According to the Botanical Society of America, there are several areas of specialization in botany that focus specificially on produce as well as areas that include food plants within the respective fields of study.
- Agronomy - this is the science of soil management and crop production. The focus is finding ways to boost the development and maintenance of healthy soils for the production of food crops.
- Biotechnology - this field of applied science aimed at developing pragmatic and effective results is broader than just a focused aim at efficient production of genetically modified fruits and vegetables, but better produce is definitely included in the research and goals.
- Breeding - this field extends beyond food crops, but includes food plants in the research and experimentation with cross-breeding toward finding plants that are resistant to disease, and better suited for survival in a changing environment.
- Economic Botany - Besides plants like trees, economic botany includes food plants within the research into how to develop and care for plants that have commercial, monetary value.
- Plant Pathology - With respect to food plants, it is, of course, imperative that we find ways to prevent disease and to cure exisiting disorders.
- Food Science/Food Technology - specific to plant foods, this area of research looks for ways to perfect the production processes that bring food to human communities.
- Horticulture - this area extends beyond, but includes fruits and vegetables in studying how plants tended by humans - from seed to harvest - can live good lives through excellent farming and gardening techniques, including the ways the land for growing plants is treated, ultiilized, and maintained.
Beyond these areas on botany research, food plants are related to facets that don't at first seem to relate to food plants, such as Mycology (the study of fungi), Pteridology (the study of ferns), and even Phycology (the study of algae), but research continues to look for ways to utilize what we might consider non-conventional plants for food production.
