Agricultural science
Encyclopedia
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences
that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture
. (Veterinary science
, but not animal science
, is often excluded from the definition.)
Agricultural sciences include research and development on:
, research in agronomy, more than in any other field, is strongly related to local areas. It can be considered a science of ecoregions, because it is closely linked to soil properties and climate
, which are never exactly the same from one place to another. Many people think an agricultural production system relying on local weather, soil
characteristics, and specific crops has to be studied locally. Others feel a need to know and understand production systems in as many areas as possible, and the human dimension of interaction with nature.
's genetic work, but in modern terms might be better dated from the chemical fertilizer outputs of plant physiological
understanding in eighteenth century Germany
. In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the Hatch Act
of 1887, which used the term "agricultural science". The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. The Smith-Hughes Act
of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots, but the scientific foundation had been built. After 1906, public expenditures on agricultural research in the US exceeded private expenditures for the next 44 years.
Intensification of agriculture since the 1960s in developed and developing countries, often referred to as the Green Revolution
, was closely tied to progress made in selecting and improving crops and animals for high productivity, as well as to developing additional inputs such as artificial fertilizer
s and phytosanitary product
s.
As the oldest and largest human intervention in nature, the environmental impact of agriculture in general and more recently intensive agriculture, industrial development, and population growth have raised many questions among agricultural scientists and have led to the development and emergence of new fields. These include technological fields that assume the solution to technological problems lies in better technology, such as integrated pest management
, waste treatment
technologies, landscape architecture
, genomics
, and agricultural philosophy
fields that include references to food production
as something essentially different from non-essential economic 'goods'. In fact, the interaction between these two approaches provide a fertile field for deeper understanding in agricultural science.
New technologies, such as biotechnology
and computer science
(for data processing and storage), and technological advances have made it possible to develop new research fields, including genetic engineering
, agrophysics
, improved statistical analysis
, and precision farming. Balancing these, as above, are the natural and human sciences of agricultural science that seek to understand the human-nature interactions of traditional agriculture
, including interaction of religion and agriculture, and the non-material components of agricultural production systems.
problems that may affect human health and the environment
. This requires promoting good management of natural resources
and respect for the environment, and increasingly concern for the psychological wellbeing of all concerned in the food production and consumption system.
Economic, environmental, and social aspects of agriculture sciences are subjects of ongoing debate. Recent crises (such as avian influenza, mad cow disease
and issues such as the use of genetically modified organism
s) illustrate the complexity and importance of this debate.
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. (Veterinary science
Veterinary medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
, but not animal science
Animal science
Animal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
, is often excluded from the definition.)
Agriculture and agricultural science
The two terms are often confused. However, they cover different concepts:- AgricultureAgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is the set of activities that transform the environment for the production of animals and plants for human use. Agriculture concerns techniques, including the application of agronomic research. - AgronomyAgronomyAgronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
is research and developmentResearch and developmentThe phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
related to studying and improving plant-based agriculture.
Agricultural sciences include research and development on:
- Production techniques (e.g., irrigationIrrigationIrrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
management, recommended nitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
inputs) - Improving agricultural productivityAgricultural productivityAgricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, their varying densities make measuring overall agricultural output difficult...
in terms of quantity and quality (e.g., selection of droughtDroughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
-resistant crops and animals, development of new pesticidePesticidePesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s, yield-sensing technologies, simulation models of crop growth, in-vitro cell cultureCell cultureCell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...
techniques) - Transformation of primary products into end-consumerConsumerConsumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
products (e.g., production, preservation, and packaging of dairy productDairy productDairy products are generally defined as foods produced from cow's or domestic buffalo's milk. They are usually high-energy-yielding food products. A production plant for such processing is called a dairy or a dairy factory. Raw milk for processing comes mainly from cows, and, to a lesser extent,...
s) - Prevention and correction of adverse
Agricultural science: a local science
With the exception of theoretical agronomyTheoretical production ecology
Theoretical production ecology tries to quantitatively study the growth of crops.The plant is treated as a kind of biological factory, which processes light, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients into harvestable parts....
