Study Guide for Test 1 - Plants and People | AGRO 1001, Study notes of Agricultural engineering

Download Study Guide for Test 1 - Plants and People | AGRO 1001 and more Study notes Agricultural engineering in PDF only on Docsity! AGRONOMY 1001-TEST 1 STUDY GUIDE 1. Students spend 75% of their time socializing and sleeping- only 16% is spent studying 2. 68% of Americans are overweight or obese 3. Modern day farming is traced to the Neolithic revolution 4. Rice wheat and corn account for most of the world’s caloric intake 5. Rice wheat and corn provide 60% of the world’s food energy intake 6. Cassava is the most important food crop grown on the African continent 7. Farmers only receive 20 cents on the dollar that consumers spend the rest in consumed in marketing processing wholesaling distribution and retailing. 8. The main staple foods in the average African diet are cereals, roots, tuber, and animal products. This is also true for Western Europe. 9. Agronomy is that component of agriculture which is concerned with the theory and practice of growing crops, and with the management of soils. 10. Horticulture deals with high value intensively managed crops 11. Agronomy deals with highly mechanized large acreage crops 12. Horticulture is quality crops, agronomy is quantity crops 13. The Fertile Crescent was the site of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants in 8000bc. 14. The dawn of agriculture may have come with the domestication of fig trees in the near east some 11,400 years ago. Roughly 1,000 years before staple crops such as wheat, barley, and legumes were domesticated in the region 15. Pulses have the ability to fix nitrogen making them a key crop in crop rotation 16. Pulses are high in protein and essential amino acids 17. Pulses are annual legumes harvested solely for the dry grain 18. Biological nitrogen fixation occurs when atmospheric nitrogen is converted to ammonia by an enzyme called nitrogenase 19. New world to old world agricultural items are: corn, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, beans, pumpkins, peanuts, cashews, blueberries, wild rice, squashes, sweet potatoes, and quinine. 20. Old world to new world agricultural items are: horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, honey bees, wheat, Asian rice, okra, peaches, pears, watermelon, bananas, olives, and chickpeas. 21. The three staples of Native American food are corn, squash, and beans. For many Native Americans this triad is called the “Three sisters” 22. All three of the triad originally came from Mexico, Central, and South America. Slowly making their way north to our native people. 23. Pecans originated in the Mississippi Valley. They were not commonly cultivated until the 19th century. 24. Pilgrims thanksgiving menu did not include items such as: ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, cranberry sauce pumpkin pie, chicken/eggs, or milk. 25. The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period between the early 15th to the early 17th centuries. During which time European ships traveled the world in search of new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. 26. They were also in search of gold, silver, and spices. 27. Humans began to use spices for: a. Its ability to mask the odor of rotting food b. Neutralize unpleasant odors c. Act as antibacterial and antifungal agents d. Provide nutritional components e. Yield a physiological “high” f. Make otherwise dull food more interesting. 28. Most of the early explorers had the immediate task of finding a direct trade route to India and the Far East in order to obtain spices. These explorers included: Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus of Spain and Vasco de Game of Portugal. 29. Moluccas Islands were known as the spice Islands 30. The Columbian exchange is the reason there are tomatoes in Italy, oranges in Florida, chocolates in Switzerland, and chili peppers in Thailand. Also a number of creatures of which the colonist knew nothing about and had never seen hitched along these being: earthworms, mosquitoes, cockroaches, honeybees, dandelions, African grasses, bacteria, fungi, viruses and rats of every description. 31. Chili pepper is the most used spice in the world. Though its monetary value is very little due to the fact that is readily cultivated by its consumers. 32. A spice is considered: any of various pungent aromatic plant substances used to flavor food, any of various aromatic plant products used to season or flavor foods. Spices are usually dried for use and have distinctive flavors and aromas 33. An herb is considered: any of various often aromatic plants used especially in medicine or as seasoning, a plant or part of a plant that’s valued for its medicinal savory or aromatic qualities, any plant used as a medicine, seasoning or flavoring. 34. Condiments are considered anything that is used to enhance the flavor of food. 35. Only three of the new world spices caught on, those being allspice, red pepper, and vanilla. But its wealth of new vegetables eventually transformed the cuisine of the old world 36. Spices native regions are a. Pepper- India/Sri Lanka b. Nutmeg- Moluccas c. Mace- Moluccas d. Cinnamon- India/Sri Lanka e. Cloves- Moluccas f. Ginger- Tropical Asia 37. Top five producers of spices are: 1- India 2- China 3- Turkey 4- Bangladesh 5- Pakistan 38. Top five producers of pepper are: 1- Indonesia 2- Viet Nam 3- Brazil 4- India 5- China 39. Green Cardamom is one of the most expensive spices by weight 87. Genetic modification (GM) occurs when scientists isolate a gene from one plant or animal and successfully introduce that gene to another plant or animal, thus changing its genetic code and function. 88. Top 5 potato producing states in America are: 1- Idaho, 2-Washington, 3-Wisconsin, 4- Colorado, and 5- Oregon. 89. The U.S. is the 5th largest producer of potatoes in the world. 90. More than 1 in 10 potatoes produced in the U.S. is exported. 91. The potato plant is an herbaceous annual. 92. Underground the stems of potatoes extend into structures called stolon’s. The ends of the stolon’s may enlarge greatly to form a few to more than 20 tubers, of variable size and shape. 93. The tubers bear spirally arranged buds in the axils of aborted leaves, of which scars remain. They grow into plants identical to the plant that bore the tubers. 94. A tuber is a modified enlarged stem of a plant which develops at the tip of a stolon. 