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Agricultural technology
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
A green cotton combine harvests a field of mature cotton plants, with white cotton bolls visible across the landscape. Large pile of manure made from animal excrement and straw sits on a grassy field with trees in the background in France. A farmer wearing a straw hat and boots uses a pitchfork to turn a compost pile outdoors, surrounded by trees and farm materials. Aerial view of farmland in Palouse, Washington, showing curving, dark and light strips of wheat fields arranged in contour and strip cropping patterns across rolling hills.
Know about the water management crisis in Australia including the development of a mathematical system to get a complete water balance
A yellow robotic arm hovers over rows of leafy green vegetables growing in a hydroponic system inside a greenhouse, illustrating automated harvesting on a smart farm.
Know about the use of drones in agriculture for monitoring the environment of the field and enhance the quantity and quality crop
A yellow crop duster airplane sprays pesticide in wide arcs over green corn and soybean fields, with trees and a farm building in the background. Aerial view of the Dneiper River in Kiev, Ukraine, showing green algae blooms along the water's surface with city buildings and bridges in the background.

Agricultural technology: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Factors in soil preparation are analyzed by William R. Gill and Glen E. Vanden Berg, Soil Dynamics in Tillage and Traction (1967); Milton A. Sprague and Glover B. Triplett (eds.), No-Tillage and Surface-Tillage Agriculture (1986), a review of these alternatives to traditional plowing; Ronald E. Phillips and Shirley H. Phillips (eds.), No-Tillage Agriculture: Principles and Practices (1984); and Samuel L. Tisdale et al., Soil Fertility and Fertilizers, 5th ed. (1993).

Various cropping systems are described in John Vandermeer, The Ecology of Intercropping (1989); and Charles A. Francis (ed.), Multiple Cropping Systems (1986). Hubert Martin and David Woodcock, The Scientific Principles of Crop Protection, 7th ed. (1983), focuses on pest control. Regional variations in farming technique are presented by K.G. Brengle, Principles and Practices of Dryland Farming (1982); Hans Ruthenberg et al., Farming Systems in the Tropics, 3rd ed. (1980); and L.V. Crowder and H.R. Chheda, Tropical Grassland Husbandry (1982). James Sholto Douglas, Advanced Guide to Hydroponics, new ed. (1985); and Howard M. Resh, Hydroponic Food Production, 4th ed. (1989), treat this specialized technique.

Weather information is available in Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin, published by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Weather Bureau. Studies of agricultural meteorology include Rudolf Geiger, The Climate Near the Ground (1965; originally published in German, 4th ed., 1961), a classic text; Jen-hu Chang, Climate and Agriculture (1968); Robert H. Shaw (ed.), Ground Level Climatology (1967); and Norman J. Rosenberg, Blaine L. Blad, and Shashi B. Verma, Microclimate, 2nd ed. (1983). George W. Cox and Michael D. Atkins, Agricultural Ecology (1979), analyzes world grain and vegetable production systems, with an emphasis on the influence of weather. David J. Briggs and Frank M. Courtney, Agriculture and the Environment (1985), describes temperate agricultural practices and systems and their impact on the environment, with examples from Britain. Mervyn L. Richardson, Chemistry, Agriculture, and the Environment (1991), focuses on pesticide and fertilizer pollution from both crop and livestock production. Pollutionā€™s effect on agriculture is reported in James J. MacKenzie and Mohamed T. El-Ashry (eds.), Air Pollutionā€™s Toll on Forests and Crops (1989).

Robert E. Stewart The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Robert E. Stewart
    Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, 1968ā€“80.
  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Article title updated for style. Oct 30, 2026
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The impact of agricultural technological innovation on residentsĀ’ health and its spatial effects. Mar 25, 2026
Added information about fertilizers. Modernized language throughout. Jun 23, 2025
Media added. Mar 10, 2017
Add new Web site: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture - Agriculture Technology. Jun 03, 2016
Added video. Jan 27, 2016
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Use of Computers in Agriculture. Oct 04, 2013
Added aerial image of contour farming of crops. Jan 25, 2011
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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