Table Of ContentDICTIONARY OF
AGRICULTURE
DICTIONARY OF
AGRICULTURE
2nd Edition
Editor Alan Stephens
First published in Great Britain by
Peter Collin Publishing Ltd
Published in the United States of America by
Fitzroy Dearborn, Publishers
This edition published 2015 by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 1990, 1996, 1998 by P.H.Collin
Text computer typeset by Create Publishing Services Ltd, Bath
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form
A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 13: 978-1-57958-076-6 (hbk)
Cover: Peter Aristedes, Chicago Advertising and Design
Preface to the first edition
In this dictionary we aim to provide the user with a comprehensive vocabulary of
terms used in agriculture, horticulture and other related areas. The vocabulary ranges
from the equipment used on a farm to breeds of livestock, varieties of crops, types of
pesticide and herbicide, and farm building construction. It covers not only agriculture
in temperate regions, but also makes particular reference to the agriculture of the
tropics. The terms are defined in simple English in a way which makes them easily
accessible to the student; examples of usage are given, especially in the form of
quotations from newspapers and magazines published in many countries.
More extensive coverage of many topics is provided by the encyclopaedic comment
sections which expand on the information given in the definitions, and give further
details which may be of help to the student. At the back of the book, several pages of
supplementary material offer information in the form of tables.
We are particularly grateful to Dr Jonathan Blackman of the University of Sussex
and to Mr Neville Beynon of the Berkshire College of Agriculture, for helpful
comments and suggestions for improvement which they made in the course of the
compilation of the dictionary.
Preface to the second edition
New terminology has been added to this dictionary, to cover latest developments in
various fields.
We are grateful to Simon Medaney of the Language Centre, Silsoe College,
Cranfield University, for having commented on the proofs.
In this edition, we have also added phonetic pronunciation for the main entry words.
Pronunciation
The following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of
the main words in the dictionary:
Stress has been indicated by a main stress mark ('), but this is only
a guide, as the stress of the word changes according to its position in
the sentence.
Vowels Consonants
X back b bud
a: hard d ditch
D fog Õ weather
ai fly d3 jet
au plough f farm
aid fire g gold
aud shower h head
o: coarse j yeast
DI noise k coke
e head 1 leaf
es fair m mixed
ei main n nest
3 absorb D spring
au node P pond
sua lower r rust
3: bird s scale
i: seep Í shell
1 fit t teak
19 clear tí chain
u: pool e thaw
Ü wood V value
A nut w work
z zone
3 fusion
Aa
A horizon ['ei hs'raizsn] noun topsoil; see produce an embryo or foetus and to end a
also HORIZON pregnancy before the foetus is fully
developed (b) (in plants and animals) to
Vitamin A ['vitamin 'ei] noun (- retinol) remain underdeveloped; to wither away
vitamin which is soluble in fat and can be
0 abortion [s'hoi/n] noun situation where
formed in the body, but which is mainly
an unborn offspring leaves the womb
found in food, such as liver, vegetables, egg
before the end of a pregnancy; contagious
yolks and cod liver oil
abortion = brucellosis, an infectious
I COMMENT: lack of Vitamin A affects the disease, which is usually associated with
I body's growth and resistance to disease cattle where it results in reduced milk
I and can cause night blindness. The primary yields, infertility and abortion; the UK is
I source of this vitamin is the green plant. It is now a brucellosis-free area
I of great importance for dairy cows: lack of
I the vitamin leads to retardation of growth in ABRASSUCOS = ASSOCIAÇÃO
I young stock and in adult animals appears BRASILERA DAS INDUSTRIAS DE
I to lower their resistance to infectious SUCOS CÍTRICOS the Brazilian
I diseases organization representing producers of
juice from citrus plants
AA = ARBORICULTURAL
abreast parlour [a'brest 'paite] noun one
ASSOCIATION of the four basic designs of milking parlour:
the cows stand side by side with their heads
AAPP = AVERAGE ALL PIGS PRICE facing away from the milker
abaca [a'baeks] noun manila hemp
ABRO = ANIMAL BREEDING
abattoir faebatwa:] noun place where RESEARCH ORGANISATION.
