'Agrophysics' is a new
branch of science bordering on
physics and
agronomy,
whose objects of study are the
ecosystem and the biological
objects affected by
human activity, studied and described using the methods of
physical sciences.
Agrophysics is closely related to
biophysics, but is restricted to the
biology of the
plants and
animals involved in agricultural activities and
biodiversity. It is different from biophysics in having the necessity of taking into account the specific features of the research objects, which involves the knowledge of
agricultural technology,
biotechnology and
genetics.
Agrophysics is close to certain
fundamental sciences like biology, whose methods and knowledge it utilizes (especially in the field of
environmental ecology and
plant physiology), and physics, from which it acquires the
research methods, especially that of physical experiment and model. The scope of interest of Agrophysics is not focused solely on technical problems of agronomy and on practical
implementation of
sciences and that are aspects that makes it different from
research of
agricultural engineering which provides grounds for classifying Agrophysics as the
fundamental sciences.
Physical
models are ready to solve either local or global aspects of behaviour of the complex systems to be studied, including of energy consumption, food safety etc. The needs of agronomy concerning the study of the complex
soil-
plant-
atmosphere system lay at the root of the emergnece of Agrophysics. The scope of the branch of science, originally limited to the study of
relations within the ecosystem, expanded over time onto influencing the properties of agricultural
crops and produce as
foods and
raw postharvest materials, and onto the issues of
quality assessment in
food science.
A research centre that is focused on the development of the science and defines its unique character is the Institute of Agrophysics,
Polish Academy of Sciences in
Lublin.
Agrophysics, utilizing the achievements of exact sciences for solving major problems of agriculture, is involved in study of materials and processes occurring in the production and processing of agricultural crops, with particular emphasis on the condition of the environment and the quality of farming materials and food productions.
References
★ ''Fundamentals of Agrophysics'' by P. V, etc. Vershinin, 1959, Publisher: IPST, ISBN 0-7065-0358-9
★ ''Fundamentals of Agrophysics'' (Osnovy agrofiziki) by A. F. Ioffe, I. B. Revut, Petr Basilevich Vershinin, 1966, English : Publisher: Jerusalem, Israel Program for Scientific Translations; (available from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Va.)
★ ''Soil Aeration and its Role for Plants'' by J. Gliński, W. Stępniewski, 1985, Publisher: CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, USA, ISBN 0-8493-5250-9
★ ''Soil Physical Condition and Plant Roots'' by J. Gliński, J. Lipiec, 1990, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, USA, ISBN 0-8493-6498-1
★ ''Scientific Dictionary of Agrophysics: polish-english, polsko-angielski'' by R. Debicki, J. Glinski, J. Horabik, R. T. Walczak - Lublin 2004, ISBN 83-87385-88-3
★ ''Physical Methods in Agriculture. Approach to Precision and Quality'', edts. J. Blahovec and M. Kutilek, Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York 2002, ISBN 0-306-47430-1.
★ ''АГРОФИЗИКА - AGROPHYSICS'' by Е. В. Шеин (J.W. Chein), В. М. Гончаров (W.M. Gontcharow), Ростов-на-Дону (
Rostov-on-Don), Феникс (Phoenix), 2006. - 399 c., ISBN 5-222-07741-1 - Рекомендовано УМО по классическому университетскому образованию в качестве учебника для студентов высших учебных заведений, обучающихся по специальности и направлению высшего профессионального образования "Почвоведение"
External links
★
History: Agrophysical Res. Inst. Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences
★
Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms
★
International Agrophysics
★
Polish Society of Agrophysics
★
Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin
★
Free Association of PMA Labs, Czech University of Agriculture, Prague