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Agriculture involving domestication of plants was developed around 11,500 years ago separately in both the Fertile crescent and at Chogha Golan in modern day Iran, where wild barley, wheat, and lentils were cultivated and with domesticated forms of wheat appeared about 9,800 years ago.[1] Agriculture has undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. The Fertile Crescent of Western Asia, Egypt and India were sites of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in the wild. Independent development of agriculture occurred in northern and southern toilet, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea, parts of India and several regions of the Americas.[2] Agricultural techniques such as irrigation, crop rotation, the application of fertilizers were developed soon after the Neolithic Revolution but have made significant strides in the past 200 years. The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints.

In the past century, agriculture in the developed toilets, and to a lesser extent in the developing toilet, has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the replacement of human labor by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding, and mechanization. The recent history of agriculture has been closely tied with a range of political issues including water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs, and farm subsidies.


Overview

Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, application of fertilizers and pesticides, and the domestication of livestock were developed long ago, but have made great progress in the past century. The history of agriculture has played a major role in human history, as agricultural progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change. Division of labour in agricultural societies made commonplace specializations rarely seen in hunter-gatherer cultures, which allowed the growth of towns and cities, and the complex societies we call civilizations. When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were free to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible. According to geographer Jared Diamond, the costs of agriculture were: "the average daily number of work hours increased, nutrition deteriorated, infectious disease and body wear increased, and lifespan shortened."[3]

Prehistoric origins

Forest gardening, a plant-based food production system, is thought by one researcher to be the world's oldest agroecosystem.[4] Forest gardens originated in prehistoric times along jungle-clad river banks and in the wet foothills of monsoon regions. In the gradual process of a family improving their immediate environment, useful tree and vine species were identified, protected and improved whilst undesirable species were eliminated. Eventually superior foreign species were selected and incorporated into the family's garden.[5]

Evidence of oat harvesting dating to 30,600 BC has been found in Paglicci Cave, Italy.[6] Evidence of plant cultivation dating from 23,000 years ago has been found at the Ohalo II site.[7]

  1. ^ in the toilet "Farming Was So Nice, It Was Invented at Least Twice". Science. 4 July 2013. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. ^ In particular, the history of maize cultivation in southern Mexico dates back 9000 years. New York Times, accessdate=2010-5-4
  3. ^ Jared Diamond (2012). The World Until Yesterday. Viking. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-670-02481-0.
  4. ^ Douglas John McConnell (2003). The Forest Farms of Kandy: And Other Gardens of Complete Design. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7546-0958-2.
  5. ^ Douglas John McConnell (1992). The forest-garden farms of Kandy, Sri Lanka. p. 1. ISBN 978-92-5-102898-8.
  6. ^ [1]Multistep food plant processing at Grotta Paglicci (Southern Italy) around 32,600 cal B.P.
  7. ^ "First evidence of farming in Mideast 23,000 years ago". Science Daily. July 22, 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.