cultivated

Cultivated is an adjective with several related uses centered on human involvement in growth, development, or refinement. In agriculture and horticulture, it describes land that is prepared and used for growing crops, as well as plants that are grown under human management rather than found in the wild. The term contrasts with wild or natural conditions, where growth occurs without deliberate cultivation.

Cultivation encompasses practices such as preparing soil, sowing or transplanting seeds, watering, fertilizing, weeding, pruning, and pest and disease management. The aim is to improve yield, quality, uniformity, or adaptability to local conditions. Cultivated plants are often varieties that have been selected or bred for desirable traits, and they may exhibit domestication characteristics such as larger fruits, reduced spontaneous seed dispersal, or synchronized flowering. The concept applies to both annual crops and perennial ornamentals or trees, including cereals, vegetables, fruit crops, and ornamental species.

In botany and agronomy, cultivated populations are distinguished from their wild progenitors by their dependence on human care. Cultivated varieties are formally named with a genus and species plus a cultivar designation, for example Malus domestica 'Golden Delicious'. The term also extends beyond agriculture to denote a cultivated or refined character, taste, or behavior in people and cultures, as in cultivated manners or cultivated taste.

Etymologically, cultivated derives from Latin cultivatus, from cultivare meaning to till or tillage, and is related to culture, reflecting both land management and intellectual or social development.