Branches of Agriculture & Farming Methodologies
This post lists some of the various branches of agriculture and farming methodologies that are often asked in the PSC exams.

Branches of Agriculture

  • Agronomy – Study of crops and the soils in which they grow.
  • Animal husbandry – Practice of breeding and raising livestock.
  • Aquaculture – Farming of fish, mollusks, etc.
  • Apiculture – Beekeeping.
  • Arboriculture – Cultivation of trees and vegetables.
  • Cuniculture – Rearing of Rabbits.
  • Floriculture – Cultivation of Flowering plants.
  • Horticulture – Cultivation of flowers, fruits, and ornamental plants.
  • Mariculture – Cultivation of Marine Fish.
  • Moriculture – Cultivation and production of Mulberry.
  • Olericulture – Study of cultivation of vegetables.
  • Pisciculture – Rearing of Fishes.
  • Pomology – Study of Fruits.
  • Sericulture – Rearing of Silkworms.
  • Tissue culture – Cultivating single cells from a plant
  • Silviculture – Forest planting ie, growing of trees mainly for timber production.
  • Vermiculture – Breeding of Earthworms mainly for making fertilizers for farming purposes.
  • Viticulture – Study, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes and vines.

Farming Methodologies

  • Aquaponics – Combination of aquaculture and hydroponics.
  • Extensive Farming / Extensive Agriculture– A crop cultivation system that utilizes smaller inputs of capital, fertilizers, and labor for a large farm area. This method is mainly employed in densely populated areas.
  • Mixed Farming – A farming practice that combines more than one agricultural activity, ie, like growing vegetables along with raising livestock or fish rearing.
  • Permaculture – Development of ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient ones similar to that of the natural ecosystem.
  • Shifting Cultivation – Agricultural System of abandoning cultivation in a particular land when the resources in the soil get exhausted and moving the cultivation to another plot thereby allowing the land to restore its natural form.
  • Terrace Cultivation – A farming method invented by ancient Incas of America by creating elevated steps or terrace on the slanted sides of hills or mountains and growing crops on them.
  • Truck Farming – The practice of growing more than one vegetable on a massive scale for industrial purposes.

📝SideNotes:

  • Father of Organic Farming Movement – Sir Albert Howard
  • Soil Erosion – Loss of fertile topsoil.
  • Apiology – Scientific study of honey bees.
    • Apiary – Place where beehives are kept.
  • The Agricultural Scientist who spearheaded the “Green Revolution” – Dr. M.S. Swaminathan
  • “Operation flood” is associated with – Increasing production of milk.