AP Human Geography

Chapter 11 Study Guide (Part 2)

Agricultural Systems
1. What is a system?

2. What components make up food-producing systems (List several)?

3. What is the primary difference between subsistence agriculture

and commercial agriculture?

4. Where is subsistence agriculture prevalent in the world today (list

all areas)?

5. Explain shifting cultivation.

6. What other 2 common names is this type of subsistence

agriculture known by (dont list the local names)?

7. How is intercropping related to shifting cultivation?

8. What environmental problem is related to the practice of shifting

cultivation?

9. What other agricultural activities have contributed to this issue in the

rainforests of the Amazon basin?

10.
What conditions can serve to shorten the fallow period and
threaten the sustainability of shifting cultivation?

11.
What solution have some shifting cultivators developed to
increase sustainability and also prevent deforestation?

12.

How does this practice work?

13.
What type of crop do many shifting cultivators now plant to help
manage the fallows by restoring soil fertility?

14.

Describe pastoralism.

15.
What livestock are favored by pastoralists in colder climates?
Which are favored in the warmer, more arid climates?

16.
Why dont pastoralist slaughter their livestock for food very
often?

17.

What do they use the animals for instead?

18.

Why do pastoralists have to move often?

19.

What is this practice known as?

20.
Are entire families usually involved in pastoralism? Explain
why or why not.

21.
In the most densely populated regions of the world (i.e. India and
China) what amount of land does the typical family own and work?

22.

Describe smallholder agriculture?

23.

Where is wet rice typically cultivated?

24.

Why is double cropping a necessity in densely populated regions?

25.

What countries are the worlds leading rice exporters (list all of them)?

26.
What is different about rice production in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the
United States?

27.
What type of agriculture is practiced in areas of Asia that are not
suitable for rice production?

28.
What conditions can impact what crops are produced and what
livestock are raised in this agricultural system?

29.
What is different about the raising of livestock in this system as
compared to pastoralism or livestock ranching?

30.
List at least two examples of a crop and a type of livestock raised on
smallholder crop and livestock farms in the following areas of the
world:

Asia (drier regions)

o Crops:

o Livestock:
Middle East and North Africa
o Crops:
o Livestock:
Sub-Saharan Africa
o Crops:
o

Livestock:

31.
In what ways does smallholder crop and livestock farming differ
from wet rice cultivation?

32.
How does commercial agriculture differ from subsistence
agriculture?

33.

What does the term agribusiness refer to?

34.

What is considered to be the hallmark of agribusiness?

35.

Explain vertical integration.

36.
In commercial agriculture, who serves as an intermediary
between producers and consumers?

37.

Give a couple of examples of food-processing companies.

38.
What type of crops are typically produced in planation
agriculture?

39.

What are some key cash crops (list at least 2)?

40.

What is the worlds most valuable fiber crop?

41.

Besides plantations, what is another source of cash crops?

42.

Who established the first plantations in the 15th century?

43.

Where were these plantations?

44.

What did they produce?

45.

What do plantations rely on heavily still today?

46.

What social construct is perpetuated by plantation farming?

47.

Who owns a large number of plantation farms world-wide?

48.
The multinational fruit company Dole operates plantations in
what countries?

49.

What is a dual economy?