Agriculture Economics

Integrated farming   (also known as mixed farming) is a farming system with simultaneous activities involving   crop   and animal. Integrated agriculture involves farming systems with environmental, economic, social, and intergenerational sustainability. In an integrated, sustainable agriculture system, the goal is not necessarily producing immediate outputs, but rather maintaining a system of healthful production, over time. The major components of a sustainable system include economy, environment, and community. This mixed farming system recycles all wastes so that little is thrown away: one’s waste is indeed another’s food.

Plant pests and diseases can wipe out farmers’ hard work and cause significant losses to yields and incomes, posing a major threat to food security. Globalization, trade and climate change, as well as reduced resilience in production systems due to decades of agricultural intensification and biodiversity loss, have all played a part in the dramatic increase and spread of transboundary plant pests and diseases. Pests and diseases can easily spread to several countries and reach epidemic proportions. Outbreaks and upsurges can cause huge losses to crops and pastures, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and the food and nutrition security of millions at a time.

The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and Agri, food, Aqua needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Practitioners of sustainable agriculture seek to integrate three main objectives into their work: a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Every person involved in the food system-growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste managers-can play a role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system. Soil health plays an essential role in raising healthy, productive crops and livestock. The many benefits of cover crops are increasingly appreciated among farmers. They play an important role in erosion control, weed control, soil conservation and soil health. With careful selection and management, they fit into any crop rotation or cropping system, such as no-till farming, and are integral to organic farming.

Plant Genomics is the part of molecular biology working with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes in plants. Genomics is the study of genes, their expression and their activities, the role played in biology. Genomics is a branch of genetics that is concerned with the sequencing and analysis of organism's genome. Genomics aids us in maintaining the large number of database that assists us to study genetic variation.

Agroecology is a scientific discipline, a set of practices and a social movement. As a science, it studies how different components of the agroecosystem interact. As a set of practices, it seeks sustainable farming systems that optimize and stabilize yields. As a social movement, it pursues multifunctional roles for agriculture, promotes social justice, nurtures identity and culture, and strengthens the economic viability of rural areas. Family farmers are the people who hold the tools for practising Agroecology. As an agricultural practice, agroecology mimics natural processes to deliver self-sustaining farming that grows a greater diversity of crops, drastically reduces artificial inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics) and recycles nutrients (plant and animal waste as manure). These practices have obvious benefits for farmers – reduced input costs, greater autonomy from corporations, diversified income streams, risk management for crop failures and varied produce to improve nutrition.

Many new plant varieties being developed or grown by farmers have been produced using genetic engineering, which involves manipulating the plant's genes through techniques of modern molecular biology often referred to as recombinant DNA technology. These techniques are included in what is often referred to as "biotechnology" or "modern biotechnology. Assessing the environmental safety of a biotech plant requires an understanding of the biology of the plant itself and the practices used in its cultivation. This knowledge is important in identifying and evaluating potential environmental. The development of an effective national biosafety system is important to encourage the growth of domestic biotechnologies; to ensure safe access to new products and technologies developed elsewhere; and to build public confidence that products in the marketplace are safe. risks and also in designing any appropriate risk management measures.

Horticulture is the study of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants. It includes production, improvement, marketing and scientific analysis of medicinal plant, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and non-food crops such as grass and ornamental trees and plants. It also deals with species conservation, landscape restoration, landscape and garden design, management, and maintenance, research and marketing. Horticulturists apply their knowledge, skills, and technologies to grow plants for human food and non-food uses like garden or landscape design, decorations etc. Their field also involves plant propagation and tissue culture to improve plant growth, diversification, quality, nutritional value, and resistance and adaptation strength to environmental stresses. Major horticulture sections are Arboriculture, Turf management, Floriculture, Landscape horticulture, Olericulture, Viticulture, Oenology, Postharvest physiology.

