CRPSCI  Villages began to grow and man made

transition from food collection to the

Nature and Importance of Agriculture deliberate raising of crops
Agriculture  “seed agriculture” and “vegeculture”
Latin words:
➢ "ager", meaning "field", and Origin, Domestication and history of the Major
➢ "cultura", meaning "cultivation" or Crops of the World
"growing" Earlier, the diet of man consisted mainly of the
animals that he hunted with occasional supplement
 It is the systematic raising of useful plants and
from plant sources.
livestock under the management of men
 It is the art and science of using land to Subsequently, his diet began to change.
produce food, fiber, and other goods. Simultaneously and independently, in the Near East,
 Agriculture is a purposeful work through the Far East, Asia, and Mexico, man began to turn to
which the elements of nature are harnessed plants as food source.
to produce plants and animals to meet human
needs.
 Although it does not by itself create What was the probable driving force for the change
civilization, civilization can not develop in the early man’s diet?
without agriculture.  Population pressures on the environments
 Agriculture includes the growing of crops, the which were initially favorable for man and for
raising of livestock, and the harvesting of the game they hunted.
both.  When availability of game decreased, they
 It also includes the processing and distribution need to fine new food source
of agricultural products.  They turned to plants.
 The development of agriculture arose from
man's realization of the difference between
him and other forms of life  According to Matheson et al. (1975) credit for
the earliest domestication which seems to
Pastoral Stage have occurred in the Middle East. is generally
 Hunting and fishing are the dominant means given to a remarkable race of people called
for gathering food. Cushites.
 Using randomly acquired weapons. man lived  Not only experimented With as a food source.
on the gift of nature. but also attempted their culture.
 Gathering wild plants for their medicinal,  They are semi-nomadic
cosmetic. aphrodisiac properties as well as for  These people were great seafarers as well as
their food value. land travellers, it has been surmised that they
 For communities near bodies of water, fishes may have even journeyed as far as the
are caught by hand. Americas and to South East Asia.
Middle stone age (from 8,000 B.C.) Early on they relied on 2 food source
This is characterized by: - Protein food source (Leguminoceae)
- Cereals (Poaceae)
 use of bow and arrow;
 catching, drying and storage of fish; and Area of Origin Common diet
 stored seeds, nuts and fruits. The Americas Maize & Peanuts
Africa Sorgum & Beans
New stone age or neolithic-age (started between
The Middle East Wheat barley & Beans
6,000 to 7,000 B.C.)
Asia Rice & Soy Beans
 Discovery of the relation of seed to plant
Domestication of plants and animals
Man has domesticated plants and transferred
This was the intervention that made possible the them from their centers of origin to other
pastoral and agricultural economies. It has proved to continents.
be the single most important intervention man has
ever made in his environment. Purseglove (1968) has shown tha the principal
production for many major economic crops are
distant from the regions in which they originated
Soybean
 It is believed to have beendomesticated from Rice
its wild relative, Glycine soja, around 6,000 to  East Asia: The domestication of rice in East
9,000 years ago in China. Asia is thought to have occurred in the
 From China, soybeans spread to other parts of Yangtze River basin in China around 13,500 to
Asia, including Korea, Japan, and Southeast 8,200 years ago.
Asia. They were also introduced to Europe and  The wild ancestor of rice in East Asia is a grass
the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries.
called Oryza rufipogon. Over time, ancient
1100 BCE: Soybeans are introduced to Korea. farmers in China selectively bred Oryza
700 CE: Soybeans are introduced to Japan. rufipogon to produce larger grains and to be
more amenable to cultivation.
1700s: Soybeans are introduced to Europe.
13,500-8,200 BC: Rice is first domesticated in
1800s: Soybeans are introduced to the Americas. the Yangtze River basin in China.
20th century: Soybean production increases 3,500-2,000 BC: Rice is first domesticated in
dramatically worldwide. West Africa.
1,500 BC: Rice is introduced to Europe.
