specialty crops

Noun

specialty crop (plural specialty crops)

1. (broadly, idiomatic) Any of various crops cultivated for, or managed and gathered for, human use (in food, personal hygiene, medicine, or decoration) rather than as animal feed, fodder, or forage.
2. (idiomatic, strictly) Any of a category of human-use crops that include "fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture)"; "eligible plants must be cultivated or managed and used by people for food, medicinal purposes, and/or aesthetic gratification to be considered specialty crops."
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see specialty, crop: Any crop that requires some sort of technical specialization to grow (this sense exists but is largely meaningless and useless to initiates in agriculture).