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Agronomy

Agricultural Systems

Ultimately, the goal of agronomy is to develop agricultural systems that are sustainable over the long term. An agricultural system involves particular combinations of crop species, along with methods of tillage, seeding, pest management, and harvesting. Furthermore, agricultural systems may involve the growth of successive crops in a carefully designed rotation, or perhaps the growth of several crops at the same time, for example, by row cropping or intercropping.

The ultimate judgement of the success of agronomy will be the sustainability of the agricultural systems that agronomists develop, and then persuading agriculturalists to use them.

Resources

Books

Briggs, D.J. and F.M. Courtney. Agriculture and Environment. New York: Longman, 1989.

Carroll, R.C., J.H. Vandermeer, and P.M. Rossett. Agroecology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.

Freedman, B. Environmental Ecology. 2nd ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 1984.

Hartmann, H.T., A.M. Kofranek, V.E. Rubatzky, and W.J. Flocker. Plant Science: Growth, Development, and Utilization of Cultivated Plants. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1988.

Miller, R.W. and R.L. Donahue. Soils. An Introduction to Soils and Plant Growth. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989.

Soule, J.D. and J.K. Piper. Farming in Nature's Image: An Ecological Approach to Agriculture. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1991.

Wild, A. Soils and the Environment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Bill Freedman

KEY TERMS

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Agricultural system: —A combination of the choice of crop species, and the methods of tillage, seeding, pest management, and harvesting. The crop may be grown in successive monocultures, or the system may involve rotations of different crops, or polyculture systems such as row cropping and intercropping.
Agronomy: —The application of agricultural science to the production of plant and animal crops, and the management of soil fertility.
Nutrient: —Any chemical required for life. The most important nutrients that plants obtain from soil are compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Organic matter: —Any biomass of plants or animals, whether living or dead. Dead organic matter is the most important form in soils, particularly when occurring as humic substances.
Tilth: —The physical structure of soil, closely associated with the concentration of humified organic matter. Tilth is important in water and nutrient-holding capacity of the soil, and is generally beneficial to plant growth.

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Adrenoceptor (adrenoreceptor; adrenergic receptor) to AmbientAgronomy - Crop Improvement, Managing The Soil, Managing Pests And Diseases, Agricultural Systems - Animal husbandry