Agriculture

It is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. It came from a word

"Agercultura" in which "Ager" means field and "Cultura" means cultivate.

Types of Agriculture:

Type	Definition
1. Intensive	High inputs or yields for given area of land.
2. Extensive	Low inputs or yields for given area of land.
3. Commercial	Crops  are cultivated and animals reared are sold.
4. Substinence	Cultivating crops or rearing animals for consumption by the farmer and his family.
5. Arable	The cultivating of crops.
6. Pastoral	The rearing of animals.
7. Mixed	A combination of arable and pastoral.

Physical Influence on Agriculture:

1. Climate:

It includes temperature, air, relative humidity, wind, light and rainfall.

a. Temperature: It affects various growth processes in crops such as seed dormancy breakage, photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration and seed germination. Plants mature earlier in higher temperature because photosynthesis and translocation occur faster. Most of the plants cannot grow if the temperature falls below 6®C.

b. Air

Crops require oxygen during respiration to produce energy used in growth and development processes. During photosynthesis, plants require to manufacture food.

c. Relative Humidity

Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor air can hold at any given temperature. Relative humidity influences the closing and opening of stomata regulating water loss in crops during photosynthesis and transpiration.

d. Light

It influences phototropism, mineral absorption, stomatal movement and translocation. The intensity, quality and daylength of light affects plant growth and development.

2. Topography

It relates to how difficult it is to till land, soil erosion and poor transportation networks and facilities. Mechanization of land entirely depends on the land topography. If the land is high than there is more chance of soil erosion.

3. Soil

A rich soil is the chief requirement of successful agriculture. Soils with poor texture and harsh chemicals are low in productivity.

Social, Cultural and Economic Influence on Agriculture

1.  Market

Relation to market generally determines the character of farming . Places away from the market will generally grow crops which can afford the cost of transport to the market. Places near large center of population generally develop market gardening and produce easily perishable goods which can be transported to the market for short distances.

2. Transportation facilities

Commercial farming is impossible in those  regions which are far from the market and is ill-equipped with transportation facilities.

3. Capital

In the developed country, there is a well developed system of supportive banks, private investors and government subsidies which means that agriculture is most likely to be capital intensive. In the developing countries, the system of capital support are less developed and farmers have little capital of their own which means the agriculture will be labor intensive.

4. Labor

It determines the character of agriculture. Intensive agriculture is labor intensive and shows the human pressure on the land. Agriculture requires skilled labor that can appreciate the relations of season and soils with the crops and adopt the required cultural patterns.

5. Commodity prices

Commodity crops earn farmers losses or profits based on the prevailing price of the output that industrial buyers are willing to pay.