Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professionals of the agricultural science are called agricultural scientists or agriculturists.
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. It is the application of a combination of sciences such as biology, chemistry, economics, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Professionals of agronomy are termed agronomists.
Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug was awarded multiple honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was an Indian agronomist, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator, and humanitarian. Swaminathan was a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug, spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies, saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s. His leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, recognized as one of the highest honours in the field of agriculture. The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology".
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organisation which conducts agricultural research for rural development, headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, with several regional centres and research stations . It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organisations convened by the Ford- and the Rockefeller- foundations. Its charter was signed by the FAO and the UNDP.
Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, cash crops are also included in the definition.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), is the largest soil-specific society in the United States. It was formed in 1936 from the merger of the Soils Section of the American Society of Agronomy and the American Soil Survey Association. The Soils Section of ASA became the official Americas section of the International Union of Soil Sciences in 1934, a notable role which SSSA continues to fulfill.
Florence Muringi Wambugu is a Kenyan plant pathologist and virologist. She is known for her advocacy of using biotechnology to increase food production in Africa.
E. Travis York, Jr. was an American agronomist, professor, university administrator, agricultural extension administrator, and U.S. presidential adviser. York was a native of Alabama, and earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in agricultural sciences. He served as the director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, the administrator of the federal Extension Service, the interim president of the University of Florida, and the chancellor of the State University System of Florida.
Eusebius Juma Mukhwana is the past president of the African agricultural NGOs Network based in Ghana. He is also a recipient of the Kenyan head of state commendation (HSC) for his role in assisting farmers to improve their food security and income. He has dedicated much of his life and work to the plight of small scale farmers. Mukhwana is also the founder of the SACRED Africa.
Institut Agro Montpellier is a French public institution devoted to higher education and research in Agriculture, Food and Environment. Montpellier SupAgro is widely open to international issues and partnerships, with specific focus and expertise on southern and Mediterranean areas. It trains students in most of the agronomy and life sciences fields. It is part of Agropolis Fondation. The Montpellier INRA research center is also located on la Gaillarde campus. It belongs to the Institut Agro, with Institut Agro Rennes-Angers and Institut Agro Dijon.
Harold Ray Watson is a retired missionary and pioneer in the field of agronomy. He is world recognized for developing a method of cultivating denuded mountain slopes, and for encouraging utilization of the method to help the poorest, small scale, tropical farmers, specifically in the Philippines. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985.
Thomas Lyttleton Lyon was an American soil scientist who wrote on the nitrogen cycle. He was secretary of the American Society of Agronomy from 1907 to 1909. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Chemical Society. His Principle of Soil Management went through 10 editions.
Leslie Denis Swindale was a New Zealand-born soil scientist, agriculturist, writer and a former chairman of the Department Agronomy and Soil Science of the University of Hawaii. He was the author of several books on soil and agricultural sciences and was a part of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organization. He was a Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, American Society of Agronomy and a foreign fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1991, for his contributions to science, making him one of the few non-Indians to receive the award.
Sauri is an eleven-village conglomerate located in the former Nyanza Province of western Kenya and was the first and largest of the fourteen Millennium Village Project (MVP) demonstration sites that ran from 2005 to 2015 in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the MVP in Sauri was to halve extreme poverty of villagers living below US$1 between 2000 and 2015. The overarching goal was achieving sustainable development through progress in public health, education, infrastructure, and agricultural productivity.
Robert August Olson was an American soil scientist. He was a professor of agronomy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and one of the first to prove and warn that nitrogen fertilizers could harm crops and pollute groundwater.
P. K. Ramachandran Nair is an Indian American agricultural scientist, Distinguished Professor of Agroforestry and International Forestry at the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida. He is known for his pioneering contributions to the science of agroforestry, for which he received global recognition including the Humboldt Prize (2006). The specific areas of his research include: agroforestry in the tropics and subtropics, integrated farming systems, soil carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation, ecosystem services, and soil fertility management. He has written over 200 peer-reviewed articles, 17 books and over 75 book chapters.
Donald L. Sparks is an American soil scientist, currently Unidel S. Hallock duPont Chair of Soil and Environmental Chemistry, Francis Alison Professor, and Director, Delaware Environmental Institute, University of Delaware.
Ronnie Coffman is an American plant scientist and professor. He is director of numerous research projects dedicated to international agriculture, food security and gender equity in agriculture. He received the World Agriculture Prize in 2013. He was named a 2019 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Cheryl Palm is an American agricultural scientist who is Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida. Her research considers tropical land use and ecosystem function, including carbon and nutrient dynamics. She is the former Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Agronomists.
