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# Agriculture

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The practice of making a living from cultivation of the land or the commercial raising of animals, as opposed to the study of these disciplines as in Agricultural Science. The aim is usually to produce food for consumption by humans or as [animal feed]? but increasingly, agriculture produces additional products such as fiber?s, such as cotton? and flax?, and indutrial chemicals, like starch, ethanol? and plastic?s. [Animal hides]? and fertilizer? are also an important products of agriculture. Methane gas is now sometimes harnessed from animal waste for electric generation.

Increased use of complex but expensive machinery, good breeding, and better techniques has in the Western world greatly raised agricultural yields and freed most of the population from intense agricultural labor. The developing world lags behind because of geographical differences, unsuitable climate, and lack of capital.

Kinds of agriculture include farming? and [animal husbandry]?.

Farming means raising crops for harvest. Some common forms of farming are:

- vegetable farming
- [grain farming]?
- [orchard keeping]?
- [vinyard keeping]?
- [sod farming]?
- [tree farming]?
- [flower growing]?

Animal husbandry means raising animals for slaughter? or to harvest animal products on an ongoing basis. Common forms of animal husbandry include:

- [cattle ranching]?
- [dairy farming]?
- chicken-raising?
- [egg production]?
- turkey-raising?
- [ostrich ranging]? or Emu?s
- [horse ranching]?
- [rabbit farming]?
- [raising of fur-bearing animals]?
- shepherding?
- goatherding?
- [pig farming]?
- beekeeping?

In later years increasingly industrial agricultural practices have been widely discussed. Patenting of seed, nitrogen in the ground water, [pesticide use]?, erosion?, [habitat destruction]?, [gene manipulated crops]? and concerns about [animal welfare]? have raised the public awareness of [alternative farming methods]? such as [organic farming]?.

See also [Soil Association]?, agri-business?, [battery hens]?, salmonella?, monoculture?, [Green Revolution]?, ...

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Last edited July 28, 2001 5:16 pm (diff)
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