I. INTRODUCTION
Agriculture, art, science, and industry of managing the growth of plants and animals for human use. In a broad sense agriculture includes cultivation of the soil, growing and harvesting crops, breeding and raising livestock, dairying, and forestry.Regional and national agriculture are covered in more detail in individual continent, country, state, and Canadian province articles.Modern agriculture depends heavily on engineering and technology and on the biological and physical sciences. irrigation, drainage, conservation, and sanitary engineering each of which is important in successful farming—are some of the fields requiring the specialized knowledge of agricultural engineers.Agricultural chemistry deals with other vital farming concerns, such as the application of fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides, soil makeup, analysis of agricultural products, and nutritional needs of farm animals.Plant breeding and genetics contribute immeasurably to farm productivity. Genetics has also made a science of livestock breeding. Hydroponics, a method of soil less gardening in which plants are grown in chemical nutrient solutions, may help meet the need for greater food production as the world’s population increases.The packing, processing, and marketing of agricultural products are closely related activities also influenced by science. Methods of quick-freezing and dehydration have increased the markets for farm products. Mechanization, the outstanding characteristic of late 19th- and 20th-century agriculture, has eased much of the backbreaking toil of the farmer. More significantly, mechanization has enormously increased farm efficiency and productivity .Animals including horses, oxen, llamas, alpacas, and dogs, however, are still used to cultivate fields, harvest crops, and transport farm products to markets in many parts of the
world. Airplanes and helicopters are employed in agriculture for seeding, spraying operations for insect and disease control, transporting perishable products, and fighting forest fires. Increasingly satellites are being used to monitor crop yields. Radio and television disseminate vital weather reports and other information such as market reports that concern farmers. Computers have become an essential tool for farm management.
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