Agronomy - Grow With It! Glossary
This Glossary is a compilation of terms found in the Agronomy-Grow With It! book.
ADAPTATION Process by which an organism changes to be better suited to its environment.
AEROSOLS Suspension of solid particles or liquid drops in the air. Aerosols can be naturally occurring or made by people.
AGRICULTURE The science, art, and practice of raising crops and livestock.
AGROECOSYSTEM Ecosystem that has been modified by inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, energy, and human labor to produce food, fiber, and shelter. Plants and animals selected for specific traits are components of agroecosystems.
AGRONOMIST Person who studies and improves soil and plants and helps farmers produce more sustainable crops.
AGRONOMY The science of soil and plants and the application of this knowledge to help farmers produce more sustainable crops.
ALFISOL A soil order. Soils formed under deciduous trees. Can be good for crops.
ALGAE BLOOM A rapid increase in algae in a water system that can be harmful to other organisms.
ALLELES Alternate versions of a gene.
AMINO ACID Molecules that join together to form proteins, building blocks of organisms.
ANDISOL A soil order. Soils formed from volcanic ash. Can be used for crops and pastures.
ANNUAL Plants that complete their life cycle in a single year.
AQUIFER Natural underground body of water that is often used to supply water for agricultural use.
ARID Dry, like a desert.
ARIDISOL A soil order. Soils formed under desert conditions. Can be used for rangeland and crops if irrigated.
ATMOSPHERE Blanket of gases that surrounds Earth or another planet.
BACTERIA Single-celled microorganisms that can be found almost everywhere. They can be beneficial or harmful.
BAGASSE Dry pulp, or residue, that remains after extracting the juice from sugarcane and similar plants. Used to make paper and as fuel to generate electricity.
BIOCHEMISTRY The study of chemical characteristics and processes of living organisms.
BIODIESEL Fuel made from the oil in plants.
BIOENERGY Renewable fuel source contained in plants and other organic materials.
BIOLOGY The study of living organisms.
BIOMASS Organic matter coming from living or recently living plants, animals, and other organisms. Can be used to make fuel.
BIOSPHERE All living things on Earth in both land and water ecosystems.
BIOTECHNOLOGY Wide range of procedures and techniques to modify living organisms for human purposes. Some techniques, like breeding plants, have been used for thousands of years.
BLACK WATER Water polluted with animal or human waste. Not suitable to be re-used to irrigate crops or lawns.
BLOCKY A soil structure. Soil particles are arranged into shapes that resemble small cubes with sharp or rounded edges.
BREEDING Producing new forms of plants and animals by genetic changes in order to improve them.
BROMIDE Chemical compound that includes bromine and behaves a lot like nitrates in fertilizers.
BROWN STEM ROT A fungal disease that causes stems to rot.
Bt COTTON A genetically engineered cotton that includes a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis, a natural soil bacterium that produces proteins that kill certain insects.
CAPILLARY FRINGE Area of soil just above the water table where the soil pores are beginning to be filled with water.
CARBOHYDRATE One of the three major components of food. Consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen compounds that the body uses for energy.
CARBON CYCLE Movement of carbon between Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and ecosystems.
CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) Important greenhouse gas composed of carbon and oxygen. Also the gas that plants need to make food.
CARBON SINK A natural reservoir that stores more carbon than it releases. Soil is an excellent carbon sink.
CARBON SOURCE Anything that releases carbon into the atmosphere.
CASH CROP Crop that is grown to be sold rather than used for another purpose by the farmer.
CATALYST Substance that speeds up a chemical reaction.
CEREAL A grass grown to produce grain for food or feed. Wheat, corn, rice, and sorghum are all cereals.
CHLOROPHYLL Green pigment in plants, algae, and some bacteria that captures light energy for photosynthesis.
CHROMOSOME Strand of DNA that carries genetic information in the form of genes.
CLAY Smallest-sized soil particles. Often have plate-like shapes. Feels sticky when wet. Also refers to a soil texture that consists of at least 40% clay particles.
CLIMATE Weather conditions in an area over a long period of time.
COAL Black or dark-brown rock that formed from decayed plants and animals. Can be burned as fuel.
