8^th World Congress on Agriculture & Horticulture March 2-3, 2017 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rice is the only major cereal crop that is primarily consumed by humans directly as harvested, and only wheat and corn are produced in comparable quantity. As an oat grain, it is the most broadly devoured staple sustenance for an expansive part of the world's human population.
Rice is also the most important crop to millions of small farmers who grow it on millions of hectares throughout the region, and to the many landless workers who derive income from working on these farms. In the future, it is imperative that rice production continue to grow at least as rapidly as the population, if not faster. Rice research that develops new technologies for all farmers has a key role to play in meeting this need and contributing to global efforts directed at poverty alleviation.

A bio-based material is a material intentionally made from substances derived from living (or once-living) organisms. These materials are sometimes referred to as biomaterials, but this word also has another meaning. Strictly the definition could include many common materials such as wood and leather, but it typically refers to modern materials that have undergone more extensive processing. Unprocessed materials may be called biotic material. Bio-based materials or biomaterials fall under the broader category of bioproducts or bio-based products which includes materials, chemicals and energy derived from renewable biological resources.

The rearing of animals and cultivation of plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuels, medicinal plants and many other products that are used to sustain and enhance human life is termed agriculture, or in other words Agriculture is the science or means of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, meat, eggs, wool, milk, and other products." Meanwhile, Agriculture is deep into technology, research, genetics, engineering, raising stock for consumption, mathematics, financial services, computing sciences, chemistry, agronomy, , economics, politics, marketing, sales, ethology and many others. Agriculture is most commonly known as farming, & the growing of crops and rearing of poultry and the other cattle for humans to live a sustainable life.

Earlier Forestry was regarded as a new science. With the rise of disciples like ecology and environmental science, there has been a change or reordering in the applied sciences. In line with this view, forestry is one of three primary land-use sciences and the other two are agriculture and agroforestry. Under these headings, the fundamentals behind the sustainable management of natural forests come by way of natural ecology. Forests or tree plantations, those whose primary work or purpose is the extraction of forest products, are planned and managed utilizing a mix of ecological and agro ecological principles.

The forestry profession includes a wide variety of jobs, with educational requirements ranging from bachelor's degrees to PhDs for highly specialized work. Industrial foresters plan forest regeneration starting with careful harvesting. Urban foresters manage trees in urban green spaces.Foresters develop and implement forest management plans relying on mapped resource inventories showing an area's topographical features as well as its distribution of trees (by species) and other plant cover. Plans also include landowner objectives, roads, culverts, proximity to human habitation, water features and hydrological conditions, and soils information.

Vast number of changes has been observed in global climate over the past century. The nature and causes of these changes have been comprehensively chronicled in a variety of latest reports, such as those by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .The Earth’s climate depends on the functioning of a natural “greenhouse effect.” This effect is the result of heat-trapping gases (also known as greenhouse gases) like water vapour, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which absorb the heat radiated from the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere and then radiate most of the energy back towards the surface. Without this natural greenhouse effect, the surface temperature of the Earth would be about 15.5°C colder. However, increasing activities by humans have been releasing additional heat-trapping gases, intensifying the natural greenhouse effect, thereby changing the Earth’s climate

Global temperatures are markedly rising over this century; by how much and for how long, it depends on a number of factors, which include the amount of heat-trapping gas emissions and how sensitive is the climate to those emissions.

Agroecology is a study and practice defined in the daily lives of millions of families worldwide. It represents both a form of agricultural production and a process for organization and making community self-determination. Agroecology is a way of life and is one of the paths to end misery and hunger and transform society.

Agroecology brings communities together in the creation of their own solutions to produce healthy food and conserve soil and water. Agroecology is based on communities having access  and also control of local resources like land, water and seeds and on working toward local food sovereignty.

Agroecology is a process in which we apply different types of knowledge and ways of knowing that also generates new knowledge. For us Mayan  people, this knowledge and these ways of knowing are part of our ancestral memory. For common people, and for peasants, agroecology is a way of life.

