UNIT 5:AGRICULTURE:PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agribusiness or Corporate Agriculture - answer-Commercial agriculture characterized by
integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by
large corporations.Ex:This ______ is now spreading to developing countries where small-size
farmers are linking with foreign sources for advice, seeds, fertilizers, machinery, and profitable
markets at stable prices. Contract farming in poorer countries has been criticized as exploitative
of small farmers who receive too little money for their products. Farmers in wealthier countries
are also concerned that competition from farmers in less developed countries will drive down
market prices. As a result, some governments have placed controversial tariffs on foreign
produce in order to protect their own farmers.
Agricultural Hearths - answer-Areas of settlement during the neolithic period, especially along
major rivers, from where farming and cultivation of livestock originated.Ex:The people settling
along the major rivers in China did not learn to farm because they were in contact with the
people in the Indus River area. Instead, people in both areas probably figured out the
advantages of settled life on their own, and both served as ___________ _____________.
Agriculture - answer-Is the deliberate tending of crops and livestock in order to produce food
and fiber. Ex: The ways that land is distributed to individuals and used for food production are
determined by culture, as are the functions of livestock,and the consumption of food from
crops and animals. For example, Hindus do not eat beef, and Muslims do not eat pork, and so
the two religions greatly impact the nature of agriculture in lands where they have many
adherents.
Biotechnology - answer-The use of genetically altered crops in agriculture and DNA
manipulation in livestock in order to increase production.Ex:The experiments began with hybrid
rice initiatives in the U.S. Midwest in the 1930s, eventually leading to the development of "IR8,"
a cross developed in the Philippines between a dwarf Chinese variety of rice and an Indonesian
variety. This led to other hybrids, so that by the 1980s "IR36" was developed, with the qualities
of larger grains, a shorter growing cycle, and more resistance to pests. By the early 1990s IR36
was the most widely grown crop on earth. Meanwhile, a "miracle wheat seed" was developed
that was shorter and stiffer, hardier, and faster-maturing than traditional varieties. More
recently, scientists have developed new high-yield variations of corn.
Cereal Grains - answer-A grass that yields corn, wheat, rice,other grasses,millet, barley,and
rye.Ex:For example, one cycle might focus on cereal grains, such as oats,
wheat, rye, or barley; a second cycle might feature a root crop, such as turnips; a third cycle
would
be a "rest" crop, such as clover, that helps to restore the field, but may be eaten by cattle. Then
the farmer can start over with a cereal grain
,Columbian Exchange - answer-The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies
between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.Ex:This began in
the late 15th and 16th centuries, when products were carried both ways across the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In some cases a crop grown in one area, like the potato that
originated in the Andes Mountain areas of South America, became a mainstay in another area
(Ireland). However,beans, squash, and corn are still more commonly consumed in the Americas,
and rice is still more basic to Asian cultures than to other areas of the world.
Commercial Agriculture - answer-Is the production of food surpluses, with most crops destined
for sale to people outside the farmer's family.Ex:Practiced mainly in
more developed countries, farmers in commercial agriculture generally do not sell produce
directly to consumers but to food-processing companies. Big companies sign contracts with
commercial farmers to buy their grain, cattle, pigs, chickens, and other products that they in
turn package to sell through food outlets (such as grocery stores) to consumers. The system of
commercial farming found in more developed countries is called agribusiness, because farming
is integrated into a large food-production industry.
Desertification - answer-A deterioration of land to a desertlike condition by overgrazing and
over-planting.Ex:With the Sahara Desert continuing to claim more and more land space. Soil
erosion has become a problem, with the limited number of trees cut for wood and charcoal for
urban cooking and heating.
Dispersed Settlement Pattern - answer-Areas of extensive agricultural practices demonstrate a
_______ _____ _____, with individual farmhouses lying quite far apart._____ ___ _____ may
also exist in areas where machinery makes intensive cultivation over large areas possible.Ex:
Most farms across the Midwestern U.S. are large, houses are spaced far apart, and land is
farmed fairly intensively by machines.
Enclosure - answer-One of the fenced-in or hedged-in fields created by wealthy British
landowners on land that was formerly worked by village farmers.Ex:Images
Erosion - answer-The process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural
agents.Ex:Lands cleared for agriculture almost immediately begins to erode away, usually by
wind or running water. The surface material removed is transported by rivers, and changes
valley contours, extending areas subject to flooding, and clogging irrigation and drainage
channels.
Extensive Agriculture - answer-An agricultural system characterized by low of labor per unit
land area.Harvested crops are exchanged for currency, goods, or credit.EX:Images
Extensive Subsistence Agriculture - answer-Consists of any agricultural economy in which the
crops and/or animals are used nearly exclusively for local or family consumption on large areas
of land and minimal labor input per acre.Ex:Both shifting cultivation and pastoral nomadism are
,referred to as _____ ____ _______ because they involve large areas of land and minimal labor
per land unit. Both product per land unit and population densities are low.