animals are slaughtered and prepared for
sale to the public as meat abSCeSS ['aebses] noun collection of pus
formed in the body, which may be acute or
abdomen ['aebdaman] noun the space in an chronic
animal's body containing the stomach,
intestines, liver and other vital organs absinthe ['aebsine] noun perennial
aromatic herb (Artemisia absinthium) used
Aberdeen Angus [sba'dhn 'sngds] noun
as medicine and (illegally) in making
an early maturing breed of beef cattle, alcoholic drinks; also called 'wormwood'
naturally hornless and usually black all
over. Angus cattle can be rather small- absolute ['aebsaluit] adjective (i)
headed with a long deep body. They are complete; (ii) terminal point (not compared
highly valued for quality beef with anything else); absolute humidity =
vapour concentration or ratio of the mass of
abomasal Ulcer [aebso'meissl *A1S9] noun water vapour in a given quantity of air to
disease common in both calves and adult
the amount of air
cattle. Calves show poor growth and lose
appetite. In rare cases, cows may bleed to
absorb [ab'zoib] verb to take in any
death
substance; (of a solid) to take in a liquid
abomasum [aebsu'meisam] noun the 0 absorption [ab'zoipjan] noun action of
fourth stomach of a ruminant; see also absorbing; (i) taking nutrients from food
OMASUM, RETICULUM, RUMEN into the bloodstream; (ii) the process by
which chemicals gain entry into plant
abort [a'boit] verb (a) to miscarry; to tissues
abstraction 2 acidify
abstraction [aeb'straekjn] noun removal; conditions; acclimatized sheep = sheep
abstraction licence = a licence issued by a which have become used to their local
Water Board to allow abstraction of water environment and as a result are less likely
from a river or lake for domestic or to stray
commercial use. The licence is needed for
0 acclimatization or acclimation
irrigation
Oklaimatai'zeiJ'n or aklai'mei/n] noun action
QUOTE a statutory limit on water of becoming acclimatized
abstraction from the Thames was set in
1 COMMENT: when an organism such as a
1911, in essence to maintain the quality
I plant or animal is acclimatizing, it is
of water in the river and provide for
I adapting physically to different
navigational needs
I environmental conditions, such as changes
London Environmental Bulletin
I in food supply, temperature or altitude
abundant [a'bAndnt] adjective with very accommodation land [dkomsdei/n
large numbers; giving a large crop; the bush Maend] noun land available for short-term
produces abundant red berries tenancy
Acacia [a'keija] noun species of tree, accredit [a'kredit] verb to recognize
including the wattle, often grown as officially; accredited herd = herd of cattle
ornamental trees registered under a scheme as being free
from Brucellosis; accredited milk = milk
from a herd accredited as being free from
acarid ['aekarid] noun mite or tick, a small
Brucellosis
insect which feeds on plants or animals by
piercing the outer skin and sucking juices
Acer ['eisa] Latin name for the maple
0 acariasis [aeka'raeiasis] noun skin
disease caused by ticks or mites acetonaemia [aesatau'niimia] noun
disease affecting cows, caused by ketone
0 acaricide or acaridicide [aksnsaid or
bodies accumulating. The animal loses
aeka'ndisaid] noun poison used to kill mites
appetite and the smell of acetone affects the
and ticks
breath, the urine and milk
OAcarida or Acariña [dksndd <>,•
ako'rnnaj noun scientific name for the order achene [a'khn] noun small dry one-seeded
of animals including mites and ticks fruit, which does not split open to release its
seed
ACAS = ADVISORY CONCILIATION
AND ARBITRATION SERVICE, acid ['aesid] noun chemical compound
AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS containing hydrogen, which dissolves in
water and forms hydrogen, or reacts with
APPROVAL SCHEME
an alkali to form a salt and water, and turns
ACC = AGRICULTURAL CREDIT litmus paper red; hydrochloric acid is
CORPORATION, ASSOCIATION OF secreted in the stomach and forms part of the
COUNTY COUNCILS gastric juices; inorganic acids = acids which
are derived from minerals, such as
access I'aekses] noun right of access = (i) hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid;
right of someone to be able to get to land by organic acids = weak acids which contain
passing over someone else's property; (ii) carbon, some of which are pesticides
right of the public to walk in areas of the 0 acidic [a'sidik] adjective referring to
countryside, providing they do not harm acids; soil and vegetation in high altitude
crops or farm animals; access order = court forests are directly exposed to an extremely