Agroecology – the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agro-ecosystems.

Bioenergy  refers to products of biomass that have been converted into liquid, solid or gas form, depending on the raw materials and the technology employed, for energy generation. Biomass encompasses a wide spectrum of plant materials ranging from  forestry  agricultural,and municipal wastes to crops grown specifically to make bio fuels, such as bio ethanol and bio diesel. Solid bio fuels consist of  plant matter such as wood chips, and other solid or woody biomass, that can be directly used as fuel, mainly in traditional cook stoves. Two of the most widely used forms are chips of wood (wood chips) and bagasse. Bagasse has been used for decades for electricity generation at sugar mills.A considerable debate exists over the magnitude of direct and indirect GHG emissions from bio fuels; however, the intensive cultivation of energy crops is expected to produce adverse environmental effects on soil and groundwater, and to result in deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Local, national and regional agricultural regulatory frameworks will have to take into account trade-offs between the need for promoting higher yields and the need for environmental and biodiversity conservation.

Sustainable agriculture is the practice of the production of food, fiber, or other plant or animal products using farming techniques which are used to  protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal welfare.  This form of agriculture is used to produce healthy food without compromising future generations' ability to do the same.Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the requirements of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own requirement. Therefore, stewardship of both natural and human resources is of prime importance. Stewardship of human resources includes consideration of social responsibilities such as working and living conditions of laborers, the needs of rural communities, and consumer health and safety both in the present and the future. Stewardship of land and natural resources involves maintaining or enhancing this vital resource base for the long term. Sustainable agriculture meets economic and social objectives simultaneously. Environmentally sound agriculture is nature-based rather than factory-based. Economic agricultural sustainability depends on profitable enterprises, sound financial planning, proactive marketing, and risk management. Social sustainability results from making decisions with the farm families and the larger community's quality of life as a value and a goal.Sustainable agriculture includes three main goals--environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Various numbers of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. People in many different fields, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it. Despite the diverse variety of people and perspectives, the following themes commonly weave through definitions of sustainable agriculture.Sustainable farms produce crops and rear animals without relying on toxic chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified seeds,    G or practices which degrade soil, water, or other natural resources. 

Natural Resources Management deals with the sustainable utilization of major natural resources, such as land, water, air, minerals, forests, fisheries, and flora and fauna present on the planet. Together, these resources provide the ecosystem services that are responsible for human life on this planet.  While poverty alleviation and sustainable NRM are generally compatible, difficult trade-offs may occur at several times. Nevertheless the fact remains that without poverty alleviation, the environment in developing countries will continue to degrade, and without better NRM, poverty alleviation will be undermined.The natural-resources foundation is coming under increasing pressure from increasing population and higher levels of per-capita economic activity together. During the period 50 years (1990 to 2030) the world’s population is likely to grow by 3.8 billion. 90% of this increase will occur in developing countries. Over the next four decades Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is expected to touch a rise in population from 500 million to 1.4 billion while as Asia’s from 3.1 billion to 5.1 billion, and Latin America from 450 million to 750 million. The distribution of people between rural and urban areas has important implications for the types of stress placed on the environment. In 1990 most people lived in rural areas, but by 2030 the urban population is expected to be twice the size of the rural population. Developing countries and cities, as a group, are expected to grow by 160% over the  period, whereas rural populations will grow by only 10%.Integrated natural resource management  is a process of managing natural resources in a systematic way, which indulges multiple aspects of natural resource use (biophysical, socio-political, and economic) meet  goals regarding production of producers and other direct users (e.g., food security, profitability, risk aversion) as well as goals of the wider community (e.g., poverty alleviation, welfare of future generations, environmental conservation). It focuses on sustainability and at the same time tries to incorporate all possible stakeholders from the planning level itself, reducing possible future conflicts.