COASTAL LAND Area along the boundary where an ocean and land meet.
COLUMNAR A soil structure. Soil particles are arranged in tall vertical shapes or columns, often with rounded tops.
COMPETITIVE SPECIES Quick growing plants that can keep other plants from growing.
COMPOST Decayed organic matter from plants and manure that is used as a fertilizer.
COMPUTER (MATHEMATICAL) MODELS Process of using mathematical equations to explain how a complex real-life system works, like climate.
CONDENSATION Process by which water, a gas, becomes liquid water.
CONSERVATION Preserving or protecting something.
CONSUMER An organism that eats other organisms.
COVER CROP A crop grown to protect the soil and improve its fertility.
COWPEA Type of legume used for food. Also known as black-eyed peas or crowder peas.
CROP Plants that people grow for their use. Most crops become food or feed. Some are used to make medicines, fuels, clothes, and other things.
CROP ADVISER An agronomist who uses science to advise farmers about the best way to grow their crops.
CROP DENSITY The number of plants in a given area.
CROP ROTATION Growing different types of plants in a field from year to year.
CROP SENSORS Computerized information-based devices used to measure the levels of various nutrients needed by a crop.
CROPPING PRACTICES The types of crops that are grown in an area and how and when those crops are grown.
CROSS Short for cross pollination.
CROSS POLLINATION The process of using pollen from one plant with desirable traits to fertilize the female egg of another plant with the same or different desirable traits.
CULTIVATOR A tool or implement used to break up the soil and uproot weeds.
CULTIVAR A variety that has been intentionally bred for desirable traits and retains those distinguishing features in future generations.
CULTIVATE (noun: CULTIVATION) To dig up soil to loosen it and disrupt weeds. Also called tilling.
DEAD ZONE Area in a body of water with reduced biological activity due to a lack of oxygen.
DECOMPOSER An organism that breaks down dead or decaying matter into simpler compounds.
DEGRADED SOIL Poor quality soil. Degraded soils usually have low fertility because of neglect or abuse.
DIRECTED SELECTION Process by which humans select organisms with desirable traits and then control the breeding process so that these traits are passed to offspring.
DISEASE RESISTANCE Ability of a plant to defend itself against attacks by pathogens.
DIVERSITY Having variety. For example, many species of organisms living together.
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid. A molecule that carries an organism’s genetic information.
DOMESTICATE To convert wild plants and animals for human purposes. Involves genetic change through many generations of directed selection and breeding.
DRAINAGE Removal of water from one area to another. Movement can be on the surface or underground.
DRIP IRRIGATION Watering crops so that only the soil in the immediate vicinity of the plants is watered. Usually applied very slowly through a thin plastic tube.
DROUGHT Period of little to no precipitation. A long period of drought can damage crops.
ECOLOGIST Scientist who studies the interactions between organisms and their environment.
ECOSYSTEM Community of organisms (plants, animals, microbes) interacting with the nonliving components of their environment (sunlight, air, water, mineral soil).
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Benefits that people get from ecosystems.
ELEVATION Height above sea level.
EMBRYO The earliest stage of development of organisms produced by sexual reproduction, like the seed of a plant.
EMISSIONS Substances that are released into the atmosphere.
ENERGYCANE Sugarcane variety being developed as a source of biofuel. It can tolerate colder temperatures and drier conditions than current varieties.
ENTISOL A soil order. Soils formed by deposits from floods, volcanic eruptions, and eroding slopes. Can be very good for crops.
ENZYME Protein that increases the rate of chemical reactions in an organism’s cells.
ERODE (noun: EROSION) To wear away or remove rock or soil particles by wind, water, ice, and gravity.
ETHANOL Colorless flammable liquid produced from plants that is used in fuel.
EVAPORATION Process by which liquid water becomes a gas (vapor).
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION Loss of water from the soil by evaporation and from plants by transpiration.
EVOLUTION Natural process of genetic change in organisms over time.
FAT One of the three major components of food. Compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that can be used by the body for energy. Fat is the major way energy is stored in the body.
FERTILIZER Substance added to soil to provide plant nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
FIBER Plant materials used for textiles, paper, rope, baskets, and other consumer goods.
