Primary production

Abstract

Agriculture is the cultivation of crops or the husbandry of livestock in pure or integrated crop/animal production systems for the main purpose of food production, but also for the provision of biomass for material and energetic use. Together with forestry, agricultural production represents the main activity of partly be achieved by the development and implementation of innovative production technologies, which allow a more efficient use of natural resources, including land and agricultural inputs. Its implementation requires a knowledge- based approach, in which farmers are made aware of the requirements of sustainable production and trained in the implementation of sustainable agricultural production systems. The planning of bio-based value chains and sustainable bioeconomic development demands an understanding of the mechanisms of biomass production and supply (as described in this chapter) for the entire global agricultural sector.