General Agriculture

Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as a fertilizer for crops. Landless systems rely upon feed from outside the farm, representing the de-linking of crop and livestock production found more prevalently in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. Synthetic fertilizers are more heavily relied upon for crop production and manure utilization becomes a challenge as well as a source for pollution.

Much of this growth is happening in developing countries in Asia, with much smaller amounts of growth in Africa.

Tillage is the practice of breaking up the soil with tools such as the plow or harrow to prepare for planting, for nutrient incorporation, or for pest control. Tillage varies in intensity from conventional to no-till. It may improve productivity by warming the soil, incorporating fertilizer and controlling weeds, but also renders soil more prone to erosion, triggers the decomposition of organic matter releasing CO 2 , and reduces the abundance and diversity of soil organisms. Pest control includes the management of weeds, insects , mites , and diseases.

Chemical pesticides , biological biocontrol , mechanical tillage , and cultural practices are used. Cultural practices include crop rotation, culling , cover crops , intercropping, composting , avoidance, and resistance. Integrated pest management attempts to use all of these methods to keep pest populations below the number which would cause economic loss, and recommends pesticides as a last resort.

Nutrient management includes both the source of nutrient inputs for crop and livestock production, and the method of utilization of manure produced by livestock. Nutrient inputs can be chemical inorganic fertilizers, manure, green manure , compost and minerals. Manure is used either by holding livestock where the feed crop is growing, such as in managed intensive rotational grazing, or by spreading either dry or liquid formulations of manure on cropland or pastures. Water management is needed where rainfall is insufficient or variable, which occurs to some degree in most regions of the world.

In other areas such as the Great Plains in the U. Payment for ecosystem services is a method of providing additional incentives to encourage farmers to conserve some aspects of the environment. Measures might include paying for reforestation upstream of a city, to improve the supply of fresh water. Crop alteration has been practiced by humankind for thousands of years, since the beginning of civilization. Altering crops through breeding practices changes the genetic make-up of a plant to develop crops with more beneficial characteristics for humans, for example, larger fruits or seeds, drought-tolerance, or resistance to pests.

Significant advances in plant breeding ensued after the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel. His work on dominant and recessive alleles , although initially largely ignored for almost 50 years, gave plant breeders a better understanding of genetics and breeding techniques. Crop breeding includes techniques such as plant selection with desirable traits, self-pollination and cross-pollination , and molecular techniques that genetically modify the organism.

Domestication of plants has, over the centuries increased yield, improved disease resistance and drought tolerance , eased harvest and improved the taste and nutritional value of crop plants. Careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant selection and breeding in the s and s improved pasture grasses and clover in New Zealand. Extensive X-ray and ultraviolet induced mutagenesis efforts i. The Green Revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to sharply increase yield by creating "high-yielding varieties".

For example, average yields of corn maize in the US have increased from around 2. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques use of fertilizers, chemical pest control, growth control to avoid lodging. Genetically modified organisms GMO are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology.

Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to utilize in creating desired germlines for new crops. Increased durability, nutritional content, insect and virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are a few of the attributes bred into crops through genetic engineering. Numerous countries have placed restrictions on the production, import or use of GMO foods and crops.

Herbicide-resistant seed has a gene implanted into its genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to herbicides, including glyphosate. These seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with herbicides to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers worldwide. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers to switch to other herbicides. Other GMO crops used by growers include insect-resistant crops, which have a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis Bt , which produces a toxin specific to insects.

These crops resist damage by insects. In some cases, wild species are the primary source of resistance traits; some tomato cultivars that have gained resistance to at least 19 diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes. Agriculture imposes multiple external costs upon society through effects such as pesticide damage to nature especially herbicides and insecticides , nutrient runoff, excessive water usage, and loss of natural environment.

Neither included subsidies in their analysis, but they noted that subsidies also influence the cost of agriculture to society. Agriculture seeks to increase yield and to reduce costs. Yield increases with inputs such as fertilisers and removal of pathogens, predators, and competitors such as weeds.

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Costs decrease with increasing scale of farm units, such as making fields larger; this means removing hedges , ditches and other areas of habitat. Pesticides kill insects, plants and fungi. These and other measures have cut biodiversity to very low levels on intensively farmed land. In , the International Resource Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme assessed the environmental impacts of consumption and production.

