Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of agricultural goods through the growing of plants and the raising of domesticated animals. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. The related practice of gardening is studied in horticulture. Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of specialties. Cultivation of crops on arable land and the pastoral herding of livestock on rangeland remain at the foundation of agriculture. In the past century a distinction has been made between sustainable agriculture and intensive farming. Modern agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry such as intensive pig farming (similar practices applied to the chicken) have similarly increased the output of meat. The more exotic varieties of agriculture include aquaculture and tree farming. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, raw materials, legal and illegal drugs, and an assortment of ornamental or otherwise exotic products. In recent years plants have been used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, and bioplastic. as well as pharmaceuticals. Specific foods include cereals, (vegetables, fruits, and meat. Fibers include (cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax). Raw materials include lumber and bamboo. Drugs include tobacco, marijuana, opium, cocaine, digitalis, curare, eugenol, reserpine, pyrethrins, taxol) and other useful materials such as resins. Biofuels include methane from biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel. Cut flowers, nursery plants, tropical fish and birds for the pet trade are some of the ornamental products. The history of agriculture has played a major role in human history, as agricultural progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change. Wealth-building and militaristic specializations rarely seen in hunter-gatherer cultures are commonplace in societies which practice agriculture. So, too, are arts such as epic literature and monumental architecture, as well as codified legal systems. When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible. In 2007, an estimated 35 percent of the world's workers were employed in agriculture (from 42% in 1996). However, the relative significance of farming has dropped steadily since the beginning of industrialization, and in 2003 – for the first time in history – the services sector overtook agriculture as the economic sector employing the most people worldwide. Despite the fact that agriculture employs over one-third of the world's population, agricultural production accounts for less than five percent of the gross world product (an aggregate of all gross domestic products).

Farm House

Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. These buildings are usually 2 stories, but early buildings were single story. Many farm houses are shaped like a T. The perpendicular section is referred to as the ell. These buildings tend to be more pragmatic than aesthetic, but often well-stocked or well-furnished in terms of food, insulation or in other aspects dealing with daily necessities. The supply of agricultural products from its environment tends to be a factor for this, as well as stressing the need for productivity and pragmatism in the survival of the farm. The farmhouse allows the farmers, workers and often their families to reside in proximity to their workplace - namely the farm in question. This allows the farmers and workers to arrive at the workplace earlier, increasing the productivity of the farm. Lately, "farmhouse" has come to be used to mean an expensive housing estate in the countryside, away from the city. In this modern extended use of the term, the farmhouse may or may not be related to an actual farm - frequently, in fact, "farmhouses" are not based around any actual farm. While farm produce sustained the traditional farmhouses, sustenance for the modern farmhouse is provided by outside resources. These modern farmhouses are often a rural retreat for wealthy people who come to these places for vacation and rest, or to escape the atmosphere of the city. While many of these farmhouses have been handed down through generations, where originally farm produce could have been the main revenue source, other such farmhouses are being built new.

Banana

Banana, good for the heart

Banana

A set of Bananas waiting to be harvested.

agriculture

this is the grain field in korea.

Hydroponics

Hydroponics need not be expensive, it can be almost free as air!

Bees

Commercial agriculture has been hit hard by a mysterious disease called Colony Collapse Disorder where the bee keeper finds an empty hive full of honey, an ill queen, and a handful of stumbling young workers.