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Agriculture (also called farming or husbandry) is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life.[1] Agriculture was the keydevelopment in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is knownas agricultural science. Agriculture generally speaking refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant and termite.[2][3]
The history of agriculture dates backthousands 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 maintainthe lands suitable for raising domesticated species. For plants, this usually requires some form of irrigation, although there are methods of dryland farming; pastoral herding on rangeland is stillthe 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 growingsupport for sustainable agriculture (e.g. permaculture or organic agriculture).
Modern agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, and technological improvements have sharply increased yieldsfrom cultivation, but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human health effects.[4] Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry such as intensive pigfarming have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal cruelty and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones, and other chemicals commonly used inindustrial meat production.[5]
The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials. In the 21st century, plants have been used to grow biofuels,...