Agriculture (encompasses farming, ranching, and the tending of orchards and vineyards)
is the production of food, feed, fiber, fuel and other goods by the systematic raising
of plants and animals.
Agri is from Latin ager, meaning "a field", and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning
"cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal reading of the
English word yields: tillage of the soil of a field. In modern usage, the word agriculture
covers all activities essential to food/feed/fiber production, including all techniques
for raising and "processing" livestock. Agriculture is also short for the study
of the practice of agriculture—more formally known as agricultural science.
The history of agriculture is a major element of human history, as agricultural
progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change, including
wealth-building and militaristic specializations rarely seen in hunter-gatherer
cultures—when farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their
own families, others in the tribe/nation/empire were freed to devote themselves
to ambitions and enterprises other than food acquisition.
42% of the world's laborers are employed in agriculture, making it by far the most
common occupation. However, agricultural production accounts for less than 5% of
the Gross World Product (an aggregate of all Gross Domestic Products).[1]
Overview
The term "farming" covers the wide spectrum of agricultural practices. On one end
of the spectrum is the subsistence farmer, who farms a small area with limited resource
inputs, and produces only enough food to meet the needs of his/her family. At the
other end is commercial intensive agriculture, including industrial agriculture.
Such farming involves large fields and/or numbers of animals, large resource inputs
(pesticides, fertilizers, etc.), and a high level of mechanization. These operations
generally attempt to maximize financial income from grain, produce, or livestock.
Modern agriculture extends well beyond the traditional production of food for humans
and animal feeds. Other agricultural production goods include timber, fertilizers,
animal hides, leather, industrial chemicals (starch, sugar, ethanol, alcohols and
plastics), fibers (cotton, wool, hemp, and flax), fuels (methane from biomass, biodiesel),
cut flowers, ornamental and nursery plants, tropical fish and birds for the pet
trade, and both legal and illegal drugs (biopharmaceuticals, tobacco, marijuana,
opium, cocaine).
The twentieth century saw massive changes in agricultural practice, particularly
in agricultural chemistry and in mechanization. Agricultural chemistry includes
the application of chemical fertilizer, chemical insecticides (see pest control),
and chemical fungicides, soil makeup, analysis of agricultural products, and nutritional
needs of farm animals. Up to and including the 1970s, surface runoff of fertilizer
and pesticides was a growing and uncontrolled problem. Staring roughly in 1980,
many Western nations, prodded by dozens of environmental action groups, began to
implement effective controls on agriculture-related pollution, and the green revolution
spread many of the benefits of agricultural chemistry to farms throughout the world,
without the extreme pollution that originally accompanied them. Mechanization has
also enormously increased farm efficiency and productivity in most regions of the
world, especially in the form of the tractor and various gins (short for "engine")
like the cotton gin, semi-automatic balers and threshers (see agricultural machinery).
Other recent changes in agriculture include hydroponics, plant breeding, hybridization,
gene manipulation, better management of soil nutrients, and improved weed control.
Genetic engineering has yielded crops which have capabilities beyond those of naturally
occurring plants, such as higher yields and disease resistance. Modified seeds germinate
faster, and thus can be grown in an extended growing area. Genetic engineering of
plants has proven controversial, particularly in the case of herbicide-resistant
plants.
Engineers may develop plants for irrigation, drainage, conservation and sanitary
engineering, particularly important in normally arid areas which rely upon constant
irrigation, and on large scale farms.
The packing, processing, and marketing of agricultural products are closely related
activities also influenced by science. Methods of quick-freezing and dehydration
have increased the markets for farm products (see food preservation and meat packing
industry).
Animals, including horses, mules, oxen, camels, llamas, alpacas, and dogs, are often
used to cultivate fields, harvest crops and transport farm products to markets.
Animal husbandry not only refers to the breeding and raising animals for meat or
to harvest animal products (like milk, eggs, or wool) on a continual basis, but
the breeding and care of species for work and companionship.
Airplanes, helicopters, trucks, tractors, and combines are used in Western agriculture
for seeding, spraying operations for insect and disease control, harvesting, aerial
topdressing and transporting perishable products. Radio and television disseminate
vital weather reports and other information such as market reports that concern
farmers. Computers have become an essential tool for farm management.
Ploughing rice paddies with water buffalo, in Indonesia.According to the National
Academy of Engineering in the United States, agricultural mechanization is one of
the 20 greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. Early in the century,
it took one American farmer to produce food for 2.5 people. Today, due to advances
in agricultural technology, a single farmer can feed over 130 people.[2] This comes
at a cost, however. A large energy input, often from fossil fuel, are required to
maintain such high levels of output.
