Agriculture

[1] Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of
domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture
began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers
began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Pigs, sheep and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago.
Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-
scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people
still depended on subsistence agriculture into the twenty-first.

Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological
developments have sharply increased yields, while causing widespread ecological and environmental damage.
Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but
have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include
contributions to global warming, depletion of aquifers, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and growth
hormones in industrial meat production. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some are
banned in certain countries.

Contemporary agriculture
Status

China has the largest agricultural output of any country.[76]

Workforce

On the three-sector theory, the proportion of people working in agriculture (left-hard bar
in each group, green) falls as an economy becomes more developed.
Following the three-sector theory, the number of people employed in agriculture and other primary activities
(such as fishing) can be more than 80% in the least developed countries, and less than 2% in the most highly
developed countries.[95] Since the Industrial Revolution, many countries have made the transition to developed
economies, and the proportion of people working in agriculture has steadily fallen. During the 16th century in
Europe, for example, between 55 and 75% of the population was engaged in agriculture; by the 19th century,
this had dropped to between 35 and 65%.[96] In the same countries today, the figure is less than 10%.[95] At
the start of the 21st century, some one billion people, or over 1/3 of the available work force, were employed in
agriculture. It constitutes approximately 70% of the global employment of children, and in many countries
employs the largest percentage of women of any industry.[97] The service sector overtook the agricultural
sector as the largest global employer in 2007.[98]

Safety

Rollover protection bar retrofitted to a mid-20th century Fordson tractor

Main article: Agricultural safety and health

Agriculture, specifically farming, remains a hazardous industry, and farmers worldwide remain at high risk of
work-related injuries, lung disease, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases, as well as certain cancers related
to chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. On industrialized farms, injuries frequently involve the use of
agricultural machinery, and a common cause of fatal agricultural injuries in developed countries is tractor
rollovers.[99] Pesticides and other chemicals used in farming can also be hazardous to worker health, and
workers exposed to pesticides may experience illness or have children with birth defects.[100] As an industry in
which families commonly share in work and live on the farm itself, entire families can be at risk for injuries,
illness, and death.[101] Ages 0–6 may be an especially vulnerable population in agriculture;[102] common
causes of fatal injuries among young farm workers include drowning, machinery and motor accidents, including
with all-terrain vehicles.[101][102][103]

The International Labour Organization considers agriculture "one of the most hazardous of all economic
sectors".[97] It estimates that the annual work-related death toll among agricultural employees is at least
170,000, twice the average rate of other jobs. In addition, incidences of death, injury and illness related to
agricultural activities often go unreported.[104] The organization has developed the Safety and Health in
Agriculture Convention, 2001, which covers the range of risks in the agriculture occupation, the prevention of
these risks and the role that individuals and organizations engaged in agriculture should play.[97]

In the United States, agriculture has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda to identify and provide intervention
strategies for occupational health and safety issues.[105][106] In the European Union, the European Agency for
Safety and Health at Work has issued guidelines on implementing health and safety directives in agriculture,
livestock farming, horticulture, and forestry.[107] The Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America
(ASHCA) also holds a yearly summit to discuss safety. In 2018, Joel Sherman, vice president of safety and
corporate affairs for Grimmway Enterprises stated, “I hate the term ‘Safety First,’ because it makes you think of
it as something separate from your work. Safety is not an interruption to your work. It’s the way you get your
work done.” [108]

Top agricultural products, by crop types

(million tonnes) 2004 data

Top agricultural products, by individual crops

(million tonnes) 2011 data
Livestock production systems

Main articles: Livestock and Animal husbandry

See also: List of domesticated animals

Intensively farmed pigs

Animal husbandry is the breeding and raising of animals for meat, milk, eggs, or wool), and for work and
transport.[114] Working animals, including horses, mules, oxen, water buffalo, camels, llamas, alpacas,
donkeys, and dogs, have for centuries been used to help cultivate fields, harvest crops, wrangle other animals,
and transport farm products to buyers.[115]

Livestock production systems can be defined based on feed source, as grassland-based, mixed, and landless.
[116] As of 2010, 30% of Earth's ice- and water-free area was used for producing livestock, with the sector
employing approximately 1.3 billion people. Between the 1960s and the 2000s, there was a significant increase
in livestock production, both by numbers and by carcass weight, especially among beef, pigs and chickens, the
latter of which had production increased by almost a factor of 10. Non-meat animals, such as milk cows and
egg-producing chickens, also showed significant production increases. Global cattle, sheep and goat populations
are expected to continue to increase sharply through 2050.[117] Aquaculture or fish farming, the production of
fish for human consumption in confined operations, is one of the fastest growing sectors of food production,
growing at an average of 9% a year between 1975 and 2007.[118]

