Editing Agricultural science (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of agricultural science}}

In the 18th century, [[Johann Friedrich Mayer (agriculturist)|Johann Friedrich Mayer]] conducted experiments on the use of [[gypsum]] (hydrated [[calcium sulfate]]) as a [[fertilizer]].<ref name="JB 1840">John Armstrong, Jesse Buel. ''A Treatise on Agriculture, The Present Condition of the Art Abroad and at Home, and the Theory and Practice of Husbandry. To which is Added, a Dissertation on the Kitchen and Garden.'' 1840. p. 45.</ref>

In 1843, [[John Lawes|John Bennet Lawes]] and [[Joseph Henry Gilbert]] began a set of long-term field experiments at [[Rothamsted Research Station|Rothamsted Research]] in England, some of which are still running as of 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Long Term Experiments |publisher=Rothamsted Research |url=https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/long-term-experiments |access-date=26 March 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084207/https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/long-term-experiments |archive-date=27 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fertilizer History: The Haber-Bosch Process |date=2014-11-19 |website=tfi.org |language=en |url=https://www.tfi.org/the-feed/fertilizer-history-haber-bosch-process |access-date=2022-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801233037/https://www.tfi.org/the-feed/fertilizer-history-haber-bosch-process |archive-date=1 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lawes and Gilbert: an unlikely Victorian agricultural partnership |website=Harpenden History |language=en |url=https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/topics-cms/farms-and-farming/lawes_and_gilbert_an_unlikely_victorian_agricultural_partnership |access-date=2022-12-14}}</ref>

In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the [[Hatch Act of 1887]], which used the term "agricultural science".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hatch Act of 1887 |website=National Institute of Food and Agriculture |language=en |url=https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/capacity-grants/hatch-act-1887 |access-date=2022-12-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hatch Act of 1887 |date=2020-11-23 |website=College of Life Sciences and Agriculture |language=en |url=https://colsa.unh.edu/nhaes/hatch-act-1887 |access-date=2022-12-14}}</ref> The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. The [[Smith–Hughes Act]] of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots, but the scientific foundation had been built.<ref>Hillison J. (1996). [http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/jae/pdf/vol37/37-04-08.pdf The Origins of Agriscience: Or Where Did All That Scientific Agriculture Come From?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002140821/http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/jae/pdf/vol37/37-04-08.pdf |date=2 October 2008}}. ''Journal of Agricultural Education''.</ref> For the next 44 years after 1906, federal expenditures on agricultural research in the United States outpaced private expenditures.<ref name=ScienceForAg>Huffman WE, Evenson RE. (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWcolrGftT0C Science for Agriculture]''. [[Blackwell Publishing]].</ref>{{rp|xxi}}
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Intensification of agriculture since the 1960s in developed and [[developing country|developing countries]], often referred to as the [[Green Revolution]], was closely tied to progress made in selecting and improving crops and animals for high productivity, as well as to developing additional inputs such as artificial [[fertilizer]]s and [[pesticide]]s.

As the oldest and largest human intervention in nature, the environmental impact of agriculture in general and more recently [[intensive agriculture]], industrial development, and population growth have raised many questions among agricultural scientists and have led to the development and emergence of new fields. These include technological fields that assume the solution to technological problems lies in better technology, such as [[integrated pest management]], [[waste management|waste treatment]] technologies, [[landscape architecture]], [[genomics]], and [[agricultural philosophy]] fields that include references to [[food industry|food production]] as something essentially different from non-essential economic 'goods'. In fact, the interaction between these two approaches provide a fertile field for deeper understanding in agricultural science.

New technologies, such as [[biotechnology]] and [[computer science]] (for data processing and storage), and technological advances have made it possible to develop new research fields, including [[genetic engineering]], [[agrophysics]], improved [[statistics|statistical analysis]], and [[precision farming]]. Balancing these, as above, are the natural and human sciences of agricultural science that seek to understand the human-nature interactions of [[history of agriculture|traditional agriculture]], including interaction of [[religion and agriculture]], and the non-material components of agricultural production systems.-->