Agriculture (a term which encompasses farming) is the art, science or practice of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals. Agri is from Latin ager ("a field"), and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning "cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. Thus a literal reading of the English word yields tillage of the soil of a field. In actual usage, Agriculture denotes a broad array of activities essential to food and material production, including all techniques for raising and processing livestock (see Animal husbandry) no less than those essential to crop planting and harvesting.

Continual improvement in agricultural methods from pre-history to the present has been the key factor in the extreme specialization of human activity during the historical epoch. Many of these specializations have nothing to do with food production, but when specialists such as scientists, inventors and mechanical and chemical engineers devote their efforts to the improvement of farming methods, resources and implements they too, along with those who work the fields and pens, are said to be "in agriculture".

42% (2002 estimate) of the world's population is employed in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation, yet it accounts for only 4.4% (2005 estimate) of the Gross World Product (an aggregate of all Gross Domestic Products).^*

More on [ Agriculture ]

USDA Agricultural Research Service

Sweetpotatoes Get High-Tech Help
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:45:00 -0500
ARS computational molecular biologist Brian Scheffler is heading an effort to create a genomics toolkit to help plant breeders develop new varieties of sweetpotato, the world's seventh most important food crop. Click the image for more information about it. Discovery may solve devastating rust fungus issue for bean growers   Sweet potato puree adds to bottom line   State-of-the-art technology being applied to agricultural problems Sweetpotatoes Get High-Tech Help By Jan Suszkiw November 5, 2009 An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) computational molecular biologist in Mississippi is launching a project to create a genomics toolkit to help plant breeders develop new varieties of sweetpotato. Brian Scheffler and his colleagues will use the state-of-the-art equipment at the ARS Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit in Stoneville, Miss., to develop and locate DNA markers on the 90 chromosomes of sweetpotato. Sweetpotato, the world’s seventh most important food crop, is extremely important to global food security, according to Scheffler. Yet very little genomics information is available in a form that sweetpotato breeders can use to develop new varieties for enhanced nutrition or improved resistance to stresses brought about by climate change, adverse environmental conditions, or pests and diseases. Scheffler will receive $120,000 in funding through the agency’s 2010 T.W. Edminster Award to pay for a two-year postdoctoral research associate to work with him on the sweetpotato project. The award, named for a former ARS administrator, enables postdoctoral researchers to work closely with experienced scientists in their fields of interest, as well as conduct high-priority research on pressing agricultural issues. The Edminster Award is presented to the highest-ranked research proposal among 50 proposals selected for funding through ARS’ annual Postdoctoral Research Associates Program. ARS scientists submitted 450 proposals to this year’s program. In addition to creating genetic maps of sweetpotato, Scheffler and his postdoctoral associate will use a high-throughput DNA sequencer to develop a sweetpotato microarray for studying where, when and how certain genes are expressed. Of particular interest are genes affecting rhizome (underground stem) production in sweetpotato, especially during stress related to environmental factors such as drought. The markers, microarrays and gene expression data will constitute the “tools” in the genomics toolkit, and should enable sweetpotato breeders to speed their identification and integration of important new traits into their elite breeding lines. In addition to providing funding for Scheffler’s project, this year’s ARS Postdoctoral Research Associates Program will fund projects on assessing host specificity in aphid parasitoids, developing novel controls for stable flies, and improving drought tolerance in wheat. ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The sweetpotato project supports the USDA research priority of ensuring international food security.
Spread of Western Juniper Seeds Studied
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:54:00 -0500
