An area of crop terraces is a distinct piece of land which is plowed, prepared, or actively used for growing and harvesting plants, and which is configured as a series of two or more terraces at different elevations separated by constructed walls, berms, or landforms to hold the terraces in place. A single area of crop terraces may be separated from another one by a strongly defined boundary such as a major gap, a row of trees, or a strongly visible demarcation. The plants grown on it may be grassy, herbaceous, flowers, bushes, vines, trees, or virtually any other form of land-growing plant.

At least two levels form the terraced cultivation area. Constructed walls, berms, or shaped land hold the cultivated surfaces at their different elevations.

The terrace arrangement does not limit the crop to one kind of plant. A strongly marked boundary can separate one terrace area from another despite similar cultivation on each.