Agriculture At A GlanceLecture By

Mr. Allah Dad Khan Visiting Professor Agriculture University Peshawar

the term “agriculture” may be defined as: the art and science of growing plants and other crops and the raising of animals for food, other human needs, or economic gain .

1. Agriculture is the systematic raising of useful plants and livestock under the management of man(Rimando, T.J.. 2004. Crop Science 1: Fundamentals of Crop Science. U.P. Los Baños: University Publications Office. p. 1).

Some Definitions of Agriculture

2. Agriculture is the growing of both plants and animals for human needs (Abellanosa, A.L. and H.M. Pava. 1987. Introduction to Crop Science. Central Mindanao University, Musuan, Bukidnon: Publications Office. p. 238)

3. Agriculture is the deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain. (Rubenstein, J.M. 2003. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. p. 496).

4. Agriculture includes farming in all branches and, among other things, includes the cultivation and tillage of soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural and horticultural commodities, the raising of livestock or poultry, and any practices performed by a farmer on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, but does not include the manufacturing or processing of sugar, coconuts, abaca, tobacco, pineapple or other farm products. (Art. 97 (d), Chapter I, Title II, Labor Code of the Philippines).

5. Agriculture, Agricultural Enterprise or Agricultural Activity means the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit trees, including the harvesting of such farm products, and other farm activities and practices performed by a farmer in conjunction with such farming operations done by persons whether natural or juridical. (Sec. 3b, Chapter I, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (R.A. No. 6657 as amended by R. A. 7881), Philippines. Retrieved September 2, 2010 from http://www.chanrobles.com/legal4agrarianlaw. htm

6. “Farming” or “agriculture” shall include farming in all of its branches and the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, the raising of livestock including horses, the keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise, the keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals used for food purposes, bees, fur-bearing animals, and any forestry or lumbering operations, performed by a farmer, who is hereby defined as one engaged in agriculture or farming as herein defined, or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market. (Sec. 1a, Chapter 128, M.G.L. Retrieved September 2, 2010 from http://www.mass.gov/legis/mgl/128-1a. htm).

7. Agricuture is the science of cultivating the soil, harvesting crops, and raising livestock and also as the science or art of the production of plants and animals useful to man and in varying degrees the preparation of such products for man's use and their disposal. Miller v. Dixon, 176 Neb. 659, 127 N.W.2d 203, 206 (Black, HC. 1990. Black's Law Dictionary: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern. 6th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co. p. 68).

8. Agriculture includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities, the raising of livestock or poultry, and any practices performed by a farmer on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with some farming operations, but does not include the manufacturing or processing of sugar, coconuts, abaca, tobacco, pineapples or other farm products.(Rileco, Inc. v. Mindanao Congress of Labor-Ramie United Workers’ Assn., 26 SCRA 224 [1968]. It also includes production activities involving the use of saltbeds. (Lapina v. CAR, 21 SCRA 194 [1967]). (Agpalo, R.E. 1997. Agpalo’s Legal Words and Phrases. Mla., Phils.: Rex Book Store. pp. 33-34).

1. Agriculture is an enterprise or business, activity or practice. It is synonymous to farming.

2. The practice of agriculture is based on systematized body of knowledge (science) and requires skill (art).

3. Agriculture often involves the cultivation of the soil to grow plants and the raising of animals for human needs. The words “crops” and “livestock” are also used. However, both words are special or technical terms. “Crops" should clearly mean plants (with exceptions, as in mushroom) which are useful to man ,while “livestock” applies to both domesticated animals and poultry. However, cultivation which essentially involves disturbing the soil does not apply to crop production systems using soil-less media, as in hydroponics.

4. Agriculture is practiced for the purpose of producing food and other human needs such as clothing, shelter, medicines, weapons, tools, ornaments, and indefinitely many more. It is likewise practiced as a business for economic gain. The ultimate purpose is essentially important in clarifying what is agriculture.

The following conclusions can be made from these definitions and from those of specialized fields under agriculture:

Agriculture is one of the most widespread activities in the world, but its character is not uniform throughout. There are a number of ways to classify agriculture and some of the major criteria which can be adopted include the scale of farming, crop and livestock combinations, intensity of farming, means and ways of disposal of the farm produce and the level of farm mechanization etc. A number of scholars have attempted to identify various types of agriculture. The following are the major types of agriculture in the world.

Types of Agriculture

Nomadic Herding This type is based upon the

rearing of animals on natural pastures. This practice is followed by the people of the semi arid and arid regions. They keep moving with their animals in search of natural pastures and lead a nomadic life. The type of the animals reared differ from one region to the other. Northern Africa, parts of Arabia and parts of northern Eurasia are the typical regions of this type of farming. This is a subsistence type of activity

Livestock Ranching

Under this system of farming also the major emphasis is laid on rearing of animals but the farmers live a settled life. This type of farming has developed on a commercial basis in those areas of the world where large areas are available for animal grazing, such as the low rainfall areas of North America, South America and Australia. Animals are reared mainly for meat and wool and they are kept on large scale farms called the ranches.

