Agriculture: Definition, Scope, and Origin

Mesleki ngilizce Prof. Dr. smet BOZ OM Ziraat Fak ltesi Tar m Ekonomisi B l m ismet.boz@omu.edu.tr

The word Agriculture The word Agriculture has no rigid definition. It has been explained by many people very comprehensively. Agriculture has been defined as the science and art of cultivating the soil, and this definition emphasizes the primary nature of plant production in agriculture. Moreover, it is so frequent that the same person performs both the primary functions of growing plants and the secondary one of feeding the plants to livestock that these two industries are grouped together as agriculture. Therefore, it may be said that agriculture includes not only the production of crops by the cultivation of the soil, but also the rearing of livestock. Words to learn Rigid: Comprehensive: Comprehensively: Cultivate: Perform: Grow: Rear:

The word Agriculture Thus, milk, meat and wool are as much agricultural products as are wheat, rice and cotton. In the words of George O Brien, therefore, the word agriculture includes, every industry which aims at producing vegetables or animals by the cultivation of the soil. So, agriculture is the business of raising products from the land. The products raised may either be plants and their products or animals and their products. The former are the direct products while the latter are the indirect products of the land. Agricultural products are complex and diverse, in nature, and as such, agriculture may be regarded as complex industry. Words to learn Thus: Wool: As much as: Wheat Rice: Cotton: Vegetable: Aim at: Raise: Either or: Neither nor: Diverse: Regard:

The word Agriculture Modern agriculture is such broader in scope than merely the art and science of cultivating the land. It is the whole business of supplying food and fiber for a growing population at home and abroad. Again in agriculture we include all forms of soil production, from forestry to glass-house culture, from fishery to artificial insemination, and from breeding to horticulture. Words to learn Broad: Scope: Merely: Art: Fiber: Abroad: Glass-house culture Fishery: Artifical insemination: Breeding

Origin of Origin of Agriculture Agriculture It was soon realized that some form of food pro- duction was necessary if men were to live long and secure. Animals were tamed, first to provide meat, milk and skin; later for use as draught animals. Seeds were sown in ploughed fields, carefully tended and harvested when the time came. Men were then able to live in settled communities. Because they were no longer continually moving they had time to develop the various arts, crafts and skills that formed the basis of modern industries and also evolved religious and political ideas. Without a settled agriculture, a measurable degree of civilization is not possible. Words to learn Realize: Secure: Tame: Skin: Draught: Sow: Sown: Craft: Skill: Evolve: Settled:

Origin of Origin of Agriculture Agriculture Words to learn Advance: Exacting: Means: Dig: Tillage: Harvest: Spread: Steam: Expansion: Naturally, as civilization became more and more advanced, the demands upon the productivity of the environment became more exacting. In an ever- expanding community, ways and means had to be found to increase the agricultural productivity of the land. Canals were dug to bring in more water; better seeds and improved methods of tillage helped to increase the annual harvests. With the spread of agriculture as a global activity, tremendous progress was made in every aspect of crop production. The use of steam, oil, gas or hydro- electric power allowed farms to be mechanized, which not only raised productivity per hectare, but also brought rapid expansion in the total land-area farmed, especially in the New World.

Features Features of of agriculture agriculture Words to learn Belong: Devode: Remaining: Feature: Densely: Besides: Holdings: The following are the features of agriculture: Out of 19.74 million hectares total agricultural land in Turkey, million hectares belong to Konya alone. of the agricultural land is devoted for food-grain production and remaining land is used for the production of other crops. Considering the total volume of production and area under cultivation, grains secures the prime position.

Features Features of of agriculture agriculture Words to learn Belong: Devode: Remaining: Feature: Densely: Besides: Holdings: over Turkey tiny and uneconomic land holdings are characteristic feature. Compared to other developed and developing countries, Turkish land units are one of the smallest. major reason, Turkey is one of the most densely populated country in the Middle East Region. Besides this high density of population, high degree of dependence on agriculture also forced the people to acquire land holdings whatever size it might be.