lumber can be harvested for fuel, ring 2
grains and field crops
extensive crop production for commercial and subsistence use , ring 3
ranching and livestock
extensive animal production for commercial and subsistence farming, ring 4
enclosure
process of taking over and fencing off land once shared by peasant farmers
crop rotation
practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil
truck farming
commercial gardening and fruit farming, named after a Middle English word meaning bartering or exchanging commodities (trueque in Spanish)
aquaculture
the cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions
Mediterranean agriculture
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.
desertification
degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting
salinization
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
deforestation
clearing and destruction of forests to harvest wood for consumption, clear land for agricultural uses, and make way for expanding settlement frontiers
fast food
food that can be prepared and served very quickly, sold in restaurant and served to customers in packaged form
organic
approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.
undernourishment
dietary energy consumption that is continuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy life and carrying out light physical activity
cereal grain
grass that yields grain for food
horticulture
growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers
vegetative planting
removing part of the plant and putting it in the ground to grow a new plant (fruits and berries)
seed planting
taking seeds from existing plants and planting them to produce new plants (used by most farmers today)
sawah
a flooded field for growing rice
paddy
Malay word for wet rice, commonly but incorrectly used to describe a sawah
reaper
machine that cuts cereal grain standing in a field
hull
outer covering of a seed
combine
machine that reaps, threshes, and cleans grain while moving over a field
thresh
to beat out grain from stalks
chaff
husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing
transhumance
seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures
spring wheat
wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer
winter wheat
wheat planted in the autumn and harvested in the early summer
Norman Borlaug
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
Esther Boserup
agricultural geographer who formalized the transition from extensive subsistence forms of agriculture to more intensive cultivation of the land necessary to support greater populations
fair trade
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
free trade
market forces direct trade; often includes middle-men