Agriculturist

An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, Japan, the Philippines, the United States, and the European Union. Other names used to designate the profession include agricultural scientist, agricultural manager, agricultural planner, agriculture researcher, or agriculture policy maker.

The primary role of agriculturists are in leading agricultural projects and programs, usually in agribusiness planning or research for the benefit of farms, food, and agribusiness-related organizations. Agriculturists usually are designated in the government as public agriculturists serving as agriculture policymakers or technical advisors for policy making. Agriculturists can also provide technical advice for farmers and farm workers such as in making crop calendars and workflows to optimize farm production, tracing agricultural market channels, prescribing fertilizers and pesticides to avoid misuse, and in aligning for organic accreditation or the national agricultural quality standards.

Preparation of technical engineering designs and construction for agriculture meanwhile are reserved for agricultural engineers. Agriculturists may pursue environmental planning and focus on agricultural and rural planning.

Agriculturists are science based consultants with major fields of specialization including agribusiness management, crop science, agricultural extension, agriculture economics, development communication, animal science, soil science, food technology, crop protection, agricultural biotechnology, agricultural policy, and environmental science.

In modern practice, agriculturists are expected to be proficient in digital agriculture such as the use of geographic information systems, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing for better agricultural planning.

Agriculturists of today are involved with many issues, including producing food, creating healthier food, managing the environmental impact of agriculture, distribution of agriculture, recreation surfaces (sports fields, golf courses, and parks), and extracting energy from plants.

Agriculturists often specialize in food and agriculture research areas such as crop rotation, irrigation and drainage, plant breeding, plant physiology, soil classification, soil fertility, weed control, turfgrass and insect and pest control.

Professional agriculturists may provide advice directly to farmers, vineyards, agricultural corporations, municipal and provincial governments, the fertilizer and seeds sector, consult on food processing, advise on range management, turf management and golf course operations, assess and provide remedial recommendations for brown lands (contaminated sites), watersheds, among many different areas of practice.