| Question |
Answer |
| agriculture |
deliberate modification of Earth's surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain |
| crop |
any plant cultivated by people |
| vegetative planting |
reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants (cutting stems & dividing roots) |
| seed agriculture |
reproduction of plants through annual planting of seeds that result from sexual fertilization |
| subsistence agriculture |
production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer's family |
| commercial agriculture |
production of food primarily for sale off the farm |
| agribusiness |
system of commercial farming found in the United States and other relatively developed countries |
| prime agricultural land |
most productive farmland |
| 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 |
| slash-and-burn agriculture |
farmers clear land for planting by slashing vegetation and burning the debris |
| swidden |
patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning |
| pastoral nomadism |
form of sutsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals |
| transhumance |
seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pasture areas |
| pasture |
grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing |
| intensive subsistence agriculture |
form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land |
| wet rice |
practice of planting rice on dry land in a nursery and then moving the seedlings to a flooded field to promote growth |
| paddy |
Malay word for wet rice |
| sawah |
flooded field for growing rice |
| chaff |
husks of grain seperated from the seed by threshing |
| threshed |
beat out grain from stalks by trampling it |
| winnowed |
to remove chaff by allowing it to be blown away by the wind |
| hull |
outer covering of a seed |
| double cropping |
harvesting twice a year from the same field |
| crop rotation |
practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil |
| cereal grain |
grass yielding grain for food |
| milkshed |
area surrouding a city from which milk is supplied |
| grain |
seed of a cereal grain |
| winter wheat |
wheat planted in the fall and harvested in the early summer |
| spring wheat |
wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer |
| reaper |
machine that cuts grain standing in the field |
| combine |
machine that reaps, threshes, and cleans grain while moving over a field |
| ranching |
form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area |
| horticulture |
growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers |
| truck farming |
commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities |
| plantation |
large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of one or two crops for sale, usully to a more developed country |
| 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 |
| ridge tillage |
system of planting crops on ridge tops, in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation |
| desertification |
degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting |
| green revolution |
rapid diffustion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers |
| break-of-bulk point |
location where transfer is possible from one mode of transportation to another |
| bulk-gaining industry |
industry in which the final product weighs more or comprises a greater volume than the inputs |
| bulk-reducing industry |
industry in which the final product weighs less or comprises a lower volume than the inputs |
| cottage industry |
manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the industrial revolution |
| fordist |
form of mass production in which each worker is assigned one specific task to perform repeatedly |
| industrial revolution |
series of improvements in industrial technoogy that transformed the process of manufacturing goods |
| labor-intensive industry |
industry for which labor costs comprise a high percentage of total expenses |
| maquiladora |
factories built by USA companies in Mexico near the U.S. border to take advantage of much lower labor costs in Mexico |
| new international divistion of labor |
transfer of some types of jobs, especially those requiring low-paid less skilled workers, from more developed to less developed countries |
| post-fordist |
adoption by companies of flexible work rules, such as the allocation of workers to teams that perform a variety of tasks |
| right-to-work state |
a U.S. state that has passed a law preventing a union and company from negotiating a contract that requires workers to join a union as a condition of employment |
| site factors |
location factors related to the costs of factors of production inside the plant, such as land, labor, and capital |
| situation factors |
location factors related to the transportation of materials into and from a factory |
| textile |
fabric made by weaving, used in making clothing |
| trading bloc |
group of neighboring countries that promote trade with each other and erect barriers to limit trade with other blocs |
HHS Shrek
