Introduction to Agriculture

What is Agriculture?

• Agriculture is derived from the Latin words "Ager" (land/field) and "Cultura" (cultivation)
• Agriculture involves the cultivation of land
• It refers to the science and art of producing crops and livestock for economic purposes
• Agri also refers to producing crops and livestock and extracting from the earth's natural resources

Aim of Agriculture

• The goal is to cause the land to produce more abundantly
• it's also about protecting land from deterioration and misuse

Definitions of Agriculture

• Agriculture is a systematic raising of plants and livestock under human management
• It Is purposeful work aimed at the harnessing nature to produce plants and animals to meet human needs
• Agriculture is a broad industry involved with plant and animal production for food and fiber
• It involves supplying agricultural supplies and services, as well as processing, marketing, and distributing agricultural products

Agriculture: Art, Science, Business

• It requires using knowledge to skillfully operate a farm
• Agriculture involves physical and mental skill, modern tech, and scientific principles
• Modern Tech also helps to maximize yield and profit
• Examples of these modern technologies are hybridization, transgenic crops, and biotechnology
• Agriculture aims for substantial net return via land, labor, water, and capital management
• Knowledge of various sciences help with the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel
• Agriculture is now commercialized and run as a business with mechanization

Branches of Agriculture

• Crop Science: Focuses on economic plants like rice, jute, and potatoes
• Animal Husbandry: Deals with animal production, such as cattle, buffalo, goats, and poultry
• Veterinary Medicine: Specializes in animal diseases and treatments
• Fisheries: Focuses on pisciculture (rearing and managing fish)
• Agricultural Engineering: Focuses on farm mechanization
• Agricultural Economics: Deals with economic management and marketing of agricultural products
• Agro-forestry: Integrated crop and forest plants production

Importance of Agriculture: Food

• Provides food such as cereals, sweet potatoes (Carbohydrates)
• Provides meat, fish, eggs (Protein)
• Provides mustard, grape seed, sunflower (Fat)
• Provides fruits, vegetables (Vitamins/Minerals)

Importance of Agriculture: Clothes

• Fiber for clothing comes from agriculture
• Cotton accounts for 70% of the fiber
• Other sources are jute, wool, and silk

Importance of Agriculture: Houses

• Maximum domestic materials are produced from agriculture
• These include timber, bamboo, straw and rope

Importance of Agriculture: Industry

• Raw materials from agriculture are also used in industry
• Includes medicine, Lumber, rubber, Perfume, Bakery and Leather industries

Importance of Agriculture: Fuel

• Brick fuel, coal, petrol and gases are attained from plants
• Biodiesel from Jatropha plants is a recent idea

Importance of Agriculture: Earning Source

• Agriculture can be a primary source of income
• Approximately 62% are engaged with money or crop and 47.5% of all people are involved with agriculture

Importance of Agriculture: Foreign Currency

• Agriculturally related products may be exported for income
• These include rice, wheat, prepared food

Importance of Agriculture: International Relations

• Agriculture promotes trade with other nations

Importance of Agriculture: Revenue and Income

• Revenue comes from taxing land and agricultural product

Importance of Agriculture: Natural Beauty

• Farming has aesthetic qualities
• These include the ornamental plant and implemented earthworks

Importance of Agriculture: Environmental Balance

• Plants help remove contaminants and balance the environment

Origins of Agriculture

• It forms civilization and facilitates the habitation of 7.5B
• It is the origin of civilization and caused changes in biology/society

Origin of Agriculture;

• Life history theory = to reproduce
• Variance compensation hypothesis = families were a burden on the move
• Neolitihic Demographic transition hypothesis = survival was prioritized
• Malthusian theory= human outpaced resources
• Boserup's theory = innovation is born from survival

The Great Start

• Roughly 9000-11700 years ago during warmer times
• Mesopotamia and towards the Fertile Crescent were the location (Middle East)
• It was founded by Natufian (hunter, gatherer) and pre-pottery cultures
• Wheat and barley were developed here

Vavilov's Centers of Origin

• Chinese center: Millet, barley, soybean, onion
• Indian center: Rice, mango, banana, coconut
• Central Asiatic center: Apples, cotton, lentil, garlic
• Near-eastern center: legumes and cereals
• Mediterranean center: flax, clover, asparagus
• Abyssinian center: Sorghum, castor bean, sesame, okra
• Central American center: Maize, pumpkin, cacao
• South American center: Potato, peanut, common bean, rubber

Why the Great Start

• By Divine Guidance
• Due to the Stress and gathering of Harlan and others

How Great Start

• Adaptations, Oasis Theory, or Broad revolution

The Eras:

• Pre-historic (Foraging)
• Neolithic (Farming)
• Ancient (Early civilization, irrigation and plows)
• Medieval (Crop rotation and organic)
• early modern (Columbian and breeding)
• Industrial (enclosure and movement by machines)
• Green (synthetics)
• Modern (climate based smart technology)

The Great Agrarian Systems:

• Slash it open and abandon
• Hydraulic (irrigation like Egypt)
• Hill (Inca)
• Animal power
• Early modern (rotation of all)
• Motorized

World Agriculture in 2022

• The world has a population of 7.95B
• 129.94M Km2 are dedicated to it
• 10.8% are harvestable
• 30.7% are forrested
• 36.9% total in total

World Agrarian Crisis

• Includes: land degradation, infra and capital

Agriculture in Phillipines

• The Philippines have a number of Islands and economic depression

Philippine Agriculture Development Programs:

• Intense Rice Production
• Agrarian Reform Plan
• Enhance livelihood with Agri
• Promote Global competition
• Encourage production and farmers co-op