FLAME BURNING Using flares of burning liquid fuel to kill weeds.
FODDER Plants harvested, dried, and stored for consumption by livestock.
FOOD SECURITY The state of all people having enough safe, nutritious food to be active and healthy.
FORAGE Leaves and stalks of plants used as food for animals. Grass or hay eaten by animals in a pasture or rangeland setting.
FOSSIL FUEL Fuel such as coal, oil, or natural gas, formed in Earth over millions of years from the remains of living organisms.
FRESHWATER Water containing few dissolved natural solids, such as salt. It is water we use to drink, grow crops, and run our factories.
FUNGUS (plural: FUNGI) A kingdom of organisms distinct from animals and plants. Most fungi get their energy from decomposing plants and animals.
GELISOL A soil order. Soils formed in very cold climates with a frozen layer. Growing season too short for crops.
GENE A segment of DNA that controls one or more characteristics that can be passed down to offspring.
GENETIC DIVERSITY The number of genetic characteristics in a particular species.
GENETIC ENGINEERING Making deliberate, controlled changes in the genes of an organism to produce a desired result.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM (GMO) An organism whose genetic material has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering in a way that does not necessarily occur naturally.
GENETICS The study of how characteristics of living things are passed from one generation to the next.
GEOSPHERE Earth from its outer crust to its core.
GERMINATE To start to grow. The first stage in a plant’s life cycle.
GLYCEROL A syrupy, sweet, colorless or yellow liquid obtained as a byproduct from fats and oil. It is used as a sweetener and in soaps and antifreeze.
GLYPHOSATE A kind of herbicide, commercially known as RoundUp. It kills a variety of weeds.
GPS Global Positioning System. Navigation system based on satellites that pinpoints your location.
GRAIN Seeds of grasses such as wheat, corn, and rice that are used for food.
GRANULAR A soil structure. Soil particles are arranged into shapes that resemble granola. Has lots of pores.
GRAYWATER Waste water from bathtubs, showers, sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers.
GREEN MANURE Plants that are grown and plowed back into the soil to increase organic matter, increase fertility, and improve soil structure.
GREEN REVOLUTION
A period of time (~1960s) when advances in the science of agronomy improved crop yields and nutrition in developing countries.
GREENHOUSE A structure, often made of glass or plastic, that controls the light and temperature while plants are growing.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Process in which the gases in Earth’s atmosphere absorb heat and cause Earth’s surface and air temperatures to increase.
GREENHOUSE GAS Carbon dioxide and other gases that absorb solar radiation and contribute to the greenhouse effect.
GREENSEEKER Device that can scan the leaves of crop plants and determine their nitrogen levels.
GREENSPACE A designated area, like a park, where plants are grown.
GROUNDWATER Water that collects underground in the pore spaces of soil and rock. An important source of water for drinking and irrigation.
GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE The flow of water out of an underground aquifer.
HABITAT Natural environment, or home, of an organism.
HAY Leafy plant material that has been cut and dried to use as food for livestock.
HEAD Fruit cluster found in some plants like wheat. The seeds that develop in the head are called grains.
HERBICIDE-RESISTANT
Plants that have acquired the ability to survive a chemical application that normally would kill them.
HERBICIDE Chemical designed to kill weeds.
HERITABLE Able to be inherited.
HETEROGENEOUS Includes a mixture of substances and characteristics.
HISTOSOL A soil order. Soils contain a thick layer of decomposed plant matter. Can be good for crops if drained.
HORIZON A layer of soil with properties that differ from the layers above or below it.
HOST Plant on which an insect or disease-causing organism lives.
HUMIDITY The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.
HUMUS Organic matter, such as highly decomposed leaves.
HUNGER Ongoing (chronic) undernourishment from lack of the foods necessary to meet daily energy requirements.
HYBRIDIZATION Process of producing plants by crossing parents that are genetically different.
HYDROCARBON Long chains of carbon and hydrogen molecules that are the chief components of fossil fuels like petroleum and natural gas.
HYDROSPHERE The water on land, underground, and in air.
INCEPTISOL A soil order. Young soils found on steep slopes. Can be used for crops.
INFILTRATION The slow movement (seepage) of water into soil or rock.