During the second half of the 20th century, producers using selective breeding focused on creating livestock
breeds and crossbreeds that increased production, while mostly disregarding the need to preserve genetic
diversity. This trend has led to a significant decrease in genetic diversity and resources among livestock breeds,
leading to a corresponding decrease in disease resistance and local adaptations previously found among
traditional breeds.[119]

Raising chickens intensively for meat in a broiler house

Grassland based livestock production relies upon plant material such as shrubland, rangeland, and pastures for
feeding ruminant animals. Outside nutrient inputs may be used, however manure is returned directly to the
grassland as a major nutrient source. This system is particularly important in areas where crop production is not
feasible because of climate or soil, representing 30–40 million pastoralists.[111] Mixed production systems use
grassland, fodder crops and grain feed crops as feed for ruminant and monogastric (one stomach; mainly
chickens and pigs) livestock. Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as a fertilizer for crops.[116]

Landless systems rely upon feed from outside the farm, representing the de-linking of crop and livestock
production found more prevalently in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member
countries. Synthetic fertilizers are more heavily relied upon for crop production and manure utilization becomes
a challenge as well as a source for pollution.[116] Industrialized countries use these operations to produce much
of the global supplies of poultry and pork. Scientists estimate that 75% of the growth in livestock production
between 2003 and 2030 will be in confined animal feeding operations, sometimes called factory farming. Much
of this growth is happening in developing countries in Asia, with much smaller amounts of growth in Africa.
[117] Some of the practices used in commercial livestock production, including the usage of growth hormones,
are controversial.[120]
Further information: Tillage, Crop rotation, and Irrigation

[121][122]

[123]

[125][121]

[127]

[128]

Payment for ecosystem services is a method of providing additional incentives to encourage farmers to conserve
some aspects of the environment. Measures might include paying for reforestation upstream of a city, to
improve the supply of fresh water.[129]

Main article: Plant breeding

[130]

[131][132]

[133][134][135]

Main article: Genetic engineering

See also: Genetically modified food, Genetically modified crops, Regulation of the release
of genetic modified organisms, and Genetically modified food controversies

--------------------------------------------.

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic
engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering has expanded
the genes available to breeders to utilize in creating desired germlines for new crops. Increased durability,
nutritional content, insect and virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are a few of the attributes bred into crops
through genetic engineering.[136] For some, GMO crops cause food safety and food labeling concerns.
Numerous countries have placed restrictions on the production, import or use of GMO foods and crops.[137]
Currently a global treaty, the Biosafety Protocol, regulates the trade of GMOs. There is ongoing discussion
regarding the labeling of foods made from GMOs, and while the EU currently requires all GMO foods to be
labeled, the US does not.[138]

Herbicide-resistant seed has a gene implanted into its genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to
herbicides, including glyphosate. These seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with
herbicides to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers
worldwide.[139] With the increasing use of herbicide-tolerant crops, comes an increase in the use of
glyphosate-based herbicide sprays. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers
to switch to other herbicides.[140][141] Some studies also link widespread glyphosate usage to iron deficiencies
in some crops, which is both a crop production and a nutritional quality concern, with potential economic and
health implications.[142]

Other GMO crops used by growers include insect-resistant crops, which have a gene from the soil bacterium
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces a toxin specific to insects. These crops resist damage by insects.
[143] Some believe that similar or better pest-resistance traits can be acquired through traditional breeding
practices, and resistance to various pests can be gained through hybridization or cross-pollination with wild
species. In some cases, wild species are the primary source of resistance traits; some tomato cultivars that have
gained resistance to at least 19 diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes.[144]

Environmental impact
Main article: Environmental issues with agriculture

Water pollution in a rural stream due to runoff from farming activity in New Zealand

Effects and costs

Agriculture imposes multiple external costs upon society through effects such as pesticide damage to nature
(especially herbicides and insecticides), nutrient runoff, excessive water usage, and loss of natural environment.
A 2000 assessment of agriculture in the UK determined total external costs for 1996 of £2,343 million, or £208
per hectare.[145] A 2005 analysis of these costs in the US concluded that cropland imposes approximately $5 to
$16 billion ($30 to $96 per hectare), while livestock production imposes $714 million.[146] Both studies, which
focused solely on the fiscal impacts, concluded that more should be done to internalize external costs. Neither
included subsidies in their analysis, but they noted that subsidies also influence the cost of agriculture to
society.[145][146]