1,000 BC: Rice is introduced to the Americas.
Sorghum 1600: Rice is introduced to Australia.
• Originated from Abyssinia (Northeast Africa) Centers of Early Agriculture
• The earliest evidence of sorghum domestication The transition from food gathering to food producing
comes from the Chad– Sudan savannah, where began in various parts of the world at about the same
archaeological sites have yielded charred sorghum time
grains and cobs.
Southwestern Asia
• The earliest evidence of sorghum in Asia comes from
- archeological evidences, showed, that
China, where it was cultivated by 2000 BC. Sorghum
agricultural villages existed about 8,000 to
also spread to India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle
9.000 B.C. in an area known as the
East.
FertileCrescent
4000 BC: Sorghum is first domesticated in northeast-
Egypt
central Africa.
 Basic agricultural ideas spread from SW Asia
2000 BC: Sorghum is introduced to West Africa.
into Egypt before 4,500 BC
1000 BC: Sorghum is introduced to southern Africa.  Flood from the Nile river made farming along
500 : Sorghum is introduced to India. its banks productive
100 AD: Sorghum is introduced to China.  Land preparation, irrigation and pruning was
introduced
1700 AD Sorghum is introduced to the Americas.
Europe
 Crop Rotation, manure fertilization, weed
Corn control, grafting and budding, us of
Domesticated in Mexico around 9,000 years ago. The greenhouse( Specularia)
earliest evidence of domesticated corn comes from  Romans credited for postharvest storage
archaeological sites in the Balsas River Valley of  Ornamental Horticulture developed
southern Mexico. considerably
9000 BC: Corn is first domesticated in Mexico. Africa
2500 BC: Corn is cultivated throughout much of  South of the coastal strip of Africa received
Mexico and Central America. the earliest crops by diffusion along the Nile
River
1000 BC: Corn is introduced to South America.
Southern Asia
1 AD: Corn is introduced to North America.
 First crops spread overland from Iraq and Iran
1500: Corn is introduced to Europe.
in SA about 3,000 BC
1600: Corn is introduced to Africa.  In Southern India and Ceylon, irrigation
1700: Corn is introduced to Asia. reservoirs were constructed as early as 1500-
1300 BC
 Coconut - It seem likely that it was carried by man as a
Central Asia source of food and drink during sea voyages, and that
some fruits also floated in ocean currents and
 Wheat and Barley farming pattern was germinated after they were washed ashore in new
established and spread overland through Iran locations.
 Other crops include grapes, peaches, apricots,
and melons
Eastern Asia
 Diffusion of SW Asian wheat complex by
mainland diffusion.
 Root crops like yams taro, bananas, bamboo,
sorghum, soybeans, and rice are native to the
tropical Fareast Region.
 Agriculture flowed from China and Thailand to
Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
 Japan adopted rice farming from China via
Korea but Northern Japan remained as a
hunting and fishing area.
 In the 12th century, tea was introduced to
Japan by the Chinese.
South East Asia
 Agriculture consisted of growing various root
crops Indigenous plants in each area may have
diffused from China, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Ceylon and the Philippines,
 Many crops may have been interchanged with
other crops such as spices and dye plants.
Oceana
 Agriculture in New Guinea and Pacific Islands
remained somewhat primitive until modern
times. Crops are taro. yams. coconut, bananas
sugarcane, mangoes, Breadfruit, bottle gourds
and melons.
The Americas
 North and South America agriculture stems
from the domestication of indigenous
American plants.
South Mexico
 First centre of New World Agriculture South
America
 Focal area for some major domestication. The
tropical forest lowlands of South America
developed agriculture based on root crops like
sweet potato, cassava, peanut, also raised
gourds, pineapple, tobacco, dyestuff, beans
and cotton.
Origin and Domestication of some Important Crops in
the Philippines
Oil Crops
Peanut - native to South America. It was introduced
into Africa where along with bananas, it forms a large
part of the diet of the people.