of nature namely land, light, air, temperature and rain water etc., are integrated into single primary unit indispensable for human beings. Secondary productive units namely animals including livestock, birds and insects, feed on these primary units and provide concentrated products such as meat, milk, wool, eggs, honey, silk and lac. Agriculture provides food, feed, fibre, fuel, furniture, raw materials and materials for and from factories; provides a free fare and fresh environment, abundant food for driving out famine; favours friendship by eliminating fights. Satisfactory agricultural production brings peace, prosperity, harmony, health and wealth to individuals of a nation by driving away distrust, discord and anarchy. It helps to elevate the community consisting of different castes and clauses, thus it leads to a better social, cultural, political and economical life. Agricultural development is multidirectional having galloping speed and rapid spread with respect to time and space. After green revolution, farmers started using improved cultural practices and agricultural inputs in intensive cropping systems with labourer intensive programmes to enhance the production potential per unit land, time and input. It provided suitable environment to all these improved genotypes to foster and manifest their yield potential in newer areas and seasons. Agriculture consists of growing plants and rearing animals in order to yield, produce and thus it helps to maintain a biological equilibrium in nature. 1.0 AN INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE A. Terminology Agriculture is derived from Latin words Ager and Cultura. Ager means land or field and Cultura means cultivation. Therefore the term agriculture means cultivation of land. i.e., the science and art of producing crops and livestock for economic purposes. It is also referred as the science of producing crops and livestock from the natural resources of the earth. The primary aim of agriculture is to cause the land to produce more abundantly, and at the same time, to protect it from deterioration and misuse. It is synonymous with farming–the production of food, fodder and other industrial materials. B. Definitions