Agriculture in my opinion is fundamental for human life and prosperity here on earth. For that reason I think pursuing a career in agriculture is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. To some people agriculture does not sound appealing because the first thought they have in their mind is doing hard physical labor, but that isn’t true in all cases. There are many sophisticated aspects of agriculture such as research, conservation of natural resources, and business management to mention some. In this essay I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge and experience how these three aspects of agriculture are applied.
Agriculture which includes farming the land and raising livestock can be considered a science itself, because it follows laws and procedures that must be learned just like any other science. Throughout the world there are many experimental stations pushing the boundary of scientific knowledge. There is a lot of work being done on identifying genes which can be amplified through breeding or biotechnology to make plant derived foods more nutritious or make crop cultivation more successful through disease and pest resistance. Research is also done in ecological aspect of agriculture or natural parks and recreation areas by finding if any human activity is adversely affecting the environment through pollution from chemicals or waste. Research in agriculture can require a good background in chemistry, biology, and math sciences to mention some. It is necessary to be capable of planning out experiments, taking data vigorously and accurately, and correctly interpreting data through statistical analysis.
Working with the land requires having good knowledge of the soil, water and other resources. It is necessary to know what natural resources you have at your disposal and how they are going to be used to conserve them. There are many examples to mention where natural resources have been used up or destroyed. Some good examples are the depletion of the Ogallala aquifers in the US that have supplied water to what is known as the Breadbasket of America, and the Fertile Crescent located in southeastern Iraq which was once known as a very fertile land and now it is not because of soil salinization due to poor drainage practices that allowed the accumulation of salts. The implementation of practices that conserve natural resources is very important to know when working in agriculture.
It is very exciting to know that while working in agriculture you can help the environment and learn or discover new things; however it is very important to know how to manage your projects or business. That is why agriculture also includes good knowledge of business management. It requires knowledge on how to make feasibility studies to find which enterprise or projects are feasible. Good accounting record keeping is important to answer questions that may arise to a manager for example, how efficient are we? How successful is our enterprise? What is our business worth? Knowing the answers to the questions that arise about a business or project will help to make good decisions in management.
After reading this essay I hope I transmitted a good message to the reader of how sophisticated and important agriculture is. I myself find it fun and exciting to have a career in agriculture and hope to be successful in one or more of these aspects of agriculture whether it is research, conservation of natural resources, or business management that is my goal in pursuing a career in agriculture.