95. A stolon is a slender horizontal stem of a plant that grows on or near the surface of the ground. 96. An eye of a potato is a bud or growing spot for a new plant. 97. Seed potatoes are potatoes that are grown to be planted and produce new potato plants. 98. A certified seed potato is grown in a program to ensure genetic purity and freedom from disease. 99. CIP maintains the world’s largest bank of potato germplasm. The collection is maintained under the auspices of the FAO and is available to plant breeders worldwide free upon request. 100. Sugar has had 5 main uses: medicine, spice, material used to make sculptures, sweetener, and a preservative. 101. From the 10th to the 18th century sugar was considered a wonder drug. 102. Every medicine used during the “Black Plague” contained sugar. 103. Sugar brought slavery to the Americas, and entirely to the Western Hemisphere (new world). 104. 70% of the enslaved people brought to the new world were used to produce sugar, the most labor intensive crop. 105. For thousands of years people used the sap and juice extracted from plants to obtain sweet syrups. Ex: wild date palm, sugar palm, sorghum, and sugar maple. 106. Today only two plant sources provide most of the natural sweeteners- sugar cane and sugar beets. 107. It is thought that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India. 108. New Guinea is the home of a cultivated form of sugarcane. High-fiber forms were used for construction; softer juicier forms were propagated in gardens for chewing. From about 8,000 B.C. on, people migrated from New Guinea to several Pacific Islands, taking a cultivated form of sugarcane with them. It later reached Indonesia, the Philippines and Northern India. By 400 B.C., crude sugar was developed. 109. The Egyptians developed clarification, crystallization, and refining. 110. Columbus introduced sugarcane to the new world in 1493. 111. The first sugarcane planted in the new Americas was planted by Christopher Columbus in what is now the Dominican Republic. 112. Sugar reached Louisiana in the late 1700’s 113. Sugarcane was cultivated in India in 400 BCE. 114. Sugarcane cultivation technology was carried to China and Arabia. 115. Crusades brought sugarcane cultivation to Europe. 116. In 1791 Capt. Bligh transported Saccharum officinarum (noble canes) from Tahiti to Jamaica. 117. Plantation agriculture first developed in Brazil and spread to new world. 118. By 1640 sugarcane had become the crop of choice in Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. 119. International trading companies moved goods and people across the Atlantic Ocean in a pattern known as the “triangular trade”. 120. Ships filled with manufactured goods, tools, weapons, and textiles, sailed from Europe to West Africa, where they were sold. The profits bought sugar, coffee, cotton, and tobacco, which were sent back to Europe. 121. Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane byproducts such molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels. 122. The Haitian Revolution was from 1791-1804. 123. The Haitian Revolution enabled the Louisiana Purchase of 828,000 square miles of Frances claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. 124. The LA purchase cost the U.S. 15 million dollars, less than 3 cents an acre. 125. The LA purchase doubled the size of the U.S. 126. Sugar (sucrose) is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable. It is the major product of photosynthesis. 127. Six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of sugar plus six molecules of oxygen. 128. Table sugar is called sucrose. 129. Fruit sugar is called fructose. 130. Milk sugar is called lactose. 131. Malt sugar is called maltose. 132. Sugar from honey of sweet fruits in called glucose (also called dextrose, corn sugar, or grape sugar). 133. Glucose in a monosaccharide (simple sugar) and is an important carbohydrate in biology. The cell uses it as a source of energy and metabolic intermediates. 134. Sucrose=( glucose + fructose) 135. Sugar is produced in 121 countries and global production now exceeds 120 million tons a year. 136. Approximately 70% of sugar is produced from sugar cane. 137. The remaining 30% is produced from sugar beets. 138. Sugar beets are a root crop resembling a large parsnip grown mostly in the temperate zones of the north. 139. The U.S. does not export any of its sugar. 140. Top sugarcane producers: 1- Brazil, 2- India, 3- China, 4- Pakistan, 5- Mexico….The U.S. is 10th in production. 141. Sugarcane was originally from Southeast Asia, Asia, India, and New Guinea. 142. Sugar beets flourish in a climate that has a mean temperature of 70 deg. F during the growing season. 143. Sugar beets, unlike sugarcane, can be grown in temperate or cold climates. 144. Top sugar beet producers: 1- France, 2- Germany, 3- United States, 4- Russia, 5- Ukraine. 145. 40% of the sugar we consume is in soft drinks. 146. Tobacco was believed by Native Americans to be a cure-all, and was used to dress wounds, as well as a pain killer. 147. Chewing tobacco was believed to relieve the pain of a toothache. 148. The major reason for tobacco’s growing popularity in Europe was its supposed healing properties. 149. Europeans believed that tobacco could cure almost anything, from bad breath to cancer. Much of this thinking persisted until the 1950’s when evidence surfaced that smoking was linked to lung cancer. 150. The origin of tobacco use in Europe started with the discovery of the Americas. 151. It was the Taino Indians in Cuba that Columbus first encountered tobacco. 152. Many of the founding fathers were tobacco growers, and tobacco made many fortunes. 153. Globally the use of tobacco is increasing although it is decreasing in high-income countries. 154. More than 80% of smokers live in low and middle income countries. 155. Tobacco is indigenous to the Americas. 156. 50-70 varieties grow wild in North America, at least 8 of which were smoked by native tribes. 157. Nicotiana rustica and nicotiana quadrivalis were the most frequently used. 158. Nicotiana tabacum (the most popular species of tobacco today) was introduced from Mexico by Europeans making settlements on the eastern seaboard. 159. After the Spanish successfully introduced tobacco to Europe and the British aristocracy adopted pipe smoking as a popular pastime, its increasing cultivation formed the economic basis of the first successful English colonies in North America. 160. By the 1630’s Virginia established tobacco and their staple crop and chief source of revenue.