It found that agriculture and food consumption are two of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change, climate change, water use and toxic emissions. Agriculture is the main source of toxins released into the environment, including insecticides, especially those used on cotton.

This includes GHGs emitted by the use of inorganic fertilisers agro-chemical pesticides and herbicides; GHG emissions resulting from production of these inputs are included in industrial emissions ; and fossil fuel-energy inputs. A senior UN official and co-author of a UN report detailing this problem, Henning Steinfeld, said "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems". By comparison, all transportation emits Furthermore, the UNEP states that " methane emissions from global livestock are projected to increase by 60 per cent by under current practices and consumption patterns.

Land transformation, the use of land to yield goods and services, is the most substantial way humans alter the Earth's ecosystems, and is considered the driving force in the loss of biodiversity. Degradation can be deforestation, desertification , soil erosion , mineral depletion, or chemical degradation acidification and salinization. Eutrophication , excessive nutrients in aquatic ecosystems resulting in algal blooms and anoxia , leads to fish kills , loss of biodiversity, and renders water unfit for drinking and other industrial uses.

Excessive fertilization and manure application to cropland, as well as high livestock stocking densities cause nutrient mainly nitrogen and phosphorus runoff and leaching from agricultural land. These nutrients are major nonpoint pollutants contributing to eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems and pollution of groundwater, with harmful effects on human populations. It is long known that aquifers in areas as diverse as northern China, the Upper Ganges and the western US are being depleted, and new research extends these problems to aquifers in Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

Pesticide use has increased since to 2. An alternative argument is that the way to "save the environment" and prevent famine is by using pesticides and intensive high yield farming, a view exemplified by a quote heading the Center for Global Food Issues website: Global warming and agriculture are interrelated on a global scale. Global warming affects agriculture through changes in average temperatures , rainfall , and weather extremes like storms and heat waves ; changes in pests and diseases; changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations; changes in the nutritional quality of some foods; [] and changes in sea level.

Animal husbandry is also responsible for greenhouse gas production of CO 2 and a percentage of the world's methane, and future land infertility, and the displacement of wildlife. Agriculture contributes to climate change by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forest for agricultural use. Current farming methods have resulted in over-stretched water resources, high levels of erosion and reduced soil fertility.

Agriculture

There is not enough water to continue farming using current practices; therefore how critical water, land, and ecosystem resources are used to boost crop yields must be reconsidered. A solution would be to give value to ecosystems, recognizing environmental and livelihood tradeoffs, and balancing the rights of a variety of users and interests. Technological advancements help provide farmers with tools and resources to make farming more sustainable. Since the s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides.

The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel sources. Heavy reliance on petrochemicals has raised concerns that oil shortages could increase costs and reduce agricultural output. Industrialized agriculture depends on fossil fuels in two fundamental ways: Direct consumption includes the use of lubricants and fuels to operate farm vehicles and machinery. Indirect consumption includes the manufacture of fertilizers, pesticides, and farm machinery.

Direct and indirect energy consumption by U. Agriculture accounts for less than one-fifth of food system energy use in the US. Agricultural economics refers to economics as it relates to the "production, distribution and consumption of [agricultural] goods and services". This is related to the greater efficiency of farming, combined with the increased level of value addition e. Market concentration has increased in the sector as well, and although the total effect of the increased market concentration is likely increased efficiency, the changes redistribute economic surplus from producers farmers and consumers, and may have negative implications for rural communities.

National government policies can significantly change the economic marketplace for agricultural products, in the form of taxation, subsidies , tariffs and other measures. In the s, non-subsidized farmers in developing countries experienced adverse effects from national policies that created artificially low global prices for farm products.

Between the mids and the early s, several international agreements limited agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other trade restrictions. However, as of [update] , there was still a significant amount of policy-driven distortion in global agricultural product prices. The three agricultural products with the greatest amount of trade distortion were sugar, milk and rice, mainly due to taxation. Among the oilseeds , sesame had the greatest amount of taxation, but overall, feed grains and oilseeds had much lower levels of taxation than livestock products.

Since the s, policy-driven distortions have seen a greater decrease among livestock products than crops during the worldwide reforms in agricultural policy. Commodities are generally reported by production quantities, such as volume, number or weight. Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences used in the practice and understanding of agriculture.

It covers topics such as agronomy, plant breeding and genetics, plant pathology , crop modelling, soil science, entomology , production techniques and improvement, study of pests and their management, and study of adverse environmental effects such as soil degradation, waste management , and bioremediation.