Agriculture seeks to increase yield and to reduce costs. Yield increases with inputs such as fertilisers and
removal of pathogens, predators, and competitors (such as weeds). Costs decrease with increasing scale of farm
units, such as making fields larger; this means removing hedges, ditches and other areas of habitat. Pesticides
kill insects, plants and fungi. These and other measures have cut biodiversity to very low levels on intensively
farmed land.[147]

In 2010, the International Resource Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme assessed the
environmental impacts of consumption and production. It found that agriculture and food consumption are two
of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change, climate change, water use
and toxic emissions. Agriculture is the main source of toxins released into the environment, including
insecticides, especially those used on cotton.[148] The 2011 UNEP Green Economy report states that
"[a]gricultural operations, excluding land use changes, produce approximately 13 per cent of anthropogenic
global GHG emissions. This includes GHGs emitted by the use of inorganic fertilisers agro-chemical pesticides
and herbicides; (GHG emissions resulting from production of these inputs are included in industrial emissions);
and fossil fuel-energy inputs.[149] "On average we find that the total amount of fresh residues from agricultural
and forestry production for second- generation biofuel production amounts to 3.8 billion tonnes per year
between 2011 and 2050 (with an average annual growth rate of 11 per cent throughout the period analysed,
accounting for higher growth during early years, 48 per cent for 2011–2020 and an average 2 per cent annual
expansion after 2020)."[149]

Livestock issues

Farmyard anaerobic digester converts waste plant material and manure from livestock into
biogas fuel.

A senior UN official, Henning Steinfeld, said that "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to
today's most serious environmental problems".[150] Livestock production occupies 70% of all land used for
agriculture, or 30% of the land surface of the planet. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases,
responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison,
all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times
the global warming potential of CO2,) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as
CO2.) It also generates 64% of the ammonia emission. Livestock expansion is cited as a key factor driving
deforestation; in the Amazon basin 70% of previously forested area is now occupied by pastures and the
remainder used for feedcrops.[151] Through deforestation and land degradation, livestock is also driving
reductions in biodiversity. Furthermore, the UNEP states that "methane emissions from global livestock are
projected to increase by 60 per cent by 2030 under current practices and consumption patterns."[149]

Land and water issues

See also: Environmental impact of irrigation

Circular irrigated crop fields in Kansas. Healthy, growing crops of corn and sorghum are
green (sorghum may be slightly paler). Wheat is brilliant gold. Fields of brown have been
recently harvested and plowed or have lain in fallow for the year.

Land transformation, the use of land to yield goods and services, is the most substantial way humans alter the
Earth's ecosystems, and is considered the driving force in the loss of biodiversity. Estimates of the amount of
land transformed by humans vary from 39 to 50%.[152] Land degradation, the long-term decline in ecosystem
function and productivity, is estimated to be occurring on 24% of land worldwide, with cropland
overrepresented.[153] The UN-FAO report cites land management as the driving factor behind degradation and
reports that 1.5 billion people rely upon the degrading land. Degradation can be deforestation, desertification,
soil erosion, mineral depletion, or chemical degradation (acidification and salinization).[111]

Eutrophication, excessive nutrients in aquatic ecosystems resulting in algal blooms and anoxia, leads to fish
kills, loss of biodiversity, and renders water unfit for drinking and other industrial uses. Excessive fertilization
and manure application to cropland, as well as high livestock stocking densities cause nutrient (mainly nitrogen
and phosphorus) runoff and leaching from agricultural land. These nutrients are major nonpoint pollutants
contributing to eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems and pollution of groundwater, with harmful effects on
human populations.[154] Fertilisers also reduce terrestrial biodiversity by increasing competition for light,
favouring those species that are able to benefit from the added nutrients.[155] Agriculture accounts for 70
percent of withdrawals of freshwater resources.[156] Agriculture is a major draw on water from aquifers, and
currently draws from those underground water sources at an unsustainable rate. It is long known that aquifers in
areas as diverse as northern China, the Upper Ganges and the western US are being depleted, and new research
extends these problems to aquifers in Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.[157] Increasing pressure is being placed
on water resources by industry and urban areas, meaning that water scarcity is increasing and agriculture is
facing the challenge of producing more food for the world's growing population with reduced water resources.
[158] Agricultural water usage can also cause major environmental problems, including the destruction of
natural wetlands, the spread of water-borne diseases, and land degradation through salinization and
waterlogging, when irrigation is performed incorrectly.[159]

