Agriculture, Farming and Rural Land: Key Definitions

Agriculture, Farming, and Rural Land: Key Terms

Farming: Set of tasks performed by humans to obtain products of the land (agriculture, livestock, and forestry).

Intensive Agriculture: Agricultural practice characterized by a large investment in technology or labor that produces high productivity.

Agrociudad: Core of the population, given their size, can be considered a city, but it plays mostly rural functions.

Waters: Sector of ocean space adjacent to the land of a country on which that State exercises sovereign powers.

Sharecropping: Tenancy in which the owner grants the use of land in exchange for a percentage of the crop.

Lease: Tenancy in which the owner grants the use of the land on payment of rent.

Fallow: Traditional agricultural practice is to let the land rest for a variable time.

Fishery: Appropriate place to pull or lower the nets.

Industrial Crops: Farms requiring industrial processing prior to consumption.

Dehesa: Pasture, woodland, or cork oak, with understory of grass and bushes, which allows a user to use livestock complementarily (Iberian pigs) and forestry (firewood, cork, mushrooms, etc.). Is typical of dry areas of Spain with low agricultural potential.

Rural Space: Land where they thrive mainly agricultural, livestock, and forestry, and to a lesser extent, other (recreational, industrial, etc.).

Farming (plot context): Set of plots operated by a single agricultural producer.

EAGGF: European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.

Nomadic Livestock: Cattle practice consisting of seasonal movement of livestock between winter pastures and summer.

Extensive Livestock Farming: Animal husbandry practices involving the breeding of animals in open space with backward techniques and low profitability.

• Habitat: Basic cells of settlements consisting of houses and other agencies.
• Habitat Concentrate: Basic set of cells arranged a settlement with the others.
• Habitat Scattered: Set basic cell of settlements separated from each other by land, meadows, and forests.
• Latifundio: Large property over 100 ha.
• Mesofundio: Median property between 10 and 100 ha.
• Smallholder: Little less than 10 ha property.
• Monoculture: Farm system that devotes all plots of a region to a single crop.
• CAP: Common Agricultural Policy.
• Plot: A land area that is under one edge.
• Inshore Fishing: Catching fish is at distances offshore (up to 60 miles), with a fleet of small vessels (less than 50 GRT), and maintaining fishing craft techniques.
• Fishing: Catching fish is farther away from the coast with a fleet of ships of considerable tonnage, which remains at sea days or weeks and introduces the process of industrialization on the boats and fishing gear.
• Rural Settlement: Set of settlements resulting from the occupation of rural areas by population.
• Polyculture: Farm system that dedicates an area plots for various crops.
• Ownership: Legal concept that refers to the owner of the property.
• Irrigation: Practice land that contributes water to crops in addition to that from precipitation.
• Tenure: Degree of dominion over the earth.
• Crop Rotation: Traditional agricultural practice is to divide the arable land to different crops, alternating leaves.
• Primary Sector: A set of economic activities aimed at obtaining raw materials.