Agriculture A Lecture By MR Allah Dad Khan Visiting Professor Agriculture University Peshawar

3.  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 .

4. 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).

5.  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)

6.  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).

7.  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).

8.  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/legal4agrarianl
aw. htm

9.  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).

10.  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).

11.  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).

12.  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.

13.  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.

15.  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

16.  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.

17.  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.

18.  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.

19.  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.

20.  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.

21.  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.

22.  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.

23.  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.

24.  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.

25.  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.

26.  , 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.

27.  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.

28.  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.

29.  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.

30.  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.


31.  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.