Agriculture is the cultivation and rearing of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuels, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and improve human life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, through which the cultivation of domesticated species created surplus food that encouraged the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. The history of agriculture goes back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined by very different climates, cultures and technologies. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale mono-culture has become the dominant agricultural methodology.
Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agro-chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers and technological advances have in many cases increased crop yields, but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative effects on human health. Selective husbandry and modern husbandry practices have similarly increased meat production, but there have been concerns about animal welfare and the health effects of antibiotics, growth hormones and other chemicals commonly used in animal husbandry. industrial production of meat. Genetically modified organisms are a growing component of agriculture, although they are banned in several countries. Agricultural food production and water management are increasingly becoming global issues that are fueling debate on several fronts. Significant degradation of water and land resources, including depletion of aquifers, has been observed in recent decades, and the effects of global warming on agriculture and agriculture on global warming are still poorly understood.
The main agricultural products can be grouped widely in food, fiber, fuel and raw materials. Specific foods include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, oils, meats and spices. The fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and linen. Raw materials include wood and bamboo. Other useful materials are also produced by plants, such as resins, dyes, drugs, perfumes, biofuels and ornamental products such as cut flowers and nursery plants. More than a third of the world's workers are employed in agriculture, surpassed only by the service sector, although the percentage of agricultural workers in developed countries has declined significantly in recent centuries.