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AGRICULTURE

Agriculture, also called farming orhusbandry, is the cultivation

ofanimals, plants, fungi, and other life forms forfood, fiber, biofuel, drugs and otherproducts used to sustain and enhance human life.[1]Agriculture was the key

development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming

ofdomesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development

ofcivilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. The history

of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven

and defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies. However, all

farming generally relies on techniques to expand and maintain the lands that are

suitable for raising domesticated species. For plants, this usually requires some form

ofirrigation, although there are methods ofdry land farming; pastoral herding

on rangeland is still the most common means of raising livestock. In the developed

world, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture has become the

dominant system of modern farming, although there is growing support

forsustainable agriculture (e.g. permaculture ororganic agriculture).

Until the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of the human population labored in

agriculture. Pre-industrial agriculture was typically subsistence agriculture in which

farmers raised most of their crops for their own consumption instead of for trade. A

remarkable shift in agricultural practices has occurred over the past century in

response to new technologies, and the development of world markets. This also led

to technological improvements in agricultural techniques, such as the Haber-

Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate which made the traditional practice

of recycling nutrients with crop rotation and animal manure less necessary.

Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers,

and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation, but

at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human

health effects. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have

similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal

welfare and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones, and other

chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production. Genetically Modified

Organisms are an increasing component of agriculture today, although they are

banned in several countries. Agricultural food production and water management istargeted as an increasingly global issue that is fostering debate on a number of

issues. Significant degradation of land and water resources, including the depletion

ofaquifers, has been seen in recent decades, and the effects of global warming on

agriculture and of agriculture on global warming are still not fully known

In the gradual process of a family improving their immediate environment, useful

tree and vine species were identified, protected and improved whilst undesirable

species were eliminated. Eventually superior foreign species were selected and

incorporated into the family's garden

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