Plant science is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. The study of plants is vital because they underpin almost all animal life on Earth by generating a large proportion of the oxygen and food that provide humans and other organisms with aerobic respiration with the chemical energy they need to exist. Plants, algae and cyanobacteria are the major groups of organisms that carry out photosynthesis, a process that uses the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide[54] into sugars that can be used both as a source of chemical energy and of organic molecules that are used in the structural components of cells. Increasing knowledge of plant anatomy, morphology and life cycles led to the realisation that there were more natural affinities between plants than the artificial sexual system of Linnaeus had indicated. The Candollean system reflected his ideas of the progression of morphological complexity and the later classification by Bentham and Hooker, which was influential until the mid-19th century, was influenced by Candolle's approach. Darwin's publication of the Origin of Species in 1859 and his concept of common descent required modifications to the Candollean system to reflect evolutionary relationships as distinct from mere morphological similarity.Virtually all staple foods come either directly from primary production by plants, or indirectly from animals that eat them. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms are at the base of most food chains because they use the energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil and atmosphere, converting them into a form that can be used by animals. This is what ecologists call the first trophic level. The modern forms of the major staple foods, such as maize, rice, wheat and other cereal grasses, pulses, bananas and plantains, as well as flax and cotton grown for their fibres, are the outcome of prehistoric selection over thousands of years from among wild ancestral plants with the most desirable characteristics.

Crop science is a highly integrative science using the disciplines of conventional plant breeding, transgenic crop improvement plant physiology, and cropping system sciences to develop improved varieties of agronomic, turf, and forage crops to produce feed, food, fuel, and fiber for our world’s growing population. During the last century, crop science has achieved feats that are now part of everyday life and taken for granted.The role of crop plants as feedstock for biofuel production will increase in the coming years. Crops are a source of sugar, starch, and cellulose that can be converted to ethanol and seed oil that can be converted to biodiesel. All bioenergy crops will need to be grown in a way that optimizes biomass yield while minimizing inputs of fertilizer, irrigation, and pesticides.It is important to minimize the competition between biofuel crops and human food crops. Therefore, in the future, ethanol-based biofuel crops probably will be non-food crops grown on land that is marginal for other crop production. Since biodiesel is the product of seed oil, this biofuel must be produced using existing seed crops. Therefore biodiesel research needs to concentrate on oil seed crops that are less used for feedstock but very productive, such as peanut. The composition of biofuel crops will need to be modified to make them easy to convert for energy use, but these modifications may make them more vulnerable to stresses and pests.

A greenhouse is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to industrial-sized buildings. A miniature greenhouse is known as a cold frame. The interior of a greenhouse exposed to sunlight becomes significantly warmer than the external ambient temperature, protecting its contents in cold weather. The explanation given in most sources for the warmer temperature in a greenhouse is that incident solar radiation passes through the glass roof and walls and is absorbed by the floor, earth, and contents, which become warmer and re-emit the energy as longer-wavelength infrared radiation. The primary crops grown in greenhouses include: pepper, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, herbs, and strawberry. The industry in Florida has changed from primarily either tomato or cucumber in the early 1990s to the diversity of today. A variety of structure types are used, as well. Structures include both fan and pad or naturally ventilated systems. Several hydroponic production systems are also used, including soilless bag culture, Rockwool, upright pots, beto buckets, nutrient film technique, floating systems, vertical stacking pots, troughs, gravel culture, and others. The production of high quality hydroponic vegetables is also an intensive time commitment. Small farmers use direct marketing methods to sell their crops by selling retail at the farm, at farmers markets, roadside stands, other small produce stores, grocery chains, or other wholesale outlets.Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of growing plants. It includes the cultivation of medicinal plants, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and non-food crops such as grass and ornamental trees and plants. Horticulturists apply their knowledge, skills, and technologies used to grow intensively produced plants for human food and non-food uses and for personal or social need.Greenhouse Horticulture is a unique agro-system and is an important economic, It is the only production method that can significantly control abiotic and biotic factors. The advances in this field are due to a steady flow of innovative technological approaches. In this way, for example, detailed investigations of the regulation of organ formation can be directly related to improved control techniques in production situations. The study of the economics of plant production systems and marketing also contributes to the success of the sector.