Pesticides

Main article: Environmental impact of pesticides

Spraying a crop with a pesticide

Pesticide use has increased since 1950 to 2.5 million short tons annually worldwide, yet crop loss from pests has
remained relatively constant.[160] The World Health Organization estimated in 1992 that three million
pesticide poisonings occur annually, causing 220,000 deaths.[161] Pesticides select for pesticide resistance in
the pest population, leading to a condition termed the "pesticide treadmill" in which pest resistance warrants the
development of a new pesticide.[162]

An alternative argument is that the way to "save the environment" and prevent famine is by using pesticides and
intensive high yield farming, a view exemplified by a quote heading the Center for Global Food Issues website:
'Growing more per acre leaves more land for nature'.[163][164] However, critics argue that a trade-off between
the environment and a need for food is not inevitable,[165] and that pesticides simply replace good agronomic
practices such as crop rotation.[162] The Push–pull agricultural pest management technique involves
intercropping, using plant aromas to repel pests from crops (push) and to lure them to a place from which they
can then be removed (pull).[166]

Global warming

Main article: Climate change and agriculture

Winnowing grain: global warming will probably harm crop yields in low latitude countries
like Ethiopia.

Global warming and agriculture are interrelated on a global scale. Global warming affects agriculture through
changes in average temperatures, rainfall, and weather extremes (like storms and heat waves); changes in pests
and diseases; changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations; changes in the
nutritional quality of some foods;[167] and changes in sea level.[168] Global warming is already affecting
agriculture, with effects unevenly distributed across the world.[169] Future climate change will probably
negatively affect crop production in low latitude countries, while effects in northern latitudes may be positive or
negative.[169] Global warming will probably increase the risk of food insecurity for some vulnerable groups,
such as the poor.[170]

Animal husbandry is also responsible for greenhouse gas production of CO

2 and a percentage of the world's methane, and future land infertility, and the displacement of wildlife.
Agriculture contributes to climate change by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, and by the
conversion of non-agricultural land such as forest for agricultural use.[171] Agriculture, forestry and land-use
change contributed around 20 to 25% to global annual emissions in 2010.[172] A range of policies can reduce
the risk of negative climate change impacts on agriculture,[173][174] and greenhouse gas emissions from the
agriculture sector.[175][176][177]

Sustainability

See also: List of sustainable agriculture topics

Terraces, conservation tillage and conservation buffers reduce soil erosion and water
pollution on this farm in Iowa.

Current farming methods have resulted in over-stretched water resources, high levels of erosion and reduced
soil fertility. There is not enough water to continue farming using current practices; therefore how critical water,
land, and ecosystem resources are used to boost crop yields must be reconsidered. A solution would be to give
value to ecosystems, recognizing environmental and livelihood tradeoffs, and balancing the rights of a variety
of users and interests.[178] Inequities that result when such measures are adopted would need to be addressed,
such as the reallocation of water from poor to rich, the clearing of land to make way for more productive
farmland, or the preservation of a wetland system that limits fishing rights.[179]

Technological advancements help provide farmers with tools and resources to make farming more sustainable.
[180] Technology permits innovations like conservation tillage, a farming process which helps prevent land loss
to erosion, reduces water pollution, and enhances carbon sequestration.[181]

According to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),[128] agricultural
technologies will have the greatest impact on food production if adopted in combination with each other; using
a model that assessed how eleven technologies could impact agricultural productivity, food security and trade
by 2050, IFPRI found that the number of people at risk from hunger could be reduced by as much as 40% and
food prices could be reduced by almost half.[128] The caloric demand of Earth's projected population, with
current climate change predictions, can be satisfied by additional improvement of agricultural methods,
expansion of agricultural areas, and a sustainability-oriented consumer mindset.[182]

Energy dependence

Mechanised agriculture: from the first models in the 1940s, tools like a cotton picker
could replace 50 farm workers, at the price of increased use of fossil fuel.

