cash crop

[ kash krop ]

noun

1. any crop that is considered easily marketable, as wheat or cotton.
2. a crop for direct sale in a market, as distinguished from a crop for use as livestock feed or for other purposes.

cash crop

noun

1. a crop grown for sale rather than for subsistence

Word History and Origins

Origin of cash crop¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

Solanum elaeagnifolium -- also known as silverleaf nightshade -- can be found from south Texas to South Africa and Greece, infesting fields and soaking up valuable nutrients intended for cash crops.

From Science Daily

Hundreds of people in Goroka and surrounding highland towns grow cash crops like coffee, tea, rubber, and sugarcane and ferry them down to the coast every week to sell to plantations and community boards.

From Salon

Decriminalization of cannabis in 2022 was spearheaded by the Bhumjaithai Party, whose stronghold is in the impoverished northeast where it promised farmers cannabis would be a new cash crop.

From Seattle Times

Bamboo promoters are urging them to see a bamboo plantation as the same kind of cash crop as coffee or tea estates.

From Seattle Times

Corn was a cash crop at Mount Vernon, and the estate had a successful mill that could process up to 8,000 pounds of flour and cornmeal in one day.

From Seattle Times