INFRARED RADIATION
A type of electromagnetic radiation. Invisible to humans, but can be felt by them as heat.
INHERIT To get traits from a parent.
INOCULATE Add a substance, such as a microorganism, to seeds, soil, or plants.
IMPERMEABLE LAYER A layer of material that water cannot pass through.
INPUTS Resources such as seed, labor, and fertilizer used in agricultural production.
INTEGRATED CROP–LIVESTOCK (ICL) A system that raises both crops and animals on the same farm instead of just one or the other.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) Strategy for managing pests with the least negative effect on the environment, people, and the farmer’s budget.
IRRIGATION Applying water to land to supply crops with necessary moisture to grow.
LARVA Immature life stage of some organisms, like insects.
LEACHING The removal of minerals and nutrients from a soil as water passes through it.
LEGUMES Plants that get nitrogen from bacteria living on their roots. Legumes have protein-rich seeds called pulses. Examples include peas, soybean, lentils, and beans.
LIVESTOCK Animals that are raised on a farm or ranch.
LOAM A soil texture with moderate amounts of sand, silt, and clay, sometimes in nearly equal proportions. Good texture for farming and gardening.
MACRONUTRIENT A substance that is required in large amounts for growth and development.
MAIZE Commonly known in the United States and Canada as corn.
MALNUTRITION A condition in which a person does not get enough calories and/or nutrients to maintain health.
MANAGED ECOSYSTEM An ecosystem that is modified and controlled by humans, like agriculture.
MANURE Waste from animals that can be used to fertilize plants and improve soil quality.
MASSIVE A soil that has no structure. Soil particles are completely stuck together.
MATURE Fully grown or developed.
METHANE (CH4) A colorless, odorless gas that can be burned for fuel. Also a greenhouse gas.
MICROBE Microscopic organisms, such as bacteria and fungi. Microbes represent the most abundant soil organisms.
MILO Sorghum.
MINERALS The inorganic particles in soils that weathered from rocks.
MINING Process of digging into the earth to extract resources, such as coal.
MITIGATION Reducing the severity or seriousness of a problem.
MOISTURE GAUGE Device for measuring water content in a substance, like soil.
MOLLISOL A soil order. Soils formed under grasslands. Very good for crops.
MONOCULTURE Growing a single type of crop in a field at one time.
MULCH Materials that are spread on the ground around plants to reduce evaporation, cut down on weed growth, and enrich the soil.
MUTATION Random, natural genetic changes in cells. Many stable mutations are heritable and a major source of genetic diversity. Mutations are essential to evolution.
NATURAL SELECTION Process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. Also referred to as “survival of the fittest.”
NITRATES Compounds of nitrogen and oxygen essential to plant growth. Many fertilizers contain nitrates.
NITROGEN (N) Macronutrient essential to living things that enhances plant growth and building proteins. Often added to agricultural and garden soils. The most common element in Earth’s atmosphere.
NITROUS OXIDE (N2O) A colorless, non-flammable gas. A greenhouse gas.
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES Type of product that can’t be replaced once it is used up, like coal or petroleum.
NO-TILL FARMING A way of growing crops. Farmers dig up—till—their fields as little as possible. That saves them money and helps to protect the environment.
NUTRIENT Vitamins and minerals that nourish organisms. Essential for growth and reproduction.
ORGANIC FARMERS Farmers who avoid the use of traditional commercial pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage, and genetically modified crops, for example.
ORGANIC MATTER Material derived from the decay of plants and animals. Always contains compounds of carbon and hydrogen.
ORGANISMS Living things such as bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals.
OXIDIZE (noun: OXIDATION) To combine with oxygen.
OXISOL A soil order. Soils formed in tropical climates. Can be used for crops if fertilized.
PARENT MATERIAL The rock material from which soil forms.
PASTURE Land covered with grasses and other plants suitable for grazing animals, such as cattle or sheep.
PATHOGEN Agent that causes disease. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms can cause diseases.
PED The structural unit formed when soil particles (sand, silt, and clay) bind together.
PEDOSPHERE The outermost layer of Earth that is composed of soil.
PERENNIAL Plants that live for more than two years as opposed to annuals that grow each year from seeds and
biennials that live for only two years.