Since the 1940s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-
intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel
sources.[183] Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the
globe, with world grain production increasing significantly (between 70% and 390% for wheat and 60% to
150% for rice, depending on geographic area)[184] as world population doubled. Heavy reliance on
petrochemicals has raised concerns that oil shortages could increase costs and reduce agricultural output.[185]

Industrialized agriculture depends on fossil fuels in two fundamental ways: direct consumption on the farm and
manufacture of inputs used on the farm. Direct consumption includes the use of lubricants and fuels to operate
farm vehicles and machinery.[185]
Indirect consumption includes the manufacture of fertilizers, pesticides, and farm machinery.[185] In particular,
the production of nitrogen fertilizer can account for over half of agricultural energy usage.[189] Together, direct
and indirect consumption by US farms accounts for about 2% of the nation's energy use. Direct and indirect
energy consumption by U.S. farms peaked in 1979, and has since gradually declined.[185] Food systems
encompass not just agriculture but off-farm processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and
disposal of food and food-related items. Agriculture accounts for less than one-fifth of food system energy use
in the US.[190][187]

Disciplines
Agricultural economics

Main article: Agricultural economics

Agricultural economics refers to economics as it relates to the "production, distribution and consumption of
[agricultural] goods and services".[191] Combining agricultural production with general theories of marketing
and business as a discipline of study began in the late 1800s, and grew significantly through the 20th century.
[192] Although the study of agricultural economics is relatively recent, major trends in agriculture have
significantly affected national and international economies throughout history, ranging from tenant farmers and
sharecropping in the post-American Civil War Southern United States[193] to the European feudal system of
manorialism.[194] In the United States, and elsewhere, food costs attributed to food processing, distribution,
and agricultural marketing, sometimes referred to as the value chain, have risen while the costs attributed to
farming have declined. This is related to the greater efficiency of farming, combined with the increased level of
value addition (e.g. more highly processed products) provided by the supply chain. Market concentration has
increased in the sector as well, and although the total effect of the increased market concentration is likely
increased efficiency, the changes redistribute economic surplus from producers (farmers) and consumers, and
may have negative implications for rural communities.[195]

In 19th century Britain, the protectionist Corn Laws led to high prices and widespread
protest, such as this 1846 meeting of the Anti-Corn Law League.[196]

National government policies can significantly change the economic marketplace for agricultural products, in
the form of taxation, subsidies, tariffs and other measures.[197] Since at least the 1960s, a combination of trade
restrictions, exchange rate policies and subsidies have affected farmers in both the developing and the
developed world. In the 1980s, non-subsidized farmers in developing countries experienced adverse effects
from national policies that created artificially low global prices for farm products. Between the mid-1980s and
the early 2000s, several international agreements limited agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other trade
restrictions.[198]

However, as of 2009, there was still a significant amount of policy-driven distortion in global agricultural
product prices. The three agricultural products with the greatest amount of trade distortion were sugar, milk and
rice, mainly due to taxation. Among the oilseeds, sesame had the greatest amount of taxation, but overall, feed
grains and oilseeds had much lower levels of taxation than livestock products. Since the 1980s, policy-driven
distortions have seen a greater decrease among livestock products than crops during the worldwide reforms in
agricultural policy.[197] Despite this progress, certain crops, such as cotton, still see subsidies in developed
countries artificially deflating global prices, causing hardship in developing countries with non-subsidized
farmers.[199] Unprocessed commodities such as corn, soybeans, and cattle are generally graded to indicate
quality, affecting the price the producer receives. Commodities are generally reported by production quantities,
such as volume, number or weight.[200]

Agricultural science
Main article: Agricultural science
Further information: Agronomy

An agronomist mapping a plant genome

Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural,
economic and social sciences used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. It covers topics such as
agronomy, plant breeding and genetics, plant pathology, crop modelling, soil science, entomology, production
techniques and improvement, study of pests and their management, and study of adverse environmental effects
such as soil degradation, waste management, and bioremediation.[201][202]

The scientific study of agriculture began in the 18th century, when Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted
experiments on the use of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulphate) as a fertilizer.[203] Research became more
systematic when in 1843, John Lawes and Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term agronomy field experiments
at Rothamsted Research Station in England; some of them, such as the Park Grass Experiment, are still running.
[204][205] In America, the Hatch Act of 1887 provided funding for what it was the first to call "agricultural
science", driven by farmers' interest in fertilizers.[206] In agricultural entomology, the USDA began to research
biological control in 1881; it instituted its first large program in 1905, searching Europe and Japan for natural
enemies of the gypsy moth and brown-tail moth, establishing parasitoids (such as solitary wasps) and predators
of both pests in the USA.[207][208][209]

