Agriculture is the foundation of society as we know it and without the domestication of plants, agriculture would not be possible. Plant domestication, which is the process of adapting wild plants for the use of humans, is arguably more successful when practiced in conjunction with crop breeding. Crop breeding occurs when closely or distantly related plant…
There is no doubt about it – there are a lot of people in the world: more than 7 billion. The sheer number of humans is probably even too much for our brains to process. Still, we’re all here and more people are coming joining the global population and every day. Feeding so many people…
Irrigation systems offer a variety of benefits. They allow for the growth of a wider variety of crops. They can be timed so that the hands-on portion of crop production is a little less cumbersome. They protect crops from irregular and dry weather conditions. They support leaching, which can remove harmful, crop-damaging salts within in…
Irrigation is defined as the artificial application of water to the soil through various systems of tubes, pumps, and sprayers. Approximately 20% of the world’s agricultural land is irrigated, yet 40% of the world food supply comes from irrigated lands with 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves being used for irrigation purposes. The main…
Agricultural drainage plays a crucial role in optimizing land productivity and soil health. It serves two primary purposes: removing excess surface and subsurface water and preventing soil salinity by flushing out soluble salts. Effective drainage enhances crop growth, improves soil conditions, and supports long-term sustainability in farming practices. Types of Agricultural Drainage Systems There are…
Human and livestock have lived in ecological harmony for 10,000 years. True! It is only with the emergence of modern industrialized agriculture that livestock production has become ecologically harmful. Livestock competes with humans for food and water Technically speaking, pigs and chickens are in competition with humans because we can consume similar foodstuffs. However, in…
“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.” – Abraham Lincoln Agriculture is defined as the science, art, and business of cultivating soil, producing crops and raising cattle. It is more commonly referred to as farming. Without it, society as we know…
In the height of the summer heat, being able to jump into a cool, clear is one of life’s simple pleasures. But it seems that more and more that our lakes don’t look quite the same as they used to. We don’t see the same fish jumping up to snap up a tasty June bug….
This article attempts to answer the questions, “Is environmental concern widely diffused throughout society or is it more strongly expressed by particular sub-populations? How has concern changed over time?” This was accomplished by studying the attitudes about agriculture and the environment in relation to an individual’s geographic and social distance from agriculture. They began by…
WHAT IS HORTICULTURE? Horticulture is a $17 billion [USD] industry that produces more than 2.4 billion tons of goods annually. It provides employment and income [something particularly beneficial to women in developing countries], as well as aesthetic, sociological, and psychological benefits. Civilization is dependent on the products produced by horticultural endeavors for the food that…