PERPETUAL Continuous event or process.
PEST Organisms that damage the health of a growing or a harvested crop, including weeds, harmful insects, and disease-causing microbes.
PESTICIDE Chemical or biological substance designed to control a pest.
PHOSPHORUS (P) Macronutrient essential to all living things that enhances the development of flowers, fruits, and seeds in plants and the functioning of the nervous system in animals. Often added to agricultural and garden soils.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS Process by which plants, some bacteria, and some algae use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into food and release oxygen into the atmosphere.
PLAINS A large area of flat land with few trees.
PLATY A soil structure. Soil particles are arranged into shapes that resemble flat plates.
PLOT Small piece of land, like ones used in agricultural research.
POLLINATION Process by which male pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of a plant to form seeds.
POLLUTANT Substance that contaminates the air, water, or soil.
PORES Spaces between soil and rock particles, which can be filled with water or air. A porous soil has lots of empty spaces.
POTASSIUM (K) Macronutrient essential to all living things, important for processes like water uptake and pest resistance in plants, muscle growth, and blood circulation in animals. Often added to agricultural and garden soils.
PRAIRIE A grassland ecosystem.
PRECIPITATION Water falling from clouds as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
PRECISION AGRICULTURE Crop management system. Involves observing, measuring, and responding to variation in nutrient needs, water use, yield, and other factors within fields and between fields of crops.
PRODUCER Organisms that make their own food, like plants.
PROPAGULE Any part of a plant from which a new plant can develop. Examples are tubers, seeds, spores, runners, and cuttings.
PROTEIN An essential component of all living things, consisting of long chains of amino acids. It provides the structure for building muscles, skin, and blood. One of the three major components of food.
PULSES Seeds of legumes, such as peas, beans, peanuts, and soybean that are eaten as an important source of protein in many parts of the world.
QUALITATIVE TRAITS Simple traits controlled by one or a few genes that clearly differ from individual to individual.
QUALITY SOIL Soil that is healthy enough to produce an abundance of crops or livestock year after year.
QUANTITATIVE TRAITS Complex traits, such as plant height or yield, controlled by many genes. These traits don’t always clearly differ from individual to individual.
RADIATION A type of energy wave that is produced by radioactive substances. It can be used to create mutations
in plants.
RANGELAND Various types of uncultivated land that are used for grazing animals.
REFUTED Proved wrong.
RELIEF The shape of the land surface created by hills and valleys. Also known as terrain.
RENEWABLE RESOURCES Materials that can be made or collected over and over again, such as crops.
RESISTANCE An organism’s ability to withstand disease or other adverse environmental conditions.
ROW SPACING The distance between rows of crop plants in a field.
RUNOFF Water from precipitation or irrigation that does not soak into the soil but flows off the land and reaches streams, rivers, and other bodies of water.
SAND The largest-sized soil particles. Sand feels gritty. Also refers to a soil texture that consists of at least 85% sand particles.
SATURATED SOIL Soil when all the pores are filled with water.
SEA LEVEL The level corresponding to the surface of the sea at its the average level between high and low tide.
SELECTION Process in which genetic and/or environmental factors determine which traits are inherited by the next generation. May be natural or directed by humans.
SELF SUFFICIENT Needing no outside help in satisfying one’s basic needs, like food.
SEMI-DWARF A trait bred into some crops so they produce shorter, sturdier plants than is typical for that crop.
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION Production of offspring by combining genetic information from male and female parents.
SILAGE A moist animal feed made by fermenting grass or other plants. Can be used to make biofuel.
SILT Soil particles between sand and clay in size. Silt feels like flour (smooth and velvety). Also refers to a soil texture that consists of at least 80% silt particles.
SILVOPASTURE A farm system that combines trees with pasture for livestock. Both the trees and the livestock provide income for the farmer.
SINGLE-GRAINED Soil structure where the soil particles are not bound to each other in any way, such as beach sand.
SMART CONTROLLER/METER An instrument that uses weather data to manage the amount and timing of irrigation.
SOIL A complex mixture of minerals, organic matter, water, and air, which forms on the land surface. Soil is full of life. Can support the growth of plants.