Policy
Main article: Agricultural policy
Direct subsidies for animal products and feed by
OECD countries in 2012, in billions of US dollars[210]
Product Subsidy
Beef and veal 18.0
Milk 15.3
Pigs 7.3
Poultry 6.5
Soybeans 2.3
Eggs 1.5
Sheep 1.1

Agricultural policy is the set of government decisions and actions relating to domestic agriculture and imports
of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving
a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Some overarching themes include risk
management and adjustment (including policies related to climate change, food safety and natural disasters),
economic stability (including policies related to taxes), natural resources and environmental sustainability
(especially water policy), research and development, and market access for domestic commodities (including
relations with global organizations and agreements with other countries).[211] Agricultural policy can also
touch on food quality, ensuring that the food supply is of a consistent and known quality, food security,
ensuring that the food supply meets the population's needs, and conservation. Policy programs can range from
financial programs, such as subsidies, to encouraging producers to enroll in voluntary quality assurance
programs.[212]

There are many influences on the creation of agricultural policy, including consumers, agribusiness, trade
lobbies and other groups. Agribusiness interests hold a large amount of influence over policy making, in the
form of lobbying and campaign contributions. Political action groups, including those interested in
environmental issues and labor unions, also provide influence, as do lobbying organizations representing
individual agricultural commodities.[213] The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
leads international efforts to defeat hunger and provides a forum for the negotiation of global agricultural
regulations and agreements. Dr. Samuel Jutzi, director of FAO's animal production and health division, states
that lobbying by large corporations has stopped reforms that would improve human health and the environment.
For example, proposals in 2010 for a voluntary code of conduct for the livestock industry that would have
provided incentives for improving standards for health, and environmental regulations, such as the number of
animals an area of land can support without long-term damage, were successfully defeated due to large food
company pressure.[214]

Principle of Land Use

Various forms of land use: agriculture, forestry, wildlife conservation with respect to physical, economic and
social factors, commercialization communication and marketing. Crop and livestock distribution in relation to
ecological zones. Important local systems, including shifting cultivation and nomadic herding. Rates of
population increase, population density and pressure on the land.

Climate

Temperature, evaporation, evapotranspiration, humidity, wind; causes and measurement of rainfall; rainfall
distribution, effectiveness, reliability and rainfall intensity. The water cycle.

Farm Structures

(a) Fencing: Introduction of the materials available: their various advantages and disadvantages. Treatment of
wood materials and fence posts. Fencing practice. Different types of fencing for differing circumstances and
different animals. Economics of small-holding enclosure; use of live fencing materials.

(b) Animal Handling Layouts: Crushes, spray races and dips.

(c) Farm Buildings: Use of materials: wood, concrete, concrete blocks, metal, stone, brick, earth, bamboo and
thatch. Methods of making earth blocks, concrete blocks, concrete floors and roof trusses. Thatching. Site
selection and preparation. Simple designs of buildings suitable for crop stores, poultry and dairy herd.

(d) Farm Water Supplies: Sources, storage, distribution and maintenance.

Farm Machinery

(a) Farm Tools: Care, maintenance and proper use of common hand tools for wood-working, cultivating and
spraying. Various uses of ropes.

(b) Engines: Four-cycle principle: The parts of an engine and their functions. Major differences between a
petrol and diesel engine. Normal procedures; preventive maintenance. The air supply system, how and when to
service an air cleaner. The fuel system: importance of clean fuel, fuel filters. Lubrication systems: functions of
oil. The electrical system: care of the battery. Safety precautions.

(c) Machinery: Seeders, mills, winnowers and threshers. And at least one from the following: - Four-wheeled
tractor, plough and trailer. - Two-wheeled tractor, plough and cultivator attachments. - Ox-drawn plough,
toolbar and attachments.

Agricultural Economics

(a) Principles of Farm Economics: Practical applications of the law of supply and demand and the law of
diminishing returns. Opportunity costs. Risks and uncertainties. Practical examples of how to choose and
combine farm enterprises in relation to environmental and marketing conditions and available resources.
Efficiency standards for farm enterprises.

(b) Farm Records: Purpose of records. Types of records kept: expenditure, income, balance sheets, profit and
loss accounts and production records. Sample record sheets (local or school farm records are suitable).
(c) Agricultural Credit: Purposes, sources, types, establishment of credit interest rates, repayment policies,
banks.