Bachelor's Degree in General Agriculture: Program Information

The scientific study of agriculture began in the 18th century, when Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum hydrated calcium sulphate as a fertilizer. Agricultural policy is the set of government decisions and actions relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Some overarching themes include risk management and adjustment including policies related to climate change, food safety and natural disasters , economic stability including policies related to taxes , natural resources and environmental sustainability especially water policy , research and development, and market access for domestic commodities including relations with global organizations and agreements with other countries.

Policy programs can range from financial programs, such as subsidies, to encouraging producers to enroll in voluntary quality assurance programs. There are many influences on the creation of agricultural policy, including consumers, agribusiness, trade lobbies and other groups. Agribusiness interests hold a large amount of influence over policy making, in the form of lobbying and campaign contributions. Political action groups, including those interested in environmental issues and labor unions , also provide influence, as do lobbying organizations representing individual agricultural commodities.

Samuel Jutzi, director of FAO's animal production and health division, states that lobbying by large corporations has stopped reforms that would improve human health and the environment. For example, proposals in for a voluntary code of conduct for the livestock industry that would have provided incentives for improving standards for health, and environmental regulations, such as the number of animals an area of land can support without long-term damage, were successfully defeated due to large food company pressure. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 17 December For other uses, see Farming disambiguation. Government ministries Universities and colleges. Agriculture by country companies Biotechnology Livestock Meat industry Poultry farming. Agricultural safety and health. List of countries by GDP sector composition. List of most important agricultural crops worldwide. Countries by agricultural output in billions in USD. Countries by agricultural output in millions in constant USD and exchange rates.

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List of domesticated animals. Tillage , Crop rotation , and Irrigation. Genetically modified food , Genetically modified crops , Regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms , and Genetically modified food controversies. Environmental issues with agriculture. Environmental impact of irrigation. Environmental impact of pesticides. Climate change and agriculture. List of sustainable agriculture topics. Agricultural science and Agronomy.

Aeroponics Agricultural aircraft Agricultural engineering Agricultural robot Agroecology Building-integrated agriculture Contract farming Corporate farming Crofting Ecoagriculture Hill farming List of documentary films about agriculture Pharming genetics Remote sensing Subsistence economy Vertical farming. Archived from the original on 22 July Retrieved 13 September The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Archived from the original on 23 March Retrieved 6 May The Springboard of the Neolithic Demographic Transition".

Archived from the original on 17 September Retrieved 28 August Sheep and Goat Science Fifth ed. Interstate Printers and Publishers. The Book of Looms: Archived from the original on 10 February Possible preludes to cereal cultivation". Australia and the Origins of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 16 June Retrieved 15 June University of Chicago Press.

Indian Academy of Sciences. The Science of Empire: State University of New York Press.

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Program Info Areas of study you may find at University of Florida include: Get Started with University of Florida. Research University of Florida's Programs. Program Info Areas of study you may find at Temple University include: Agriculture Horticulture Plant Science. Get Started with Temple University. These faculty members work with students in developing an appropriate plan of study and assist students in exploring various career opportunities. Loans, scholarships, grants, and work-study are available through the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

Students requiring financial assistance should contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships or One Stop directly. In addition, the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources has several scholarships available for outstanding students based primarily on academic performance.

Students are highly encouraged to become active members in at least one student organization, several of which are sponsored by the academic departments in the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources. Employment opportunities for students in general agriculture remain strong and are similar to those of other production agriculture majors. Generally, the demand for graduates from the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources exceeds the number of available graduates.

Students can greatly enhance their employability by obtaining at least one summer internship during their formal education. Employers indicate that the most important characteristics desired in graduates include excellent oral and written communication skills, ability to meet and work with people under a variety of conditions, initiative, and work ethic. Most recent general agriculture majors have returned to the farm; therefore, we do not have a reliable sample for typical starting salaries.

A minor in general agriculture may be obtained by satisfactorily completing 24 credits with at least six credits in each of any four disciplines offered by the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources. Please note this is a sample plan of study; actual student schedules will vary depending on start year, individual goals, applicable transfer credit, and course availability.

Students are encouraged to work with their academic advisor on a regular basis to review degree progress and customize their own plan of study. A discipline may be thought of as a prefix.