ARS ecologist William S. Longland is trying to determine what gives western juniper a competitive advantage in the environment. Photo courtesy of Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org Animation of "giant reed" plant may speed its demise   Cheatgrass' success secret revealed   Beneficial beetles battle pesky saltcedar Spread of Western Juniper Seeds Studied By Marcia Wood November 4, 2009 Aromatic, evergreen foliage and plump, dusty-blue to nearly purple berries make western juniper appealing, whether it's a small shrub or a lofty tree. The trouble is, during the past 100 years or so, some once-open western juniper woodlands in this species' native range of California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Washington have become dense stands. The result is that fire-danger ratings can skyrocket, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) ecologist William S. Longland at the agency's Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research Unit in Reno, Nev. What's more, the stands crowd out tasty, nutritious understory plants that cattle and wildlife could otherwise graze or browse. This year, Longland developed new studies to determine whether a natural process known as diplochory gives western juniper a competitive advantage. In published research, Longland explains that diplochory is a two-step process in which seeds are handily dispersed by two different sets of "agents." In the first step of what could turn out to be diplochory in western juniper, birds such as robins and Townsend's solitaires pluck western juniper's chunky berries from its branches, then fly away to places where they can safely eat their prize—the berry's fleshy fruit that surrounds its small, hard seed. This feeding helps survival of the seed by moving it away from the competition of the parent trees. Seeds that birds swallow may pass through their digestive systems, land on the ground, and, in what may be the second phase of diplochory, be carried away and buried by small mammals like deer mice or kangaroo rats. Burying hides the seeds from other seed-eaters and helps the seeds germinate. In a preliminary study, Longland's network of motion- or heat-sensor-activated cameras captured real-time snapshots of birds and mammals holding juniper berries or seeds in their beaks or paws. Though these caught-in-the-act candids strongly suggest diplochory at work, more evidence is needed. That might come from follow-up research by Longland and co-investigators Steve Vander Wall of the University of Nevada-Reno and Diana Hiibel of the Reno-based Animal Ark Wildlife Sanctuary. ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Reducing Agriculture's Climate Change Footprint
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:31:00 -0500
Read the magazine story to find out more. ARS soil scientist Jane Johnson is looking for practical ways to keep carbon in the soil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production. Click the image for more information about it. No-till shows benefits when switching from grasses to corn   More about no-till and greenhouse gas emissions   Giving farmers credit for carbon Searching for Ways to Reduce Agriculture's Climate Change Footprint By Dennis O'Brien November 3, 2009 Curbing greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated fields may require going beyond cutting back on nitrogen fertilizer and changing crop rotation cycles, according to research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. Jane Johnson, a soil scientist at the ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minn., is looking for practical ways to keep carbon in the soil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a comprehensive study, she raised corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa in rotation so that each crop grew in the same year, on plots treated with and without fertilizer. She also used a less-aggressive tillage system known as strip tillage, in which only narrow bands of soil are tilled instead of an entire field. For comparison, she replicated the cropping system adopted by many Minnesota farmers-raising corn and soybeans in a two-year cycle on fertilized plots tilled with a chisel or moldboard plow. She used a hydraulic soil probe to measure the organic carbon sequestered in the soil, and closed-vented chambers to measure emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. She found that when measured over the course of a year, greenhouse gas releases were largely the same under two-year and four-year rotation systems, and that applying nitrogen fertilizer had less overall impact than anticipated on nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous oxide emissions peaked during spring thaws when the sun warmed the soil, regardless of which tillage or rotation system was used. Chisel and moldboard plowing increased carbon dioxide emissions for a short time. But measured over the course of a year, carbon dioxide emissions were no different from plots with intensive tillage than plots without it. She also found no consistent patterns to methane releases. Johnson's work is part of a five-year ARS project known as GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) in which researchers at more than 32 sites are examining strategies to help reduce agriculture's climate change footprint. The project supports the U.S. Department of Agriculture priority of responding to climate change. Read more about this research in the November/December 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.

USDA - Agriculture

Statement from Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Regarding Animal Health and 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza

Response to Drudge Item on Recovery Act Funding

Remarks by First Lady Michelle Obama at the U.S. Department Of Agriculture


Subscribe to Agriculture RSS feed

Oregon Forestry: Sustainability