, research in agronomy, more than in any other field, is strongly related to local areas. It can be considered a science of ecoregions, because it is closely linked to soil properties and climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
, which are never exactly the same from one place to another. Many people think an agricultural production system relying on local weather, soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
characteristics, and specific crops has to be studied locally. Others feel a need to know and understand production systems in as many areas as possible, and the human dimension of interaction with nature.
History of agricultural science
Agricultural science began with Gregor MendelGregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance...
's genetic work, but in modern terms might be better dated from the chemical fertilizer outputs of plant physiological
Plant physiology
Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...
understanding in eighteenth century Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the Hatch Act
Hatch Act of 1887
The Hatch Act of 1887 gave federal funds, initially of $15,000 each, to state land-grant colleges in order to create a series of agricultural experiment stations, as well as pass along new information, especially in the areas of soil minerals and plant growth...
of 1887, which used the term "agricultural science". The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. The Smith-Hughes Act
Smith-Hughes Act
The Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917 was an act of the United States Congress that promoted vocational agriculture to train people "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm," and provided federal funds for this purpose...
of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots, but the scientific foundation had been built. After 1906, public expenditures on agricultural research in the US exceeded private expenditures for the next 44 years.
Intensification of agriculture since the 1960s in developed and developing countries, often referred to as the Green Revolution
Green Revolution
Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s....
, was closely tied to progress made in selecting and improving crops and animals for high productivity, as well as to developing additional inputs such as artificial fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
s and phytosanitary product
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s.
As the oldest and largest human intervention in nature, the environmental impact of agriculture in general and more recently intensive agriculture, industrial development, and population growth have raised many questions among agricultural scientists and have led to the development and emergence of new fields. These include technological fields that assume the solution to technological problems lies in better technology, such as integrated pest management
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated pest management is an ecological approach to agricultural pest control that integrates pesticides/herbicides into a management system incorporating a range of practices for economic control of a pest...
, waste treatment
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
technologies, landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
, genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
, and agricultural philosophy
Agricultural philosophy
Agricultural philosophy is, roughly, a discipline devoted to the systematic critique of the philosophical frameworks that are the foundation for decisions regarding agriculture. Many of these views are also used to guide decisions dealing with land use in general...
fields that include references to food production
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
as something essentially different from non-essential economic 'goods'. In fact, the interaction between these two approaches provide a fertile field for deeper understanding in agricultural science.
New technologies, such as biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
and computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
(for data processing and storage), and technological advances have made it possible to develop new research fields, including genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
, agrophysics
Agrophysics
Agrophysics is a branch of science bordering on agronomy and physics,whose objects of study are the agroecosystem - the biological objects, biotope and biocoenosis affected by human activity, studied and described using the methods of physical sciences....
, improved statistical analysis
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, and precision farming. Balancing these, as above, are the natural and human sciences of agricultural science that seek to understand the human-nature interactions of traditional agriculture
History of agriculture
Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. The Fertile Crescent of Western Asia, Egypt, and India were sites of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered...
, including interaction of religion and agriculture, and the non-material components of agricultural production systems.
Prominent agricultural scientists
- Justus von LiebigJustus von LiebigJustus von Liebig was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. As a professor, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the...
- Jethro TullJethro Tull (agriculturist)Jethro Tull was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe...
- Robert BakewellRobert Bakewell (farmer)Robert Bakewell was a British agriculturalist, now recognized as one of the most important figures in the British Agricultural Revolution. In addition to work in agronomy, Bakewell is particularly notable as the first to implement systematic selective breeding of livestock...
- Norman BorlaugNorman BorlaugNorman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution". Borlaug was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal...
- Luther BurbankLuther BurbankLuther Burbank was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 54-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables...
- George Washington CarverGeorge Washington CarverGeorge Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....
- René DumontRené DumontRené Dumont was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician.He was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture and his grandfather was a farmer. He graduated from the INA P-G, as an engineer in agronomy...
- Jay LushJay LushJay Laurence Lush was a pioneering animal geneticist who made important contributions to livestock breeding. He is sometimes known as the father of modern scientific animal breeding. Lush received National Medal of Science in 1968 and the Wolf Prize in 1979....
- Gregor MendelGregor MendelGregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance...
