- plants cultivated by humans for food, fiber, and fuel
- major categories: grain, legume, vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, roots
- each crop species shaped by millennia of selective breeding
- annual crops complete lifecycle in one season; perennials persist across years
- yield depends on soil fertility, water availability, photosynthesis efficiency
- cultivation practices: rotation, intercropping, cover cropping
- genetic diversity preserved through seed banks
- core output of agriculture, processed after harvest