Fertilizers are chemical compounds applied to promote plant growth. Typically, fertilizers are applied either to the soil or by foliar feeding. Fertilizers can be placed into the categories of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are naturally occurring compounds manufactured through natural processes. Inorganic fertilizers are manufactured through chemical processes using naturally occurring deposits, while chemically altering them. Synthetic fertilizers, such as urea and urea formaldehyde, are considered organic in the sense of the organic chemistry, and can be supplied organically. Naturally mined powdered limestone, mined rock phosphate and sodium nitrate, are inorganic. Many inorganic fertilizers do not replace trace mineral elements in the soil which become gradually depleted by crops. High application rates of nitrogen fertilizers in order to maximize crop yields, combined with the high solubilities of these fertilizers can lead to increased leaching of nitrates into groundwater. Nitrogen containing inorganic fertilizers in the form of nitrate and ammonium also cause soil acidification. Storage and application of some nitrogen fertilizers in some weather or soil conditions can cause emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Ammonia gas (NH3) may be emitted following application of manure/slurry. Over-fertilization of a vital nutrient can be as detrimental as under fertilization.Toxic fertilizers are recycled industrial waste that introduces several classes of toxic materials into farm land, garden soils, and water streams.Soils naturally contain many nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, and potassium. These nutrients allow plants to grow. When soil nutrients are missing or in short supply, plants suffer from nutrient deficiency and stop growing. When the nutrient level is too low, the plant cannot function properly and produce the food necessary to feed the worlds’ population.

Poultry farming is the raising of domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. According to the researchers and scientists, 74% of the world’s poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced in ways that are described as ‘intensive'. Free-range poultry farming allows chickens to roam freely for a period of the day, although they are usually confined in sheds at night to protect them from predators or kept indoors if the weather is particularly bad. Commercial hens usually begin laying eggs at 16–20 weeks of age, although production gradually declines soon after from approximately 25 weeks of age. Environmental conditions are often automatically controlled in egg-laying systems. For example, the duration of the light phase is initially increased to prompt the beginning of egg-laying at 16–20 weeks of age and then mimics summer day length which stimulates the hens to continue laying eggs all year round; normally, egg production occurs only in the warmer months. Some commercial breeds of hen can produce over 300 eggs a year. Suitable land requires adequate drainage to minimise worms and coccidial oocysts, suitable protection from prevailing winds, good ventilation, access and protection from predators. In organic egg-laying systems, chickens are also free-range. Organic systems are based upon restrictions on the routine use of synthetic yolk colourants, in-feed or in-water medications, other food additives and synthetic amino acids, and a lower stocking density and smaller group sizes. Modern egg laying breeds often suffer from osteoporosis which results in the chicken's skeletal system being weakened. During egg production, large amounts of calcium are transferred from bones to create egg-shell. Although dietary calcium levels are adequate, absorption of dietary calcium is not always sufficient, given the intensity of production, to fully replenish bone calcium. This can lead to increases in bone breakages, particularly when the hens are being removed from cages at the end of laying.Meat chickens, commonly called broilers, are floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings, peanut shells, and rice hulls, indoors in climate-controlled housing. Under modern farming methods, meat chickens reared indoors reach slaughter weight at 5 to 9 weeks of age. Broilers are not raised in cages. They are raised in large, open structures known as grow out houses. Keeping birds inside a house protects them from predators such as hawks and foxes.