- Kailas Nath KaulKailas Nath KaulProfessor Kailas Nath Kaul , FLS was an Indian botanist, agronomist, agricultural scientist, horticulturist, herbalist, and naturalist, and a world authority on Arecaceae in the 1950s...
- Louis PasteurLouis PasteurLouis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
- Eli Whitney
- Sewall WrightSewall WrightSewall Green Wright was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. With R. A. Fisher and J.B.S. Haldane, he was a founder of theoretical population genetics. He is the discoverer of the inbreeding coefficient and of...
- Scott HillScott HillScott Hill may refer to:*Scott Hill , American composer*Scott Hill , American rock musician*Scott Hill , Australian rugby league footballer...
Agricultural science and agriculture crisis
Agriculture sciences seek to feed the world's population while preventing biosafetyBiosafety
Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health .Biosafety is related to several fields:*In ecology ,...
problems that may affect human health and the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
. This requires promoting good management of natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
and respect for the environment, and increasingly concern for the psychological wellbeing of all concerned in the food production and consumption system.
Economic, environmental, and social aspects of agriculture sciences are subjects of ongoing debate. Recent crises (such as avian influenza, mad cow disease
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
and issues such as the use of genetically modified organism
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
s) illustrate the complexity and importance of this debate.
Fields or related disciplines
- Agricultural diversificationAgricultural diversificationIn the agricultural context, diversification can be regarded as the re-allocation of some of a farm's productive resources, such as land, capital, farm equipment and paid labour, into new activities...
- Agricultural economicsAgricultural economicsAgricultural economics originally applied the principles of economics to the production of crops and livestock — a discipline known as agronomics. Agronomics was a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil...
- Agricultural engineeringAgricultural engineeringAgricultural engineering is the engineering discipline that applies engineering science and technology to agricultural production and processing...
- Agricultural geography
- Agricultural philosophyAgricultural philosophyAgricultural philosophy is, roughly, a discipline devoted to the systematic critique of the philosophical frameworks that are the foundation for decisions regarding agriculture. Many of these views are also used to guide decisions dealing with land use in general...
- Agricultural marketingAgricultural marketingAgricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in doing this, such as planning production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing, transport, storage, agro- and food processing,...
- AgrophysicsAgrophysicsAgrophysics is a branch of science bordering on agronomy and physics,whose objects of study are the agroecosystem - the biological objects, biotope and biocoenosis affected by human activity, studied and described using the methods of physical sciences....
- Animal scienceAnimal scienceAnimal Science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind". Historically, the animals studied were farm animals, including livestock and horses, but courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals, for example dogs, cats and...
- Animal breedingAnimal breedingAnimal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation of the genetic value of domestic livestock...
- Animal nutritionAnimal nutritionThere are seven major classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, fiber, minerals, protein, vitamin, and water.These nutrient classes can be categorized as either macronutrients or micronutrients . The macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, and water...
- Animal breeding
- AgronomyAgronomyAgronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
- Plant science
- Theoretical production ecologyTheoretical production ecologyTheoretical production ecology tries to quantitatively study the growth of crops.The plant is treated as a kind of biological factory, which processes light, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients into harvestable parts....
- HorticultureHorticultureHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
- Plant breedingPlant breedingPlant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular...
- Plant fertilizationFertilizerFertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
- AquacultureAquacultureAquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
- Biological engineeringBiological engineeringBiological engineering, biotechnological engineering or bioengineering is the application of concepts and methods of biology to solve problems in life sciences, using engineering's own analytical and synthetic methodologies and also its traditional...
- Genetic engineeringGenetic engineeringGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
- MicrobiologyMicrobiologyMicrobiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
- Genetic engineering
- Environmental scienceEnvironmental scienceEnvironmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
- Food scienceFood scienceFood science is a study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork"...
- Human nutritionHuman nutritionHuman nutrition is the provision to humans to obtain the materials necessary to support life. In general, humans can survive for two to eight weeks without food, depending on stored body fat and muscle mass. Survival without water is usually limited to three or four days...
- Human nutrition
- IrrigationIrrigationIrrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and water managementWater managementWater management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands... - Soil scienceSoil scienceSoil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.Sometimes terms which...
