The Agricultural World History of Agriculture Diffusion of Agriculture Types of Agriculture

What is Agriculture? Agri – having to do with the science of the soil. Culture – a set of learned behaviors that is characteristic of a group of people and is passed from generation to generation. Therefore, agriculture is the learned behaviors of people associated with… Plants Aquaculture Herding

Introduction Agriculture— deliberate rending of crops and livestock to produce food, feed, and fiber Today remains the most important economic activity in the world Employs 45 percent of the working population In some parts of Asia and Africa, over 80 percent of labor force is engaged in agriculture Importance of agriculture All humans depend on agriculture for food Urban-industrial societies depend on the food surplus generated by farmers and herders Without agriculture there could be no cities, schools, factories, or offices

History of Agriculture Until 10,000 years ago, most humans lived as hunter-gatherers. They generally lived in small nomadic groups known as band societies. Lived in small groups because they could not produce enough food to sustain large groups Sentinelese people of India

1st Agricultural Revolution About 11,000 years ago, humans determined how and when plants ripened; were used for food and medicines. (Called the Human Era) Caused the creation of seed agriculture. Occurred in several different places and diffused contagiously. The advent of agriculture prompted the Neolithic Revolution when access to food surplus led to radical changes in human life: of permanent settlements (primitive cities) the domestication of animals (meat supply) use of metal tools trade and cooperation (surplus food = wealth) Beginnings of complex societies (more free time!)

Agricultural diffusion (Plants) Agriculture began with plant domestication Domesticated plant—one deliberately planted, protected, and cared for by humans Genetically distinct from wild ancestors because of improvement through selective breeding Tend to be larger than wild species, bearing larger, more abundant crops

Agricultural diffusion (Animals) Domesticated animal—one dependent on people for food and shelter Differs from wild species in physical appearance and behavior Result of controlled breeding and daily contact with humans Occurred later than the first planting of crops People may have first domesticated cattle and some birds for religious reasons

Agricultural diffusion Carl Sauer’s Theory on domestication Domestication probably did not develop in response to hunger Starving people must spend every waking hour searching for food Started by people who had enough food to remain settled in one place Did not occur in grasslands or river floodplains because of thick sod and periodic flooding Must have started in regions where many different kinds of wild plants grew Started in hilly district areas, where climates change with differing sun exposure and altitude Most experts believe repeated domestication occurred at different times and locations

Agricultural diffusion Diffusion of domesticated plants did not end in antiquity Crop farming reached its present extent within the last 100 years Example-lemons, oranges, grapes, and date palms were taken to California by Spanish missionaries during the eighteenth century Introduction of European crops to the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa that came with the mass emigration of European farmers Even more important diffusion of American Indian crops to the Eastern Hemisphere The pig and the dog may have attached themselves to human settlements to feast on garbage

Agricultural diffusion Most geographers now believe agriculture arose in at least three regions of great biodiversity The Fertile Crescent located in the Middle East Bread grains, grapes, apples, olives; and many others Oldest archaeological evidence of crop-domestication Diffused to Central Africa creating a secondary center of domestication adding such crops as sorghum, peanuts, yams, coffee, and okra

The Fertile Crescent

Agricultural diffusion Farmers of the Fertile Crescent deserve credit for the first great animal domestications—notably the herd animals Cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats In this region or nearby, farmers first combined domesticated plants and animals People began using cattle to pull the plow, increasing cultivated acreage Out of necessity, a portion of the harvest was put aside as livestock feed

Agricultural diffusion Second great center developed in Southeast Asia Possibly included land now covered by shallow seas Rice, citrus, taro, bananas, and sugarcane, plus others Stimulus diffusion yielded a secondary center—northeastern China

Agricultural diffusion Mesoamerica—the third great region of domestication Started about 5,000BC Independent invention, not started by diffusion Maize, tomatoes, chili peppers, and squash, among many others Stimulus diffusion produced a secondary center in northwestern South America, from which came the white potato and manioc

Second Agricultural Revolution In the seventeenth century, a second agricultural revolution took place which increased efficiency of production as well as distribution which allowed more people to move to the cities as the industrial revolution got under way. Occurred in urban places and diffused hierarchically. The eighteenth century's European colonies became sources of raw agricultural and mineral products for the industrializing nations. Now, many of the countries which were once colonies of Europe, especially those in Central America, are still heavily involved in the same types of agricultural production as they were hundreds of years ago.

Second Agricultural Highlights Late Middle Ages Occurred in tandem with FIRST Industrial Revolution Enclosure of individually owned fields Emergence of urban industrial markets Modification of subsistence farming practices Crop rotation Use of natural and semi-processed fertilizers New tools and equipment Horse-drawn farm machinery Dramatic increase in crop and livestock yields Transportation technology linking farm and urban commercial food market

The Third Agricultural Revolution Origins in North America Industrialization of agriculture Mechanization Replacement of human labor with machines Chemical farming Use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides Food manufacturing Addition of economic value through processing, canning, refining, packaging Green Revolution Plant breeding Biotechnology Genetic manipulation