(d) Land Tenure: Important local systems of tenure, fragmentation and consolidation. How to acquire land for
farming.

(e) Settlement and Resettlement: Organization and effect of settlement policies, types of settlement schemes.

(f) Farming Organization: Cooperatives: principles, organization, types, factors necessary for success. Other
organizations: Government extension training centers and research stations, farmers' organizations and
commercial organizations.

Section 2: Crop Production

Soils

(a) Soil Types and Classification:

- Soil formation. Classification of soils by physical characteristics; soil profile; soil constituents; soil structure
properties for clay, loam and sandy soils. Humus.

(b) Soil Fertility:

- Soil sampling, simple tests for soil water and organic matter and for pH using a commercial indicator, nitrogen
and phosphorous deficiencies as show by growing crops. Availability of plant nutrients, leaching and the
importance and preservation of organic matter. Methods of making and using manures, composts and mulches.
Carbon and nitrogen cycles and how they affect fertility. Symbiotic and free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Organic and inorganic fertilizers.

(c) Soil and Water Conservation:

- Soil erosion: causes and effects. Basic importance of conservation to soil fertility. Various methods used to
conserve soils: laying out and constructing filter strips, bench terraces, bunds, cut-off drains, grassed water
ways contours and ridges. Use of cropping systems as control measures: rotations, special grasses and mulches;
forests. Importance of trees in soil and water conservation; identification of locally important trees and their
value for shade and farm timber.

Crop Production

(a) Principles of Cultivation:

- Reclamation of land: clearing, stumping, leveling, contour layout and planning of fields. Primary cultivation
and choce of correct tools at the proper time and worked at the proper depth. Subsequent cultivations and choice
of the correct tools particularly with respect to the retention of good soil structure and minimizing loss of soil
moisture. Planting and weeding. Drainage and irrigation. Discussion of hand tillage tools, animal and
mechanical power, depending on the slope of land and economic factors involved.

(b) Crops:

- Group 1 (Cereals)

- Group 2 (Legumes)

- Group 3 (Perennials)

- Group 4 (Field Crops)

- Group 5 (Root Crops)

- Group 6 (Vegetables)

- Group 7 (Fruits)

 At least one crop from each of the groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and two from group 3 should be studied in detail. Choice of
crops in relation to ecology, human nutrition and profitability crop rotations. For each crop studied, special attention should
be paid to the following:

- Sources of seed and planting material, types and varieties. Methods of propagation.

- Seed purity and germination testing.

- Seed storage.

- Nursery layouts and management where applicable.

- Any special seed-bed preparations.

- Suitable soils and climate.

- Cultural practices of planting, spacing, weed control, fertilizer use and harvesting.

- Major pests and diseases and their control.

- Economic aspects.

- Processing, storage and marketing.

Grass and Legumes Management

Identification and study of the main grasses and legumes occurring in pastures.

Group 1 (Grasses): Elephant grass, Kikuyu grass, Rhodes grass, Guinea grass, Signal grass, Jaragua grass,
Nandi Sectaria.

Group 2 (Legumes): Gylcine, Stylo, greenleaf desmodium, Silverleaf Desmodium, Dentro, Lucerne, clovers,
Siratro.

 At least two from each group should be studied in detail. Methods of pasture improvement. Establishment of intensive
pastures and their exploitation. Suitable grass legume mixtures. Fertilizer use. Conservation: hay and silage. The place of the
grass ley in mixed husbandry. Fodder crops, including elephant grass.

Crop Improvement

General principles of improvement by selection and breeding for both annual and perennial crops.

Weeds

Their importance in agriculture. Identification of major weeds, both annual and perennial.

(a) Grass

- Group 1 (Perennials)

- Group 2 (Annuals)

(b) Sedges

- Group 3: Nutgrass

(c) Broad-Leaved Weeds

- Group 4 (Perennials)

- Group 5 (Annuals)

 At least one from each group should be studied in detail. Basic principles and economics of weed control:

- Cultural

- Mechanical

- Chemical: Selective and/or Non-selective

Plant Diseases and Pests

A simple account of diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. Nutrient deficiencies and nematodes
affecting crops. The nature of the damage, methods of transmission and common methods of control. Pests of
major crop plants and stored products, their types and importance, including study of life cycles of two major
local insect pests: principles and methods of pest control. Safety precautions in the use of chemicals. The
economics of control measures.