- AgrologyAgrologyAgrology is the branch of soil science dealing with the production of crops. The use of the term is most active in Canada. Use of the term outside of Canada is sporadic but significant...
- Agrology
- Waste managementWaste managementWaste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
See also
- Agriculture ministryAgriculture ministryAn agriculture ministry or department of agriculture is a ministry or other government agency charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister for agriculture....
- Agricultural sciences basic topics
- AgroecologyAgroecologyAgroecology is the application of ecological principles to the production of food, fuel, fiber, and pharmaceuticals. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches, and is considered "a science, a movement, [and] a practice."...
- American Society of AgronomyAmerican Society of AgronomyThe American Society of Agronomy is a scientific and professional society of agronomists and scientists of related disciplines, principally in the United States but with a large number of non-U.S. members as well...
- Genomics of domesticationGenomics of domesticationGenomics is the study of the structure, content, and evolution of genomes, or the entire genetic information of organisms. Domestication is the process by which humans alter the morphology and genes of targeted organisms in order to select for desirable traits.-Background:Since Domestication...
- List of agriculture topics
- History of agricultural scienceHistory of agricultural scienceAgricultural science began with Gregor Mendel's genetic work, but in modern terms might be better dated from the chemical fertilizer outputs of plant physiological understanding in eighteenth century Germany. In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the Hatch Act of...
- Institute of Food and Agricultural SciencesInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesThe University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
- International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for DevelopmentInternational Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for DevelopmentThe International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development is an international effort initiated by the World Bank that evaluated the relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology , and the effectiveness of public and...
- International Food Policy Research InstituteInternational Food Policy Research InstituteThe International Food Policy Research Institute is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations in agricultural technology...
, IFPRI - Research Institute of Crop ProductionResearch Institute of Crop ProductionThe Research Institute of Crop Production was established in 1951. During its more than 50 years of existence, the RICP has been the leading crop-production research institution within the Czech Republic...
(RICP) (in the Czech Republic) - University of Agricultural SciencesUniversity of Agricultural SciencesUniversity of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, ', imparts Education, Research and Extension activities in field of agriculture, forestry and home science. The university was started on 1 October 1986. It is located on Dharwad-Belgaum road on a campus with space for growing trees and fields for...
- National FFA OrganizationNational FFA OrganizationThe National FFA Organization is an American youth organization known as a Career and Technical Student Organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education...
Further reading
- Agricultural Research, Livelihoods, and Poverty: Studies of Economic and Social Impacts in Six Countries Edited by Michelle Adato and Ruth Meinzen-Dick (2007), Johns Hopkins University Press Food Policy Report
- Claude Bourguignon, Regenerating the Soil: From Agronomy to Agrology, Other India Press, 2005
- Pimentel David, Pimentel Marcia, Computer les kilocalories, Cérès, n. 59, sept-oct. 1977
- Russell E. Walter, Soil conditions and plant growth, Longman group, London, New York 1973
- Salamini Francesco, Oezkan Hakan, Brandolini Andrea, Schaefer-Pregl Ralf, Martin William, Genetics and geography of wild cereal domestication in the Near East, in Nature, vol. 3, ju. 2002
- Saltini Antonio, Storia delle scienze agrarie, 4 vols, Bologna 1984-89, ISBN 88-206-2412-5, ISBN 88-206-2413-3, ISBN 88-206-2414-1, ISBN 88-206-2414-X
- Vavilov Nicolai I. (Starr Chester K. editor), The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. Selected Writings, in Chronica botanica, 13: 1-6, Waltham, Mass., 1949-50
- Vavilov Nicolai I., World Resources of Cereals, Leguminous Seed Crops and Flax, Academy of Sciences of Urss, National Science Foundation, Washington, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem 1960
- Winogradsky Serge, Microbiologie du sol. Problèmes et methodes. Cinquante ans de recherches, Masson & c.ie, Paris 1949
External links
- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
- Agricultural Research Service
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
- International Livestock Research Institute
- The National Agricultural Library (NAL) - The most comprehensive agricultural library in the world.
- Crop Science Society of America
- American Society of Agronomy
- Soil Science Society of America
- Agricultural Science Researchers, Jobs and Discussions
- Information System for Agriculture and Food Research
- South Dakota Agricultural Laboratories