permaculture
A farming approach designed to work with natural ecosystems so land stays productive without depleting resources.
Example: The community farm follows permaculture principles.
C222 words · Proficient
Agriculture vocabulary — C2
Expert agriculture vocabulary for environmental farming science, including permaculture, carbon sequestration, regenerative agriculture and the mycorrhizal network and terroir behind soil health.
22 questions
Words in this set
22carbon sequestration
The process of capturing and storing greenhouse gas, often in soil, trees or the ocean, to reduce its effect on climate.
Example:
Restoring the forest increased carbon sequestration in the region.
emissions trading
A system that lets companies buy and sell permits to release a certain amount of greenhouse gas.
Example:
Emissions trading gave factories a financial reason to pollute less.
environmental impact assessment
A formal study of how a proposed project would affect the local environment before it is approved.
Example:
The dam could not proceed without an environmental impact assessment.
conservation easement
A legal agreement that permanently limits how a piece of land can be used, in order to protect it.
Example:
The family placed the woodland under a conservation easement.
overgrazing
/ˈoʊvərˌɡreɪzɪŋ/Allowing too many animals to feed on land, damaging the grass and soil.
Example:
Overgrazing left the hillside almost bare of grass.
biofuel
Fuel made from plants or organic waste, rather than fossil fuels.
Example:
The farm grows crops specifically to produce biofuel.
eutrophication
Excess nutrients in water causing algae to grow and oxygen levels to drop.
Example:
Fertiliser runoff caused eutrophication in the lake, killing many fish.
afforestation
Planting trees on land that had no forest before.
Example:
The government launched an afforestation project on the old mining land.
biopesticide
A substance made from living organisms, such as bacteria or fungi, used to control crop pests.
Example:
The farm switched to a biopesticide to avoid chemical residue on crops.
regenerative agriculture
Farming that improves soil and ecosystems rather than depleting them.
Example:
Regenerative agriculture took four years to show in the yield figures.
silvopasture
Combining trees and grazing animals on the same land.
Example:
Silvopasture gave shade, timber and the same stocking rate.
mycorrhizal network
The fungal threads linking plant roots underground.
Example:
Ploughing destroys the mycorrhizal network faster than it rebuilds.
nitrogen fixation
The way certain plants capture nitrogen from the air.
Example:
Clover does the nitrogen fixation that the fertiliser bill used to.
leaching
/ˈlitʃɪŋ/The washing of nutrients down through soil and out of reach.
Example:
Leaching after a wet winter takes most of the autumn application.
anaerobic digestion
Breaking down waste without oxygen to make gas and fertiliser.
Example:
Anaerobic digestion turned the slurry problem into an income.
carbon offsetting
Paying for emissions to be reduced somewhere else.
Example:
Carbon offsetting is easier to sell than actually emitting less.
payment for ecosystem services
Paying landowners for the environmental benefits their land provides.
Example:
Payment for ecosystem services finally valued the flooding the farm prevented.
food miles
The distance food travels from producer to consumer.
Example:
Food miles turned out to matter less than how the food was grown.
genetic erosion
The loss of variety within crop or livestock species.
Example:
Genetic erosion leaves a whole crop vulnerable to one disease.
terroir
The way soil, climate and place shape the character of a product.
Example:
Terroir is the only word that captures why the same grape differs.
closed-loop system
A system where waste from one part feeds another.
Example:
The whole farm ran as a closed-loop system with almost no inputs.
