Controlling yields

Agriculture is the human manipulation of ecosystems to produce or raise organic matter (crops or livestock). Some forms of this manipulation serve to increase production (e.g. fertilisers, irrigation and genetic modification), while others (e.g. insecticides, herbicides and fences) reduce the loss of crops to pests and weeds.

The purpose of agriculture has traditionally and primarily been to meet the demand for food as well as to answer the call for raw materials that can be made into fibres. In the past decades, however, the ways and means in which these demands are met have changed considerably.

Changes have resulted from a variety of factors: agricultural product consumption, food distribution and processing, genetic and other technological development, progressive globalisation of agricultural markets and national and international agricultural policies.

Agriculture is the human manipulation of ecosystems to produce or raise organic matter (crops or livestock). Some forms of this manipulation serve to increase production (e.g. fertilisers, irrigation and genetic modification), while others (e.g. insecticides, herbicides and fences) reduce the loss of crops to pests and weeds.

The purpose of agriculture has traditionally and primarily been to meet the demand for food as well as to answer the call for raw materials that can be made into fibres. In the past decades, however, the ways and means in which these demands are met have changed considerably.

Changes have resulted from a variety of factors: agricultural product consumption, food distribution and processing, genetic and other technological development, progressive globalisation of agricultural markets and national and international agricultural policies.