Organi Farming focusses on the Livestock/Animal Farming. Animal Farming is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind." It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the animals studied were livestock species, like cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, and horses. Today, courses available now look at a far broader area to include companion animals like dogs and cats, and many exotic species. Nowadays stress management is also a part of livestock farming as it finally improve product yield and quality. Pigs and poultry are reared intensively in indoor environments. However, indoor animal farming has often been criticized for multiple reasons - on grounds of pollution and for animal welfare reasons. Livestock farming plays a major role in the agricultural business and economy of major developing countries. They take an important part in crop agriculture. Most farms in the developing world are too small to avail tractor or other machinery facilities and their main alternative is animal power. The innumerable benefits of livestock farming can positively effect in a growth of agronomy, agro-economy, biological ecosystem and other agricultural fields.

An agricultural waste management system (AWMS) is a planned system in which all necessary components are installed and managed to control and use by-products of agricultural production in a manner that sustains or enhances the quality of air, water, soil, plant, animal, and energy resources. The primary objective of most agricultural enterprises is the production of marketable goods. To be successful, the farm manager must balance the demand on limited resources among many complicated and interdependent systems, often including six basic functions : Production, Collection, Transfer, Storage, Treatment, Utilization

Agricultural Engineering is the area of engineering concerned with the design, construction and improvement of farming equipment and machinery. Agricultural engineers integrate technology with farming. For example, they design new and improved farming equipment that may work more efficiently, or perform new tasks. They design and build agricultural infrastructure such as dams, water reservoirs, warehouses, and other structures. They may also help engineer solutions for pollution control at large farms. Some agricultural engineers are developing new forms of biofuels from non-food resources like algae and agricultural waste. Such fuels could economically and sustainably replace gasoline without jeopardizing the food supply.

Biofertilizer technology has shown promise for integrated nutrient management through biological Nitrogen fixation (BNF). Biofertilizers may also be used to improve Phopshate availability to crops. The efficacy of inoculants can vary with inoculant type, crop species, formulation, soil nutrient level, soil pH/type, existence of relevant microbes in the soil, and weather conditions. Biofertilizers are living organisms that enrich the nutrient quality of the soil. It refers to the use of microbes instead of chemicals to enhance the nutrition of the soil, it is also less harmful and does not cause pollution.

Transgenic plants are plants that have been genetically engineered a breeding approach that uses recombinant DNA techniques to create plants with new characteristics. They are identified as a class of genetically modified organism (GMO). The aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species. A transgenic plant contains a gene or genes that have been artificially inserted. This process provides advantages like improving shelf life, higher yield, improved quality, pest resistance, tolerant to heat, cold and drought resistance, against a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. Cisgenic plants are made up of using genes, found within the same species or a closely related one, where conventional plant breeding can occur. Some breeders and scientists argue that cisgenic modification is useful for plants that are difficult to crossbreed by conventional methods

The goal of irrigation management is to use water in the most profitable way at sustainable production levels. For production agriculture this generally means supplementing precipitation with irrigation. Irrigation management with regulated water deficit allows a better use of rain water and stimulates deepening of the root system, increasing the volume of the soil which is explored by the roots of the plants. The applied water depth in each irrigation is lower than the water quantity necessary for the crop, but its value must be enough not to significantly affect the development and productivity of the crop. It is crucial to product quality in vegetable crops. Transition in the certain region from dryland to irrigated agriculture, or from flood and low-efficiency sprinkler irrigation, to center pivot and drip irrigation systems. The content of some phytochemicals is related to fruit size and maturity stage, traits that are dramatically impacted by irrigation; however, the relationship between irrigation and phytochemical content is complex.

Agricultural climatology is a branch of science that concerns itself with the influence of climate on the cultural conditions of agricultural plants, animal husbandry, the occurrence of detrimental influences (both biological and weather conditioned) especially on agricultural operating methods. Weather and its longer term variant, climate, remain among the most important uncontrollable variables in agricultural production systems. The climatology group is involved in a wide variety of agrometeorological and agroclimatological research pattern, decision making for the length of the growing season, the relation of growth rate and crop yields to the various climatic factors and hence the optimal and limiting climates for any given crop, the value of irrigation, and the effect of climatic and weather conditions on the development and spread of crop diseases. This discipline is primarily concerned with the space occupied by crops, namely, the soil and the layer of air up to the tops of the plants, in which conditions are governed largely by the microclimate.