UNIT V Key Terms

Biotechnology n Using living organisms to produce or change plan or animal products

Capital-intensive farm n Farm that makes heavy use of machinery in the farming process

Dairying n Growth of milk-based products for the marketplace

Debt-for-nature sweeps n Efforts to preserve natural farmland by forgiving international debts owed by developing countries in exchange for those countries protecting natural land resources from human destruction

Double cropping n Planting and harvesting a crop on a field more than once a year

Enclosure movement n As feudalism faded away and capitalism grew, this movement divided the common farm-one the villagers all farmed together-into individual farming plots. Many farmers who did not get private plots moved to the growing cities

Ester Boserup n Geographer who developed the theory that subsistence farmers want the most leisure time they can have, so they farm in ways that will allow them both to feed their families and to maximize free time. Boserup’s theory also posited that farmers will change their approach to farming if the population increases and more food is needed, thus making the food supply dependent on human innovation, rather than humans dependent on the food supply

Extensive subsistence agriculture n Using a large amount of land to farm food for the farmer’s family to eat

Famine n Mass starvation resulting from prolonged undernutrition in a region during a certain period

Hunters and gatherers n Nomadic people who do not remain stationary but follow herds of wild animals and forage for plants for survival

Intensive subsistence agriculture n Cultivating a small amount of land very efficiently to produce food for the farmer’s family

Intertillage n Practice of mixing many types of seeds on the same plot of land

Labor-intensive farm n Farm that uses much human labor

Land rent n Price a farmer must pay for each acre of land

Large-scale grain farm n Extensive commercial grain farm where the grain typically is grown to be exported to other places for consumption

Milkshed n Zone around the city’s center in which milk can be produced and shipped to the marketplace without spoiling

Mixed crop and livestock farming n Category of agriculture in which farmers both grow crops and raise animals

Open-lot system n System of agricultural land distribution in which all villagers worked on one large plot of community farmland to produce a crop to eat

Ranching n Raising animals on a plot of land on which they feed or graze

Sustainable yield n Rate of crop production that can be maintained over time

Swidden n Plot of land prepared by subsistence farmers using the slash-and-burn method

Truck farm n Commercial flower farm or garden

Undernutrition n Case of not getting enough calories or nutrients

Vegetative planting. n Process of cultivating by simply cutting off a stem of another plant or by dividing roots of a plant; developed before seed agriculture