Organic farming is an alternative agricultural system which originated early in the 20th Century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. An organic farm, properly speaking, is not one that uses certain methods and substances and avoids others; it is a farm whose structure is formed in imitation of the structure of a natural system that has the integrity, the independence and the benign dependence of an organism. Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes. Organic farming methods are studied in the field of agro ecology. The principal methods of organic farming include crop rotation, green manures and compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation. These measures use the natural environment to enhance agricultural productivity: legumes are planted to fix nitrogen into the soil, natural insect predators are encouraged, crops are rotated to confuse pests and renew soil, and natural materials such as potassium bicarbonate and mulches are used to control disease and weeds. Genetically modified seeds and animals are excluded. organic is fundamentally different from conventional because of the use of carbon based fertilizers compared with highly soluble synthetic based fertilizers and biological pest control instead of synthetic pesticides. Organic agriculture farming and large-scale conventional farming are not entirely mutually exclusive. Many of the methods developed for organic agriculture have been borrowed by more conventional agriculture. For example, Integrated Pest Management is a multifaceted strategy that uses various organic methods of pest control whenever possible, but in conventional farming could include synthetic pesticides only as a last resort. Organic farming encourages Crop diversity. Plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as micronutrients and symbiotic relationships with fungi and other organisms to flourish, but getting enough nitrogen, and particularly synchronization so that plants get enough nitrogen at the right time (when plants need it most), is a challenge for organic farmers.[38] Crop rotation and green manure ("cover crops") help to provide nitrogen through legumes, which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria. Intercropping, which is sometimes used for insect and disease control, can also increase soil nutrients, but the competition between the legume and the crop can be problematic and wider spacing between crop rows is required. Crop residues can be ploughed back into the soil, and different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially aiding synchronization. Organic farmers also use animal manure, certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal and various mineral powders such as rock phosphate and green sand, a naturally occurring form of potash that provides potassium.

Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of 'extension' now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for rural people by educators from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies. Agricultural extension agencies in developing countries receive large amounts of support from international development organizations such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The field of 'extension' deals with communication and learning activities organized for rural farmers to expose them to proper knowledge about profitable and sustainable farming system. Extension practitioners can be found throughout the world, usually working for government agencies. They are represented by several professional organizations, networks and extension journals.

Irrigation is the artificial exploitation and distribution of water at project level aiming at application of water at field level to agricultural crops in dry areas or in periods of scarce rainfall to assure or improve crop production. The most important physical elements of an irrigation project are land and water. The enterprise type of water management occurred under large landowners or agricultural corporations, but also in centrally controlled societies. Both the land and water resources are in one hand. The utility type of water management occurs in areas where the land is owned by many, but the exploitation and distribution of the water resources are managed by (government) organizations. The exploitation of water resources via large storage dams - that often provided electric power as well - and diversion weirs normally remained the responsibility of the government, mainly because environmental protection and safety issues were at stake. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Various types of irrigation techniques differ in how the water obtained from the source is distributed within the field. In general, the goal is to supply the entire field uniformly with water, so that each plant has the amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little.

Germplasm collections are a wonderful treasure trove of genetic diversity and the foundation for all crop improvement programs. A collection for a single crop species may contain more than 50,000 distinct genetic plant types, yet the genomic profiles are not readily available, limiting application of information contained in the collections. However, new inexpensive technologies offer a low-cost remedy for developing detailed genetic profiles to entire collections. As a result, new genomics information will enhance our ability to correlate a plant’s genotype with its agricultural performance for plant breeding purposes in a way never before possible. Germplasm is the living genetic resources such as seeds or tissue that is maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, trees growing in nurseries, animal breeding lines maintained in animal breeding programs or gene banks, etc.Germplasm is the living genetic resources such as seeds or tissue that is maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, trees growing in nurseries, animal breeding lines maintained in animal breeding programs or gene banks, etc.Germplasm provides the raw material for the breeder to develop various crops. Thus, conservation of assumes significance in all breeding programmes.The very objective of conservation (or storage) is to preserve the genetic diversity of a particular plant or genetic stock for its use at any time in future. In recent years, many new plant species with desired and improved characteristics have started replacing the primitive and conventionally used agricultural plants. It is important to conserve the endangered plants or else some of the valuable genetic traits present in the primitive plants may be lost.Usually, seeds are the most common and convenient materials to conserve plant . This is because many plants are propagated through seeds, and seeds occupy relatively small space. Further, seeds can be easily transported to various places.