In recent years, some aspects of intensive industrial agriculture have been the
subject of increasing discussion. The widening sphere of influence held by large
seed and chemical companies, meat packers and food processors has been a source
of concern both within the farming community and for the general public. Another
issue is the type of feed given to some animals that can cause bovine spongiform
encephalopathy in cattle. There has also been concern because of the disastrous
effect that intensive agriculture has on the environment. In the US, for example,
fertilizer has been running off into the Mississippi for years and has caused a
dead spot in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi empties. Intensive agriculture
also depletes the fertility of the land over time, potentially leading to desertification.
A field of ripening barleyThe patent protection given to companies that develop
new types of seed using genetic engineering has allowed seed to be licensed to farmers
in much the same way that computer software is licensed to users. This has changed
the balance of power in favor of the seed companies, allowing them to dictate terms
and conditions previously unheard of. The Indian activist and scientist Vandana
Shiva argues that these companies are guilty of biopiracy.
Soil conservation and nutrient management have been important concerns since the
1950s, with the most advanced farmers taking a stewardship role with the land they
use. However, increasing contamination of waterways and wetlands by nutrients like
nitrogen and phosphorus are concerns that can only be addressed by "enlightenment"
of farmers and/or far stricter law enforcement in many countries.
Increasing consumer awareness of agricultural issues has led to the rise of community-supported
agriculture, local food movement, "Slow Food", and commercial organic farming.
Ancient origins
Developed independently by geographically distant populations, systematic agriculture
first appeared in Southwest Asia in the Fertile Crescent, particularly in modern-day
southern Iraq and Syria. Around 9500 BC, proto-farmers began to select and cultivate
food plants with desired characteristics. Though there is evidence of earlier sporadic
use of wild cereals, it was not until after 9500 BC that the eight so-called founder
crops of agriculture appear: first emmer and einkorn wheat, then hulled barley,
peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax.
By 7000 BC, small-scale agriculture reached Egypt. From 7000 BC the Indian subcontinent
saw farming of wheat and barley, attested by archaeological excavation at Mehrgarh
in Balochistan. By 6000 BC, mid-scale farming was entrenched on the banks of the
Nile River. About this time, agriculture was developed independently in the Far
East, with rice, rather than wheat, as the primary crop. Chinese and Indonesian
farmers went on to domesticate mung, soy, azuki and taro. To complement these new
sources of carbohydrates, highly organized net fishing of rivers, lakes and ocean
shores in these areas brought in great volumes of essential protein.
By 5000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large
scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and use
of a specialized labour force, particularly along the waterway now known as the
Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Domestication of wild aurochs and mouflon into cattle and sheep, respectively, ushered
in the large-scale use of animals for food/fiber and as beasts of burden. The shepherd
joined the farmer as an essential provider for sedentary and semi-nomadic societies.
Maize, manioc, and arrowroot were first domesticated in the Americas as far back
as 5300 BC.[1] The potato, tomato, pepper, squash, several varieties of bean, Canna,
tobacco and several other plants were also developed in the New World, as was extensive
terracing of steep hillsides in much of Andean South America.
In later years, the Greeks and Romans built on techniques pioneered by the Sumerians
but made few fundamentally new advances. The Greeks and Macedonians struggled with
very poor soils, yet managed to become dominant societies for years. The Romans
were noted for an emphasis on the cultivation of crops for trade.
Sumerian Harvester's sickle, 3000 BCE. Baked clay. Field Museum.
[edit] Agriculture in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Muslim farmers in North Africa and the Near East developed
and disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on
hydraulic and hydrostatic principles, the use of machines such as norias, and the
use of water raising machines, dams, and reservoirs. Muslims also wrote location-specific
Farming manuals, and were instrumental in the wider adoption of crops including
sugar cane, rice, citrus fruit, apricots, cotton, artichokes, aubergines, and saffron.
Muslims also brought lemons, oranges, cotton, almonds, figs and sub-tropical crops
such as bananas to Spain.
[edit] Renaissance to present day
A tractor ploughing an alfalfa fieldThe invention of a three field system of crop
rotation during the Middle Ages, and the importation of the Chinese-invented moldboard
plow, vastly improved agricultural efficiency.
After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred.
Key crops involved in this exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, cocoa, tobacco,
and coffee going from the New World to the Old, and, primarily, several varieties
of wheat and spice going from the Old World to the New. The most important animal
exportation was that of the horse from the Old World to the New. Although not usually
a food animal, the horse (including donkeys and ponies) quickly filled essential
production roles on the farm.
By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks and cultivars
had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the Middle
Ages. With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th and 20th centuries,
particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could be done with a speed
and on a scale previously impossible. These advances have led to efficiencies enabling
certain modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany, and a few
other nations to output volumes of high quality produce per land unit at what may
be the practical limit.
Agricultural output in 2005In 2005, China was the largest producer of agricultural
output with almost one-sixth world share followed by the EU, India and the USA,
reports the International Monetary Fund.
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