Green Revolution - answer-Agricultural revolution that increased production through improved
seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation.Ex:New miracle seeds diffused rapidly around the world, with
many countries recording dramatic productivity increases. Biotechnologists don't just cross two
varieties of plants or animals, hoping for the best. Instead, they identify the particular genes on
the DNA molecules that produce the desirable characteristic and splice the gene directly into
the chromosomes of the other plant or animal. During the 19th century scientists identified the
critical elements in natural fertilizers (manure, bones, and ashes) as nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium. Today these three elements form the basis for fertilizers that have boosted crop
productivity even further. The ___ ____ has resulted in agricultural production
outpacing population growth by the late 20th century.
Hamlets or Villages - answer-Houses are grouped together in _______, or small clusters of
buildings, or in slightly larger settlements called __________.Ex: These arrangements reflect the
historical need to band together for protection, but even though this need has changed in
modern day, the patterns were established long ago and still persist. In Canada, the official
definition limits a village to 1000 people; in the United States villages may have up to 2500
people. The numbers go way up in densely-populated areas, such as Japan and India. Another
way to define a _____ is by the occupations of its inhabitants. In a village, most people work in
the primary economic sector as farmers, herders, or fishers, and relatively few people have
narrow,specialized jobs. Some villagers provide services to those who farm, herd, or fish, but
the social organization is relatively simple.
Horticulture - answer-The art or practice of garden cultivation and management.Growing of
fruits, vegetables, and flowers - and tree crops.Ex: In the areas around the Mediterranean Sea,
the most important cash crops are olives and grapes, with two-thirds of the world's wine
produced there. Olives are an important source of cooking oil. California also produces grapes
(and wine), and provides much of the citrus fruits and tree nuts for the United States market.
California produces a wider variety of crops than other Mediterranean climate areas because of
the extensive use of irrigation.
Hunters and Gatherers - answer-_________ gained skills in capturing and killing animals, and
_______learned which plants and fruits were edible and nutritious.EX:The first humans
probably emerged in eastern Africa, due to a happy confluence of availability of food,
domesticable animals, and favorable climate.
Industrial Agriculture - answer-A form of agriculture that uses large scale mechanization and
fossil fuel combustion, enabling farmers to replace horses and oxen with faster and more
powerful methods of farming.Ex: Methods of ______ ______include innovation in agricultural
machinery and methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in
production, the creation of new markets for consumption, and global trade.These methods are
widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat,
, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced using these methods
of ____ ____.
Intensive Agriculture - answer-This labor intensive agriculture employs
large numbers of people and requires relatively little money to produce food.This also focuses
on a small plot of land.Ex:Images
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture - answer-This type of agriculture yields a large amount of
output per acre through concentrated farming, but still only provides a subsistence living for
farmers.Sometimes they may sell a little to others, but usually they raise crops for their own
consumption.Ex:____ ___ ___ is found in the large population concentrations of East and South
Asia, with wet, or lowland, rice dominant in many areas.
Irrigation - answer-The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for
growing crops.Ex:Images
Job Specialization - answer-:Other occupations than farming developed, since fewer people
were needed to produce food. Some early specialized jobs include priests, traders, and
builders.Ex:Images
Labor Intensive Agriculture - answer-This type of agriculture yields a large amount of output per
acre through concentrated farming, but still only provides a subsistence living for
farmers.Sometimes they may sell a little to others, but usually they raise crops for their own
consumption.Ex:____ ___ ___ is found in the large population concentrations of East and South
Asia, with wet, or lowland, rice dominant in many areas.
Location Theory - answer-A logical attempt to explain the locational pattern of economic
activities & the manner in which its producing areas are interrelated.Ex:Images
Long-Lot Survey System - answer-Divides land into narrow parcels that extend from rivers,
roads, or canals.Ex:This approach gives more people access to transportation,and has been
used in the Canadian Maritimes, Quebec, Louisiana, and Texas.
Mediterranean Agriculture - answer-This type of agriculture exists not only in the lands that
border the Mediterranean Sea, but also in California, central Chile, the southwestern part of
South Africa, and southwestern Australia.These areas share a similar physical environment:
they border seas, and are on the west coasts of continents, with moisture provided by
prevailing sea winds and moderate winter temperatures. Summers are hot and dry, with hilly
lands and mountains that plunge directly to the sea, leaving narrow strips of flat land along the
coast.Some livestock is raised, but most effort is put into crop production for human
consumption rather than for animal feed.Horticulture - the growing of fruits, vegetables, and
flowers - and tree crops form the commercial base of Mediterranean farming.Major crop are
olives, grapes, fruits, and vegetables.The hilly landscape encourages farmers to plant a variety
of crops within one farming area.In the areas around the Mediterranean Sea, the most
