Editing Agriculture (section)

=== Agricultural science ===
{{Main|Agricultural science}}
{{further|Agronomy}}
[[File:Research-mapping plant genomes.jpg|thumb|An [[agronomy|agronomist]] mapping a plant [[genome]]]]

[[Agricultural science]] is a broad multidisciplinary field of [[biology]] that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and [[social science]]s used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. It covers topics such as agronomy, plant breeding and genetics, [[plant pathology]], crop modeling, soil science, [[entomology]], production techniques and improvement, study of pests and their management, and study of adverse environmental effects such as soil degradation, [[waste management]], and [[bioremediation]].<ref name="Bosso 2015">{{cite book |last=Bosso |first=Thelma |title=Agricultural Science |publisher=Callisto Reference |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-63239-058-5}}</ref><ref name="Boucher 2018">{{cite book |last=Boucher |first=Jude |title=Agricultural Science and Management |publisher=Callisto Reference |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-63239-965-6}}</ref>

The scientific study of agriculture began in the 18th century, when [[Johann Friedrich Mayer (agriculturist)|Johann Friedrich Mayer]] conducted experiments on the use of [[gypsum]] (hydrated [[calcium sulphate]]) 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> Research became more systematic when in 1843, [[John Lawes]] and Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term agronomy field experiments at [[Rothamsted Research Station]] in England; some of them, such as the [[Park Grass Experiment]], are still running.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Long Term Experiments |url=https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/long-term-experiments |publisher=Rothamsted Research |access-date=26 March 2018 |archive-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084207/https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/long-term-experiments |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Silvertown |first1=Jonathan |last2=Poulton |first2=Paul |last3=Johnston |first3=Edward |last4=Edwards |first4=Grant |last5=Heard |first5=Matthew |last6=Biss |first6=Pamela M. |title=The Park Grass Experiment 1856–2006: its contribution to ecology |journal=[[Journal of Ecology]] |volume=94 |issue=4 |date=2006 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01145.x |pages=801–814 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JEcol..94..801S}}</ref> In America, the [[Hatch Act of 1887]] provided funding for what it was the first to call "agricultural science", driven by farmers' interest in fertilizers.<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> In agricultural entomology, the USDA began to research biological control in 1881; it instituted its first large program in 1905, searching Europe and Japan for natural enemies of the [[Lymantria dispar dispar|spongy moth]] and [[brown-tail]] moth, establishing [[parasitoid]]s (such as solitary wasps) and predators of both pests in the US.<ref name="Coulson J. R. 2000">Coulson, J. R.; Vail, P. V.; Dix M. E.; Nordlund, D. A.; Kauffman, W. C.; Eds. 2000. ''[[iarchive:CAT30852465/page/n3/mode/2up|110 years of biological control research and development in the United States Department of Agriculture: 1883–1993]]''. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. pp. 3–11</ref><ref name=Berkeley>{{cite web |title=History and Development of Biological Control (notes) |access-date=10 April 2017 |publisher=[[University of California Berkeley]] |url=https://nature.berkeley.edu/biocon/BC%20Class%20Notes/6-11%20BC%20History.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124001647/http://nature.berkeley.edu/biocon/BC%20Class%20Notes/6-11%20BC%20History.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Reardon |first1=Richard C. |title=Biological Control of The Gypsy Moth: An Overview |url=http://www.main.nc.us/SERAMBO/BControl/gypsy.html#conclu |website=Southern Appalachian Biological Control Initiative Workshop |access-date=10 April 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905052259/http://www.main.nc.us/SERAMBO/BControl/gypsy.html |archive-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>