Contemporary Commercial Agriculture - AP Human Geography

Organic farming does not use fossil fuels to control insect and plant pests. This means organic farms tend to have a smaller carbon footprint and less reliance on artificial inputs. The downside, however, is that organic farms also require much more physical labor. Thus the correct answer is, "Reduced effort required to cultivate crops."

Organic products are generally much more expensive to produce and to transport because they are less efficient, less reliable, and spoil more easily. Although they are grown throughout the world, the market for them is primarily concentrated in the wealthy areas of Western Europe and North America.

“Organic agriculture” is primarily defined by the reluctance to use biotechnology in farming. It usually involves eschewing pesticides and chemical fertilizers, as well as GMOs. It is becoming more and more common, particularly in wealthy areas of the western world, as many people fight back against the perceived environmental damage being wrought by big agriculture. While organic agriculture avoids many of the trappings of large-scale farming it does not always, or even most often, exist outside of corporate interest.

The name given to a farming organization that is jointly run and owned by several individual members who share in the profits, benefits, and responsibilities is called a “cooperative.” They are increasing in popularity as a way for the local community to “fight back” against the influence of multinational agribusiness.

Free trade zones, such as the nations involved in NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), allow for goods from foreign countries to be imported without a tariff, that is, without being taxed for the sake of being foreign goods. In doing so, international trade was improved drastically, helping the manufacturers of foreign foods.

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.

The Department of Agriculture was created in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. At the time the vast majority of Americans were engaged in farming as their primary occupation and so Lincoln called the newly created department “The People’s Department.”

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.

Genetically Modified Organisms are crops whose genetic makeup has been altered to encourage some positive traits and eliminate some negative traits. These crops, however, are not universally supported. Opponents of GMOs argue that the environmental consequences remain unknown and could be potentially devastating. Even opponents of GMOs recognize their potential to benefit those in areas of economic and food scarcity.

“Pesticides” are chemicals that are used to treat agricultural crops so as to kill any insects or animals that might try to damage the crop. “Herbicides” are similar but are chemicals that are used to treat agricultural crops so as to kill any plants that might cause a disruption in the growth of the desired product.

Genetic engineering, artificial insemination, and the use of bacteria to make food products are all examples of biotechnology, or the purposeful utilization of biological organisms and/or processes to create or improve products. Hybrid animals bred naturally in the wild are not considered an example of biotechnology.

Modern industrial farming relies heavily on inputs of fossil fuels in the form of pesticides and herbicides. Furthermore, industrial farming is largely based on monocultures, which represent the simplification of complex ecosystems. The only option not directly associated with industrial farming is ocean acidification. Although ocean acidification occurs due to increased carbon dioxide concentration, this is not as direct of an impact as the other options.

Monoculture refers to the practice of growing one crop over a large area. This leads to environmental issues, increased reliance on pesticides and herbicides, and an overall decrease in genetic diversity.

One benefit to monocultures however, is the fact that they can generally be harvested by machines. This tends to decrease the effort required to harvest them. This means that the only option that is NOT a weakness is, "Increased effort required for harvest."

Most of the nutrients that plants depend on to grow are found in very thin quantities in soil right by the surface. This fertile soil is called “topsoil,” and it is here where almost all crops are grown. To this author’s knowledge none of the other answer choices are real terms.

“Degraded agricultural land” is land that was once fertile and used for growing crops, but has been made infertile by human intervention and mismanagement. It is most common in densely populated areas where large scale farming has been common for a long period of time. For this reason, North America, which is not very densely populated and has only been consistently farmed since the arrival of Europeans, has the lowest percentage of degraded agricultural land.