Agriculture, Food Production, & Rural Land Use - AP Human Geography

Quinary economic activity is defined as research and higher education. Developing seeds at a public land grant college best fits this definition, because research is being applied to increase economic activity in another sector.

Tertiary economic activity is the act of serving as an intermediary between producers and consumers to facilitate trade. Finding buyers for fair trade coffee and initiating the trade between them and consumers for a cut of the profit best fits this definition.

Quaternary economic activity refers mostly to information on market trends and the trade of goods. An economic consultant who recommends purchases for large companies best fits this definition.

Primary economic activity is defined as the act of directly harvesting natural resources. Logging tree stands for a living would be the best example of all provided choices.

A “luxury crop” is a crop that is grown to serve some purpose other than sustaining human life. All of these crops are consumed for reasons other than nutrition and so are called “luxury crops.”

The cultivation of drugs, like marijuana and opiates, for the purpose of sale on the black market is referred to as “narco-agriculture.” "Aquaculture" refers to the farming and cultivation of fish, crustaceans, and other sea life in controlled, designated environments. "Black market agriculture" refers to the sale of conventional agricultural products (like corn or wheat) for sale in non-sanctioned marketplaces, usually to avoid price-controls, taxes, or tariffs. Although the farming of poppies has been associated with the production of opiate drugs, this is too specific a term to be correct in this instance (the growing of marijuana or coca plants also fall under the umbrella of "narco-agriculture"). "Horticulture" simply refers to the intentional cultivation of plants.

Each year a larger and larger share of the world’s agricultural land is owned by multinational agribusiness. These multinational corporations buy up agricultural land in the developing world at a rapid rate and control almost every step in the process of producing, shipping, and selling agricultural products.

The growth of agribusiness, particularly multinational corporations, in the previous half-century has led to a marked decline around the world in small-land holdings and family-run farms. Agricultural production and efficiency have both increased and government interference is fairly consistent.

In the past century the average size of farms in the United States has increased dramatically. This general trend can be applied globally and to most of human history as well. This is because it is more profitable and efficient to farm on larger scales than it is to farm on smaller scales. The general trend is that more and more agricultural land is being consolidated into fewer and fewer hands and larger tracts of property.

John Davis and Ray Goldberg wrote the book A Concept of Agribusiness in 1957 through the Harvard Business School. In 1952, Harvard Business school launched their own program studying the connection between agriculture and business. The research conducted by Davis and Goldberg is the first product of research from this school of study.

The term agribusiness was created to refer to the many processes that surround the economics of farming. The processes include the actual farming of the crop, to later sales, marketing and distribution.

The only option that involves agriculture is the company that produces the fruit juices.

The study of agribusiness is referred to as agribusiness management. This name comes from the combination of agricultural economics and and management studies.

Natural selection is the process by which organisms that survive best pass on their genes, ensuring genetic modification over time. This is always occurring in the natural world. This can be contrasted with artificial selection, which occurs when humans select for certain traits. Bioballistics and biolistics are two terms for the same idea. They refer to the process of using a "gene gun" in order to introduce genetic material into an organism.

Thus, natural selection is the only option which doesn't involve human intervention.

The term “biotechnology” is applied to any technological innovation that is designed to improve the usefulness of plant and animals species for human agricultural purposes. Biotechnology is what drove the population growth of the Green Revolution. It is often controversial, such as in genetically modified organisms.

The acronym GMO stands for “Genetically Modified Organism.” It is used in common parlance to refer to a crop whose genetic structure has been altered to make it more useful and efficient for human purposes. GMOs are often controversial because some scientists claim that their health effects have not yet been realized.

Genetically-modified organisms are a controversial topic in contemporary agricultural geography. GMO's are crops whose genetic makeup has been altered to encourage positive traits and eliminate negative traits. This leads to a more efficient process and a more reliable product, but has many potential downsides.

The United States and Brazil together account for almost ninety percent of the world’s production of ethanol fuel and are by far the biggest uses of ethanol to fuel motor vehicles. Brazil’s government has made it an official policy and ethanol usage continues to rise in Brazil.

“Ethanol” is an ethyl alcohol produced from corn and grain. In recent years it has started to be used to fuel motor vehicles, particularly in the United States. Ethanol is neither used as an antiseptic nor as a form of water treatment.