Agriculture Industry

Agriculture usually plays a vital role in the economy of every nation that exists. Not only for the reason that it tends to feed the entire population of a country but also in the respect that agriculture correlates and interacts with all the related industries of that country. A country is usually considered to be a social and politically stable nation if it possesses a very stable agricultural basis.

A stable agricultural industry ensures a country of food security. Food security is considered to be one of the primary requirements of any nation. No nation can effectively grow with a stable agricultural base while harboring a nation of “hungry people”, as these hungry people can do nothing what-so-ever towards helping develop their country. Food security prevents starvation which has traditionally been considered one of the largest problems being experienced by the small developing nations. Most countries depend upon agricultural products and related industries for their major source of income. Even the newly developing countries will find that they depend upon and can benefit greatly from their agricultural industry.

Aside from the crops and animals that are produced by the farmers who make up a country agricultural sector the agricultural field represents the main source of employment within most countries. The larger farms usually find it necessary to hire additional hands in which to successfully cultivate the lands and to take care of the related farm animals. Most of these large farms have processing plants located in nearby facilities for finalizing their agricultural products and developing the by-products. It goes without saying that these sub-industries employ considerable man-power within their operations. Most of the modern farms and agriculture-related industries make good use of today’s modern equipment as well as the principles of science and technology.

The use of technologies in farming is determines by the competence of the various farmers towards coping with these advancements relating to the technologies. The country’s farmers who can utilize the modern technologies involved with farming can assure a good production of their products which benefits their country as a whole. Modern farming technologies would be useless if the farmers are not competent enough to use any of the technology that they have available to them.

Most of the older industrialized cites have begun their growth primarily through the development of agriculture. These cities have done well on an agriculture basis before they fully begun to embrace the industrialization process. Most of the principles currently in use within our modern businesses have their roots stemming from the principles of agriculture. Bulk manufacturing is one of the practices that have been patterned from the seasoned harvesting often found in the area of agricultural practices. This method has saved many ancient cities from destruction during times of plague and drought. During the ancient times the countries harvested crops which were not merely used for immediate consumption but were often harvested and stored for future use. The same thing is practiced within the modern business procedures to ensure its stability.

Agriculture is usually common in rural areas which have the most arable lands, however with the modern technologies involved in farming agricultural activities are totally possible even in the urban areas. These activities can be accomplished to sustain personal or family needs or even for commercial purposes.

Agricultural biotechnology is any technique in which living organisms, or parts of organisms are altered to make or modify agricultural products, to improve crops, or develop microbes for specific uses in agricultural processes. Simply put, when the tools of biotechnology are applied to agriculture, it is termed as “agricultural biotechnology”. Genetic engineering is also a part of agricultural biotechnology in today’s world. It is now possible to carry out genetic manipulation and transformation on almost all plant species, including all the world’s major crops.

Plant transformation is one of the tools involved in agricultural biotechnology, in which genes are inserted into the genetic structure or genome of plants. The two most common methods of plant transformation are Agrobacterium Transformation – methods that use the naturally occurring bacterium; and Biolistic Transformation – involving the use of mechanical means. Using any of these methods the preferred gene is inserted into a plant genome and traditional breeding method followed to transfer the new trait into different varieties of crops.

Production of food crops has become much cheaper and convenient with the introduction of agricultural biotechnology. Specific herbicide tolerant crops have been engineered which makes weed control manageable and more efficient. Pest control has also become more reliable and effective, eliminating the need for synthetic pesticides as crops resistant to certain diseases and insect pests have also been engineered. Phytoremediation is the process in which plants detoxify pollutants in the soil, or absorb and accumulate polluting substances out of the soil. Several crops have now been genetically engineered for this purpose for safe harvest and disposal, and improvement of soil quality.

According to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), in reference to a section specific to the major biotechnology derived field crops, out of the whole crop plantings in the United States in 2004, biotechnology plantings accounted for about 46 percent for corn, 76 percent for cotton, and 85 percent for soybeans.

Modern agricultural biotechnology has now become a very well-developed science. The use of synthetic pesticides that may be harmful to man, and pollute groundwater and the environment, has been significantly lessened with the introduction of genetically engineered insect-resistant cotton. Herbicide-tolerant soybeans and corn have also enabled the use of reduced-risk herbicides that break down more quickly in soil. These are nontoxic to plants or animals, and herbicide-tolerant crops help preserve topsoil from erosion since they thrive better in no-till or reduced tillage agriculture systems. Papayas resistant to the ringspot virus were also developed through genetic engineering, which saved the U.S. papaya industry.

Agricultural biotechnology may also be helpful in improving and enhancing the nutritious quality of certain crops. For example, enhancing the levels of beta-carotene in canola, soybean, and corn improves oil compositions, and reduces vitamin A deficiencies in rice. There are also researches going on in the field of biotechnology to produce crops that will not be affected by harsh climates or environments and that will require less water, fertilizer, labor etc. This would greatly reduce the demands and pressures on land and wildlife.

Biotechnology HQ http://biotechnology-hq.com/ articles and information about the science of biotechnology.

The agricultural crops play a very essential role in the life of human beings. They provide us food, fiber as well as many important products of our daily use and brighten our standard of living. The agricultural crops are although been affected by a number of organisms that are called pests which are responsible for the decrease in the food as well as the market value of the agricultural products. One such dangerous harm causing organisms are the aphids.

