cash crop

American  

[kash krop] / ˈkæʃ ˈkrɒp /

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.

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cash crop British  

noun

1. a crop grown for sale rather than for subsistence

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Etymology

Origin of cash crop

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

"As cardamom is the queen of spices and a cash crop lot of people have started get in to cultivation," she says.

From BBC

Today, the Salinas Valley’s biggest cash crop is strawberries, accounting for more than 20% of Monterey County’s $4.9-billion annual production value from agriculture.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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