What is Agriculture?

The word, '"agriculture,"' comes from the Latin origin of the word, '"agricultura."' Separately,
'"agr"' means '"field,"' and '"culture"' means '"growing"' or '"cultivation."' According to Oxford
Languages, agriculture is the science or practice of farming, or the growing crops and raising
livestock, with the purpose of human use and consumption. Scientist James M. Rubenstein
explained it in his book, The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography, as:
'"The deliberate modification of Earth's surface through cultivation of plants and rearing animals
to obtain sustenance or economic gain."'

Types of Agriculture
There are two types of agriculture: industrialized and subsistence agriculture. These are
categorized methods and purposes of cultivation. Industrialized agriculture is a more targeted
and large-scale production of crops and animals for the purpose of sale and trade. Subsistence
agriculture is the production of crops or livestock primarily to provide for the farmer and the
farmer's family and often uses techniques that are more beneficial to the overall environment of
the land or water.

History of Agriculture

Agriculture first began around 12,000 years ago and was considered a revolution in farming culture.
Prior to its introduction, most food supplies were derived from hunting and gathering, which required a
nomadic lifestyle to follow herds and natural wildlife. The practice of agriculture, however, allowed for
people to settle down in just one area and grow a supply of food that would be able to sustain them
indefinitely. Because of this, economic life began to flourish and population sizes began to increase
exponentially.

Agriculture began with vegetative planting. This process involved cutting stems and roots of existing
plants and replanting them in order to re-grow the same plants. As this practice continued and plants
became better understood, seed agriculture became discovered. With the introduction of seeds,
farmers were able to save seeds and plant them on their farms selectively at desired times.

While the practice of agriculture began with the purpose to sustain life in a settled location, it gradually
developed to serve as a means to produce for sale and trade, feeding the growth of the food industry as
well as the world’s economic growth. These exchanges began locally and eventually led to global trade
and sales.
Quickly, it also became realized that certain regions of the world had certain climates and environments
that favored the growth of indigent crops. Around 9,000 years ago, Syria became known as a place
where cereals and figs were easy to produce. As far back as 6000 BC, China had begun rice and ancient
farming. Around 10,000 years ago, Mexico began cultivating squash, and around 5,000 years ago, began
cultivating maize and teosinte. Around the same time, North America adopted corn production as well
and also discovered the growth of sunflowers and potatoes throughout the Andes.

What is Farming?

The word ‘”farming”’ comes from the Latin origin of the word, ‘”firmare.”’ It means ‘”to fix or to settle.”’
Oxford Languages defines it the activity or business of growing crops and raising livestock. Merriam-
Webster defines it as engaging in raising crops or animals. It includes production and harvesting in the
ocean and water as well. Farming, in essence, is agriculture without defining what its production will be
used for. In other words, agriculture is the act of farming for the purpose of providing for human use
and consumption. As was discussed about the history of agriculture, the practice of farming and
agriculture introduced the idea for people to settle down in one location and live off of the land that
they would farm for sustainability.

What is the importance of agriculture?

The importance of agriculture is that it allows humans to live in a permanent location without having to
hunt and gather food. It has allowed civilizations to come into existence and flourish and has made a
great impact on economic growth for many countries. However, the corruption of agriculture has
allowed pollution, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms to become introduced into the system
and the situation is now difficult to control.

What are the types of agriculture?

There are two types of agriculture discussed in this lesson. These include industrialized agriculture and
subsistence agriculture. Industrialized agriculture is farming for the purpose of mass production and
economic growth, while subsistence agriculture is farming to feed the family that works the farm.

There exist four main branches of agriculture, namely;

Livestock production.

Crop production.

Agricultural economics.

Agricultural engineering.
Crop production is a branch of agriculture, which includes the cultivation of crops in field cultivation,
vegetable growing, fruit growing, etc. This industry gives necessary food. Consumer goods
manufacturing and food industries gets raw materials.

Agronomic crops provide the food, feed grain, oil, and fiber for domestic consumption and are a major
component of U.S. export trade. Horticultural plants — those grown specifically for human use — offer
variety to human diets and enhance the living environment.

Traces of modern Philippine agriculture became most visible to the Outside World at the height of the
Spanish regime when industries were encouraged and developed and supplied the major needs of the
colonizer Spain and other European consumers for tobacco, sugar and abaca.

At the proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898, which gave birth to the First
Philippine Republic under the stewardship of President Emilio Aguinaldo, several offices and agencies
were established. The then Department of Agriculture and Manufacturing was created through a
Presidential Proclamation on June 23, 1898.

By 1901, a policy of diversification was adopted under the American Sovereignty, which gave emphasis
to the development of other agricultural products, like rice and other basic commodities, and also
fishing, forestry and mining. The Insular Bureau of Agriculture was then created under the Department
of Interior through Act 271.

Eventually, the Bureau of Agriculture grew rapidly until it was abolished by the enactment of Act No.
2666 on November 18, 1916, which was implemented on January 1, 1917.

By virtue of this Act entitled "An Act to Re-organize the Executive Department of the Government of the
Philippine Islands" the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources took over the functions and
activities of the Department of Interior, namely: direct executive control, direction, and supervision of
the Bureau of Agriculture, Bureau of Forestry, Bureau of Lands, Bureau of Science, and the Weather
Bureau and all matters concerning hunting, fisheries, sponges and other sea products and such others as
may be hereafter assigned to it by law.

The means by which agriculture expanded into the Philippines is argued by many different
anthropologists and an exact date of its origin is unknown.[1][2][3][4] However, there are proxy
indicators and other pieces of evidence that allow anthropologists to get an idea of when different crops
reached the Philippines and how they may have gotten there.[5][6] Rice is an important agricultural crop
today in the Philippines and many countries throughout the world import rice and other products from
the Philippines.
2 Types of Crops

Agronomic crops are generally non-perishable crops such as grains, dry beans, oilseeds, and fiber, while
horticultural crops are fruits and vegetables, mainly grown for their “contribution to the flavour and
interest of food and for the supply of minor but essential nutrients.”

AGRICULTURE

 Comes from latin word (ager) meaning field and (cultural) means cultivation

 Production of food and raw material through farming (FAO, 2011)

 The science , art and business of producing crops and raising of domesticated animals (sheaffer
and Moncada, 2011).

DOMESTICATION

_ the adapting or farming of wild species of plant or animals to be used by man.

The Philippine economy is driven primarily by the service and industry sectors. Two-thirds of the
population is still living in the rural area where agriculture is the main source of livelihood. Forty-eight
percent of the total land area for agriculture are planted to temporary crops while 46% are planted to
permanent crops. The major crops in the Philippines are rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, banana,
pineapple, coffee, mango, tobacco, abaca, peanut, mungbean, cassava, sweet potato, tomato, garlic,
onion bulb, cabbage, eggplant, calamansi, and rubber. Major livestock are carabao, hog, cattle, goat,
dairy and the major fisheries are milkfish, tilapia, tiger prawn, yellowfin tuna. Poultry products in the
country are chicken, duck, chicken eggs, and duck eggs.