Shifting Cultivation This is the type of farming adopted

generally in the rainy tropics. Under this system the land for cultivation is obtained by cleared off the forests with the help of slashing and burning technique and it is cultivated for a few years till the fertility declines or the land is overtaken by the weeds etc. Then the land is abandoned and a new plot is cleared for farming. This is a subsistence type of farming done manually without much use of animal power or other types of power. This is the subsistence type of activity adopted by the people living in the tropical forest regions of southeast Asia. Major emphasis is on the grain crops. This type of farming is now on a decline as due to its land spoiling nature it is being discouraged by the government agencies.

Rudimentary Sedentary Tillage

This is also a subsistence type of activity and it differs from the foregoing type in terms of the fact that the same plot of land is cultivated continuously year after year. Fallowing of land is commonly adopted to maintain the soil fertility and it is also a farming type of the tropical regions. Besides the grain crops, some tree crops such rubber are also grown under this system.

Intensive Subsistence Farming with Rice Dominant

This type of farming is practiced in the areas of tropical regions having a high density of population and receiving a large amount of precipitation. Rice is the dominant crop as it can employ and feed a large number of people per unit of area. Southeast Asian region is the major area of this type of farming. Use of manual and animal power is dominant and effort is made to enhance the productivity per unit of area with the use of manures etc.

Intensive Subsistence Farming Without Rice Dominant

This is a slightly dry climatic variant of the foregoing type and as the amount of rainfall is not very high these regions grow grain crops other than rice, such as wheat and millets. Besides the comparatively less wet areas of Asia, northern Africa and the parts of Middle East this type of farming is commonly practiced in parts of southern Africa and Central America also.

Commercial Plantations

Though practiced over a rather small area, this type of farming is quite important in terms of its commercial value. The major products of this type of farming are the tropical crops such as tea, coffee, rubber and oil palm etc. This type of farming has developed in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America where the influence of the Europeans has been important during the colonial period. Most of the plantations were developed to provide the tropical crops to the European markets. This is a highly capital intensive farming and most of the crops are tree crops.

Mediterranean Agriculture

The typical rugged relief of the Mediterranean region has resulted in typical livestock and crop combinations in this region. Wheat and vineyards and citrus fruits are the major crops and the small animals the major livestock reared in the region. Horticulture is a major activity of this region and most of the crops other than these plantations are grown in winter with the help of winter rains.

Commercial Grain Farming

This type of farming is a response to farm mechanization and it is the major type of activity in the areas of low rainfall and low density of population where extensive farming is practiced. Crops are prone to the vagaries of weather and droughts and monoculture of wheat is the general practice. Prairies, steppes and the temperate grasslands of South America and Australia are the main areas of this type of farming.

Livestock and Grain Farming

This type is commonly known as mixed farming and this practice has originated in the humid areas of the middle latitudes, except in Asia. Its development is closely related to the market facilities, and it is a typically European type of farming where an effort is made to get the best out of crop farming and animal rearing. Great Britain and New-Zealand are the examples of areas where it is the common practice.

Subsistence Crop and Stock Farming

This type resembles the foregoing type in terms of the crops and type of livestock but differs. In that practically nothing is sold off the farm. This type of farming has been common in areas of middle latitudes with lower fertility of soils or the areas of rough terrain and has declined significantly after the collectivization of farming in Russia which has been one of the major regions where this has been practiced.

Subsistence farming , form of farming in which nearly all

of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer’s family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world have traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Some of these peoples moved from site to site as they exhausted the soil at each location. As urban centres grew, agricultural production became more specialized and commercial farming developed, with farmers producing a sizable surplus of certain crops, which they traded for manufactured goods or sold for cash.

Dairy Farming

This type also had its origin in Europe from where it spread to other areas. Close proximity to the market and a temperate climate are the two favorable factors which have been responsible for the development of this type of farming. Countries like Denmark and Sweden have witnessed the maximum development of this type of farming.

Farming in areas where rainfall is deficient and there is no assured source of artificial irrigation, is referred to as dry farming.

Farming in areas where rainfall is deficient and there is no assured source of artificial irrigation, is referred to as dry farming. On the other hand farming with assured water supply from artificial sources of irrigation is known as irrigated farming. In Dry farming the land starved of water is hard and poor in soil fertility where as Irrigated farming is easier, more remunerative, flexible and adaptable to changing technology.

Mixed farming is the combining of two independent agricultural enterprises on the same farm.

Mixed farming is the combining of two independent agricultural enterprises on the same farm. A typical case of mixed farming is the combination of crop enterprise with dairy farming or in more general terms, crop cultivation with livestock farming. Mixed farming may be treated as a special case of diversified farming. This particular combination of enterprises, support each other and add to the farmer’s profitability.

Diversified Farming When a farmer is engaged in a

multitude of farm enterprises, it is referred to as diversified farming. If a large number of crop enterprises, with or without a number of non-crop enterprise is run by a single farmer, it is referred to as diversified farming. Raising of five or six crops makes it diversified. The motive behind diversified farming is self-sufficiency.

Specialised Farming

In a general sense, when only few enterprises are run by the farmer, in which he has acquired special knowledge, it is known as specialised farming. Specifically, specialised farming refers to only one kind of farm business such as raising food crops or rearing sheep or raising dairy cattle. Raising two to three crops makes it specialized. The motive behind specialied farming is profit.

Intensive Cultivation

Extensive Cultivation

Organic Farming

Vertical Farming

Horticuture

Sericulture

Pisciculture

Apiculture

Truck Farming

Mushroom Culture

Pastoral Faming

Sedentary Farming