Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields, but also contributed to ecological and environmental damage. However, around 14 percent of the world's food is lost from production before reaching the retail level. Global agricultural production amounts to approximately 11 billion tonnes of food, 32 million tonnes of natural fibres and 4 billion m 3 of wood. Food classes include cereals ( grains), vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, meat, milk, eggs, and fungi. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). However, five of every six farms in the world consist of less than two hectares and take up only around 12 percent of all agricultural land. Nearly 40 percent of agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares. The largest one percent of farms in the world are greater than 50 hectares and operate more than 70 percent of the world's farmland.

Today, small farms produce about a third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent.

In the twentieth century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry for food and non-food products.

Farm account state of survival