Aphids belong to the largest animal phylum Arthropoda and class Insecta. The common name of aphids is plant lice and they are tiny insects belonging to the order Hemiptera and family Aphididae. It has been recorded 4,400 species of aphids are present all over the world out of which 250 species are responsible for causing serious threat to our agricultural crops as well as ornamental plants. Their body size varies from 1-10 mm. Some animals act as predators of aphids for example ladybird beetles, parasitic wasps, hoverfly larvae, lacewings, crab spiders, aphid midge larvae and the entomopathogenic fungi. Aphids are although cosmopolitan but are widely distributed in the temperate zones. Aphids are easily transported from one place to the other by wind for example the currant lettuce aphids has migrated from New Zealand to Tasmania through wind itself. Human beings have also been noticed to be responsible for the spread of aphids by transporting the infected plant materials from one place to other.

The aphids bear soft bodies which may be green, yellow, black, brown or pink in colour. The antennae of aphids are six segmented and their mouth parts are very well adapted for piercing and sucking. They suck the sap of the plants with the help of stylets which are enclosed in a rostrum. The stylets are the modifications of the mandibles and the maxilla the common structures present in the mouth of the insects. The legs of aphids are long, very thin; two jointed and have two clawed tarsi. Most species of aphids possess a pair of abdominal tubes called the siphunculi or cornicle which is responsible for the secretion of a triacylglycerol containing, quick hardening defensive droplet designated as cornicle wax. Different types of defensive fluids are also secreted by different species of aphids. Aphids bear a tail like structure called the cauda just above their rectal apertures and have a pair of compound eyes that bears an opercular tubercle consisting of three lenses called triommatidia. When the nutrition from the host plant decreases and the availability of suitable food declines the aphids produce winged offsprings called alates which fly to search suitable food sources in different directions. Mouth parts or even the eyes have been found to be absent in some forms and some species.

Majority of aphid species are monophagous which means they prefer to suck the sap from only one host species but the green peach aphid Myzus persicae tends to feed on a number of plant species of different plant families. They feed on the sap of the phloem vessels of the plants like the scale insects and the cicadas. As the phloem vessel is punctured the sap which was under high pressure directly enters the food canal of the aphid. They are also responsible for transmission of a number of plant viruses especially concerned with the potatoes, cereals, sugar beets and the citrus plants. These plant viruses are sometimes responsible for the death of the plants also.

Large numbers of animal species show a mutualistic relationship with aphids. Many species of ants feed on the honey dew secreted by the aphids. Honey dew is secreted by the terminal part of the alimentary canal of the aphids. Some species of the farming ants protect the aphid eggs in their nests and also provide protection to their young ones by bringing them back to the nests. A very fantastic example of the mutual relationship has been found between aphids and ants for the Lycaenid butterflies. These butterflies lay their eggs in the vicinity of aphids and the caterpillars that hatch out from the eggs feed on aphids. Here in this case the ants do not defend the aphids but they carry the caterpillars to their nests and in this way provide protection to the aphids. After bringing the caterpillars to their nests the ants feed the caterpillars and the caterpillars produce honey dew for the ants. When the caterpillar is ready to undergo pupation it pupates in the cocoon at the entrance gate of the nest and after two weeks the adult butterfly emerges out. Some bees of the coniferous forests also make use of honey dew secreted by the aphids for making the forest honey. Many aphids species are also responsible for housing the endosymbiotic bacteria inside their bodies in special cells called bacteriocytes and these bacteria synthesize certain amino acids which the aphids are unable to get from the sap of the plants.

Reproduction in aphids may be very simple or very complex depending upon the environmental conditions. The life cycle of aphids includes both asexual and the sexual reproduction and production of both eggs as well as live young and they switch between both woody and herbaceous plants throughout the year. Many aphid species show cyclical parthenogenesis. In the spring and the summer seasons only females are present in a population. The overwintered eggs hatch in the spring in the form of females and these females are called as fundatrices. These females reproduce parthenogenetically and produce young ones. The females undergo special meiosis and the eggs have same genetic constitution like that of the mother. The embryos develop inside the mother’s ovarioles and the mother directly gives birth to the first instar nymphs which are also females. These females are identical to their mothers except the body size and they are called as viginoparae. This life cycle continues throughout summer and multiple generations are produced whose life span is of 20-40 days only.

In autumn aphids undergo sexual reproduction and produce eggs. Fluctuations in temperature and photoperiod forces the female aphids to reproduce patheneogentically and it produce sexual males and females. The males resemble their mothers except that they are haploid. Sexual aphids lack mouthparts and wings. The sexual males and females copulate and produce eggs that develop outside the body of the mother. The eggs hatch in the spring in the form of females. Some aphids also have telescoping generations which means that the mother who is having daughter inside her is also housing a parthenogentic developed daughter insider her body. The availability of food also affects the mode of reproduction.

Aphids are believed to have evolved in the Permian period about 280 million years ago. The population of aphids can easily decline under extreme conditions of weather. As we all know that aphids are the soft bodied insects they may be affected by bacterial, fungal and viral infections and other predators also. The aphids defend themselves by feigning themselves as dead and they also drop from the plants when they feel the presence of any predator. Aphids are also responsible for decreasing the growth rate of plants which may include yellowing of leaves, mottling, stunting, browning, twisting etc.

Now these days scientists are working on the biocontrol agents that directly help in regulating the aphid population. Ladybird beetles are one such biocontrol agents. Work is under progress. Many syrphid fly larvae also feed on aphids. Aphids although are dangerous for our agricultural crops but survive dynamically in the environment.

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