order which gives the public the right to go acidic cloud base; acidic properties =
on private land properties associated with acids
0 acidification [asidif i'keijn] noun
acclimatize [a'klaimstaiz] verb (i) to
process of becoming acid or of making a
make something become used to a different
substance more acid; acidification of the soil
sort of environment, usually a change in
leads to the destruction of some living
climate; (ii) to become used to a different
organisms
sort of environment; plants take some time
to become acclimatized to tropical 0 acidify [a'sidifai] verb to make a
acidify 3 actuals
substance more acid; acid rain causes I COMMENT: most farm crops will not grow
acidified lakes with no fish population I well if the soil is very acid, lliis can be cured
0 acidity [s'siditi] noun level of acid in a I by applying one of the materials commonly
solution; the alkaline solution may help to I used for adding lime, such as ground chalk
reduce acidity I or limestone
1 COMMENT: acidity and alkalinity are ACP = ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
I shown according to the pH scale on which PESTICIDES
pH7 is neutral; numbers above indicate
I alkalinity, while pH6 and below indicate ACP States see LOME CONVENTION
I acidity
ACPAT = ASSOCIATION OF
acidophilus milk [aesi'dDfilas milk] noun CHARTERED PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN
a cultured milk made from fresh milk ANIMAL THERAPY
which is allowed to go sour in a controlled
way. One of the most popular types of ACR = AUTOMATIC CLUSTER
cultured milk in Europe is yoghurt REMOVAL
acidosis [aesi'ddusis] noun disease of ACRE = ACTION WITH COMMUNITIES
cattle caused by excess concentrate feed IN RURAL ENGLAND
COMMENT: as acidity increases the rumen acre ['eika] noun unit of measurement of
wall becomes inflamed. The animal land area, equal to 4,840 square yards, or
I dehydrates progressively, the blood turns 0.4047 hectares
I more acidic and in extreme cases the
0 acreage ['eikandsl noun area of land
I animal may die
measured in acres; US acreage allotment =
acid rain or acid deposition or acid quota system operated in the USA, which
limits the area of land which can be planted
precipitation [aesid 'rem or aesid depa'zijn
with a certain type of crop; acreage
or aesid presipi'tei/n] noun rain (or snow)
reduction programme (ARP) = American
which contains a higher level of acid than
federal programme under which farmers
normal
are only eligible for subsidies if they reduce
COMMENT: acid rain is mainly caused by the acreage of certain crops planted
I sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other (NOTE: the British equivalent is set-aside)
pollutants which are released into the
I atmosphere when fossil fuels containing aCtlnobacillOSlS [aekthnaubaesi'lausis]
I sulphur (such as oil or coal) are burnt. Acid noun disease of cattle affecting the tongue
I rain rarely falls near the source of the and throat; it also occurs in sheep as
I pollution, because the smoke from swellings on the lips, cheeks and jaws. It is
I chimneys can be carried by air currents for also known as 'cruels'
I many kilometres before it finally falls as
0 actinomycosis [aktinaumaei'kiHJSis]
I rain. So Scandinavia receives acid rain
noun disease of cattle and pigs, where the
I which is caused by pollution from British
animal is infected with bacteria which form
I and German factories; Canada receives
abscesses in the mouth and lungs, known as
I acid rain from factories in the US. Acid soot,
lumpy jaw'
I on the other hand, can fall relatively close to
I the source of pollution. It is caused when
activate ['aektiveit] verb to make a
I carbon combines with sulphur trioxide
chemical reaction take place
I from sulphur-rich fuel to form particles of
I an acid substance which can damage the 0 activator ['aektiveita] noun substance
I surfaces it falls on (such as stone which activates; compost activator =
I buildings). The effects of acid rain are chemical added to a compost heap to speed
I primarily felt by wildlife: the water in lakes up the decomposition of decaying plant
I becomes very clear as fish and microscopic matter
I animal life is killed. It is believed that it is
I acid rain that kills trees, especially conifers, actuals ['sktjuslz] noun stocks of
I which gradually lose their leaves and die commodities, such as cotton or rice, which
are available for shipping (as opposed to
acid SOU ['aesid 'soil] noun soil which has a 'futures', commodities for delivery in the
pH value of 6 or less future, which have not yet been produced)
