Agricultural science (oragriscience for short[1]) is a broad multidisciplinary field ofbiology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic andsocial sciences that are used in the practice and understanding ofagriculture. Professionals of the agricultural science are called agricultural scientists oragriculturists.
In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with theHatch Act of 1887, which used the term "agricultural science".[6][7] The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. TheSmith–Hughes Act of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots, but the scientific foundation had been built.[8] For the next 44 years after 1906, federal expenditures on agricultural research in the United States outpaced private expenditures.[9]: xxi
Climate change has had significant effects onmodern agriculture, making weather patterns less predictable and increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as prolongeddroughts,floods and heatwaves. As a result, crop production has become more uncertain even in regions that were previously characterised by relatively stable climatic conditions.[10] Changes in temperature and rainfall regimes are also contributing tosoil erosion,desertification and the degradation of water resources, with implications for long-term agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods.[11]
To address these issues, there has been increasing interest in agricultural research and practice in the so-called climate-smart strategies aimed at adapting agricultural systems to the existing and the forecasted climate effects and the minimisation of greenhouse gas emissions wherever feasible. These measures involve more efficient use of water and nutrients, crop and agriculture system diversification, soil and water protection, and creating crops and livestock strains more resistant to heat and drought among other challenges. The thrust of these endeavors defines the fundamental importance of agricultural science to the maintenance of food production, safeguarding natural resources and promoting resilience to environmental change.[12]
Agriculture, agricultural science, and agronomy are closely related. However, they cover different concepts:
Agriculture is the set of activities that transform the environment for the production of animals and plants for human use. Agriculture concerns techniques, including the application of agronomic research.
Traditional agricultural systems, sometimes termedsubsistence agriculture, which feed most of the poorest people in the world. These systems are of interest as they sometimes retain a level of integration with natural ecological systems greater than that ofindustrial agriculture, which may be more sustainable than some modern agricultural systems.
Food production and demand globally, with particular attention paid to the primary producers, such as China, India, Brazil, the US, and the EU.
Various sciences relating to agricultural resources and the environment (e.g. soil science, agroclimatology); biology of agricultural crops and animals (e.g. crop science, animal science and their included sciences, e.g. ruminant nutrition, farm animal welfare); such fields as agricultural economics and rural sociology; various disciplines encompassed inagricultural engineering.
^John Armstrong, Jesse Buel.A Treatise on Agriculture, The Present Condition of the Art Abroad and at Home, and the Theory and Practice of Husbandry. To which is Added, a Dissertation on the Kitchen and Garden. 1840. p. 45.
^"Hatch Act of 1887".College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. 23 November 2020. Archived fromthe original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved14 December 2022.
Claude Bourguignon,Regenerating the Soil: From Agronomy to Agrology, Other India Press, 2005
Pimentel David, Pimentel Marcia,Computer les kilocalories, Cérès, n. 59, sept-oct. 1977
Russell E. Walter,Soil conditions and plant growth, Longman group, London, New York 1973
Salamini, Francesco; Özkan, Hakan; Brandolini, Andrea; Schäfer-Pregl, Ralf; Martin, William (2002). "Genetics and geography of wild cereal domestication in the near east".Nature Reviews Genetics.3 (6):429–441.doi:10.1038/nrg817.PMID12042770.S2CID25166879.
Vavilov Nicolai I. (Starr Chester K. editor),The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. Selected Writings, in Chronica botanica, 13: 1–6, Waltham, Mass., 1949–50
Vavilov Nicolai I.,World Resources of Cereals, Leguminous Seed Crops and Flax, Academy of Sciences of Urss, National Science Foundation, Washington, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem 1960
Winogradsky Serge,Microbiologie du sol. Problèmes et methodes. Cinquante ans de recherches, Masson & c.ie, Paris 1949
