Magiculture

Magiculture is the magically augmented process of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals. The extremely delicate balance of arcane and natural magics required made practitioners rare and raised the cost of magiculture beyond the point of profitability in most climes. Consequently, development lagged behind other, more lucrative magical studies.
Interest in magiculture exploded when Megizel Medilazzo put it to use in the east, turning the formerly barren plains into a vast oasis of farmland and livestock. Unfortunately for newcomers to the craft, the shrewd merchant was so effective at hiding his family secrets that much of the study that followed turned to wild speculation, actually harming the practice as opportunistic would-be pioneers embraced every idea, good or bad, in their effort to duplicate his success.