Introduction to Agriculture

What is Agriculture

The word “agriculture” is derived from two Latin words, “Ager/Agri” means “soil” and “Cultura” means “cultivation”. Agriculture is a practical science that includes all attributes of crop production and development involving agronomy, forestry, horticulture, fishing, live-stock, etc.

"Agriculture is well-defined as the art, science, and business of crop cultivation and livestock rearing for economic objectives."

Art: This includes knowing how to skillfully perform farm operations, but certainly doesn’t involve knowledge of the operative principles behind the farm management.

Science: Use of all the available technologies developed according to scientific values such as plant breeding, production, protection, economical methods, etc. to increase crop yield and farm profit. Techniques e.g., new crop varieties production by crossbreeding of pest and disease resistant plant varieties, production of crop hybrids, varieties with high sensitivity to fertilizers, water management, herbicides for weed control, the use of bio-control agents for pest and diseases, etc. are all included in science.

Business: As long as agriculture is a rural lifestyle, food production is eventually linked to consumption. However, as a business, it seeks to maximize its bottom line by managing agricultural labor, capital, and water using the information to produce food, fiber, feed, and fuel. Recently, agriculture has transformed into a commercial category to be adapted as a business through modern automation.

Agriculture includes several fields like horticulture, seed growing, dairy farming, and animal husbandry, use of land as pastures, grasslands, vegetable gardens, and forest nurseries, and the use of land for forests where they are used for agricultural purposes and use of land for agricultural purposes. ”

Branches of Agriculture
There are 20 major Branches of Agriculture:

1-Agronomy
2-Horticulture
3-Plant Breeding and 4-Genetics
5-Seed Science
6-Crop-Physiology
7-Plant Pathology
8-Plant Protection
9-Soil Science
10-Entomology
11-Agriculture Biotechnology
12-Agriculture Engineering
13-Agriculture Economics
14-Forestry
15-Animal Husbandry
16-Environmental Sciences
17-Food Science and Technology
18-Land and Water Management
19-Agricultural Chemistry
20-Agricultural Microbiology
21-Home Science

This is what about Agriculture and it's major fields.In the next lecture we will study about These fields separately.
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