What is Agriculture? - The essential practice!

 

Hey kids! We gratefully welcome you back to KidsCast! Today, we will learn about a very interesting, essential, and important topic- Agriculture! You must've heard this word, in your textbooks, on the internet, in newspapers, and in various other places. But do you actually know its real meaning? So let us know, "What is Agriculture?" in this article. So let us begin! 

Introduction: 

So, kids, you must've seen farms. Farms are large areas of land, with growing plants and crops, and are usually green and yellow, especially during their harvest. Farmers and peasants work throughout the day in these farm fields, to grow and maintain the crops. The technology used here is not much and varies from region to region. In places like India, Africa, South America, and South Asia, farming technology is less compared to the places like the United States, Japan, and Europe. 

Now, what is farming, you ask? Well, as we grow crops or plants which give us something (like food or product), these crops grow slowly and steadily throughout the year. They are cut from the fields and collected when they are fully grown and ready to use. This is called Farming. Thus, Farming or Agriculture is the process of cultivating crops or plants which give us something, on a large scale, like in fields. Thus, agriculture is another word for farming. Now that we know what agriculture is, let us know how we, humans got to know about agriculture and how did this practice begin! 

How did Agriculture Start? 

Agriculture started between 10,000-12,000 years ago when humans started to domesticate plants and animals and started to settle at a particular place. Domesticate means to cultivate plants and store animals for the purposes of food. Before this time, most humans were dependent on animals for food, as that was the only source of food that was discovered. Hence, before agriculture was discovered, people were mostly hunters and gatherers and they were mostly dependent on animals for their food. They used to hunt animals from the forests and obtain their food from them. 

Then, the ability of a food crop to develop into a full crop and produce grains, which can further be made into food, was discovered. Humans started to settle into particular places to grow food and other crops on a particular land and rear animals for obtaining food. Hence, then agriculture practice began. This food and other products when obtained by agriculture, not only were used by the particular group of humans or communities but were also used for trading and selling to other groups and communities. 

At the end of the history of agriculture, by starting to domesticate the plants and animals, we humans were able to build communities and settlements where people lived in a particular place permanently and were also able to change the practice of hunting and nomadic living of humans. Nomadic living means when a person or group of people travel from one place to another in order to search for food and shelter and do not have a permanent home or place to live or reside in. 

Now let us see why is agriculture important to us these days.

Why is Agriculture Important? 

Agriculture is important to us in many ways. Some of the reasons why it is important to us are: 

• Agriculture provides us with a variety of food, from wheat to rice, from cereals to fruits and vegetables. All these food items are obtained from Agriculture. Milk is obtained from the domestication of animals like cows and goats. 
• Agriculture provides us most of the fibres for making fabrics and clothes. Fibres of cotton, wool, and leather are all obtained from agriculture to make clothes. 
• Materials and products like Timber (Wood), some medicines, Paper, Rubber, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa (used for making chocolate), Oilseeds and Sugar Cane and obtained from Agriculture. 
• Wood obtained from Agriculture is used for Construction.
• Agriculture satisfies our daily needs like milk, food and fabrics. 

Crop Agriculture: 

A 'crop' means a plant that can be grown and harvested for consumption, trading or selling. Crop Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and plants. It means growing plants on a particular piece of land, to practice agriculture. Most of the agriculture practiced is crop agriculture. The result of crop agriculture gives us food and cash crops. Food Crops are those crops which provide us with food, like- Wheat, Rice, Maize, Millets, and grains. On the other hand, cash crops are those crops which provide us with products which can be sold in the market for making profits, like- Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Wool, Silk, and Cocoa. 

Now let us know about Animal Agriculture. 

Animal Agriculture: 

Animal Agriculture, which is also called as Animal Husbandry is the rearing of animals for food or other products. It is a branch of agriculture which is concerned for the production of products like- Milk, Meat, Fibres, Eggs, and other products. It includes the day-to-day care of animals and their breeding and raising. Animals in this practice are known as Livestock. Animals like: Cattle, Poultry (chickens and hens), Sheep, Goat, Dog, Pig, Dairy Cattle, and camels are usually used as livestock in Animal Husbandry. 

Before ending the article, here is a fun quiz for you to recap and revise what you have learned in this article, about Agriculture. Go ahead and check your knowledge. 

Click here to Play the Quiz!

So, kids, we have learned what is agriculture, how it began, why is it important, and the two kinds of agriculture. Thus, this all was the basic introduction to Agriculture. We hope you liked it. See you soon, till then, Happy Learning!