SOIL CORE A cylindrical (round) tube-like sample of soil that is removed by drilling a hole into the ground.
SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR Device that measures how much water is contained in the soil.
SOIL ORDERS Twelve broad groups of soils. Soils in the same order share certain characteristics.
SOIL PROFILE A section of a soil that has been cut vertically to expose all its horizons, or layers.
SOIL SEQUESTRATION Process of using soil for long-term storage of carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon.
SOIL SOLARIZATION Process that uses the sun’s heat to kill soil pests.
SOIL STRUCTURE The arrangement of soil particles into clusters, called peds, of various shapes.
SOIL TEXTURE The relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay particles in a particular soil.
SOLAR RADIATION Energy that comes from the sun in the form of electromagnetic waves, including visible light, ultraviolet light, and infrared radiation.
SPODOSOL A soil order. Soils formed under coniferous forests. Need fertilizer to grow crops.
SPORES Reproductive structures of mold and fungi.
STEM RUST A very destructive disease of wheat and other cereal crops that is caused by a fungus.
STOVER The stem and leafy parts of field crops such as corn, sorghum, and soybean that are left after harvesting the grains.
STRAIN A group of organisms within a species that differ in minor, but important, ways from other organisms in the same species.
SUBSURFACE Below the ground surface.
SUCCUMB To die from a disease or injury.
SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME A fungal disease that can infect soybean crops.
SUSCEPTIBLE Easily affected or harmed by something, like a pathogen.
SUSTAINABLE Producing crops and livestock in a way that protects the land, air, and water.
SYMBIOTIC A beneficial relationship between organisms that live together.
TACTICS Strategy or set of actions for accomplishing a goal.
TEFF Cereal crop that will grow in poor, dry soils.
TILLING (TILLAGE) Digging up soil to loosen it to prepare for planting crops and to disrupt weeds. Also called cultivation.
TOLERANCE Ability of an organism to survive under unfavorable conditions.
TOPOGRAPHY Surface features of the land including mountains, hills, creeks, etc.
TOXIN Poisonous substance that can harm an organism.
TRAIT Characteristic of an individual plant or animal, such as the color of a flower or the shape of a leaf. Genetic traits can be inherited by the individual’s offspring.
TRANSPIRATION Evaporation of water from the pores in the leaves of plants.
TUBER An enlarged underground stem used for food storage by a plant. Has numerous eyes, or buds, that can develop into a new plant. Potato is a tuber.
TURF Grass and the attached soil that is held by the roots. Also known as sod. Used to cover recreational areas like lawns, parks, and golf courses.
ULTISOL A soil order. Highly weathered soils formed in humid areas. Needs fertilizer to grow crops.
VADOSE ZONE The part of Earth between the land surface and the top of the water table.
VARIABLE A characteristic or factor that may vary, or change.
VARIETY Members of a species that have different inherited characteristics, such as plant height or seed number.
VERTICAL FARMING The practice of producing crops in vertically stacked layers.
VERTISOL A soil order. Soils that contain a large amount of clay. Not well suited for agriculture.
VIGILANT Keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.
VIRTUAL Something that does not exist physically, but is created by a computer to appear nearly real.
VITAMIN Organic compounds in food that are necessary for normal human growth and health.
WATER CYCLE The cycle in which water moves between Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land. Includes precipitation, drainage, evaporation, and transpiration.
WATER TABLE The top of the underground level at which rocks and soil are completely wet (saturated) with water.
WATERLOGGED Land full of water. Often soil that is too wet for farmers to plant crops or work in their fields.
WATERSHED The area of land from which water drains into a river or other body of water.
WEATHER The day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere at a particular place that include temperature, moisture, wind, atmospheric pressure, etc.
WEATHERING The process that breaks down rocks and minerals into smaller particles that help form soil.
WEED A plant out of place. An undesirable plant that can rob a crop of water, nutrients, and space in which to grow.
WETLANDS An area of land where the soil is saturated with water, such as a marsh, swamp, or bog.
WOODLAND An area of land covered with trees and shrubs.
YIELD (verb) To produce harvestable crops for consumption. (noun) The amount of a crop harvested for use
