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92-597: Agronomy has a long and rich history dating to the Neolithic Revolution . Some of the earliest practices of agronomy are found in ancient civilizations, including Ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia , China and India . They developed various techniques for the management of soil fertility , irrigation and crop rotation . During the 18th and 19th centuries, advances in science led to the development of modern agronomy. German chemist Justus von Liebig and John Bennett Lawes , an English entrepreneur, contributed to

184-795: A 23,000-years-old fisher-hunter-gatherers' camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee , Northern Israel , provides the earliest evidence for the use of composite cereal harvesting tools. The Ohalo site is at the junction of the Upper Paleolithic and the Early Epipaleolithic , and has been attributed to both periods. The wear traces indicate that tools were used for harvesting near-ripe semi-green wild cereals, shortly before grains are ripe and disperse naturally. The studied tools were not used intensively, and they reflect two harvesting modes: flint knives held by hand and inserts hafted in

276-463: A body of thought or a method of practice, as many indigenous cultures around the world historically used and currently use practices we would now consider utilizing knowledge of agroecology. Examples include Maori , Nahuatl , and many other indigenous peoples. The Mexica people that inhabited Tenochtitlan pre-colonization of the Americas used a process called chinampas that in many ways mirrors

368-623: A corridor between the millet and rice cultivation centres where both rice and millet were cultivated. At around 5,500 to 4,000 BP, there was increasing migration into Taiwan from the early Austronesian Dapenkeng culture , bringing rice and millet cultivation technology with them. During this period, there is evidence of large settlements and intensive rice cultivation in Taiwan and the Penghu Islands , which may have resulted in overexploitation . Bellwood (2011) proposes that this may have been

460-602: A different problem: most of the wild seeds do not germinate in the first year; the first evidence of lentil domestication, breaking dormancy in their first year, appears in the early Neolithic at Jerf el Ahmar (in modern Syria), and lentils quickly spread south to the Netiv HaGdud site in the Jordan Valley . The process of domestication allowed the founder crops to adapt and eventually become larger, more easily harvested, more dependable in storage and more useful to

552-405: A food source, also had to be taken into account. Besides being a direct source of food, certain animals could provide leather, wool, hides, and fertilizer. Some of the earliest domesticated animals included dogs ( East Asia , about 15,000 years ago), sheep, goats, cows, and pigs. West Asia was the source for many animals that could be domesticated, such as sheep, goats and pigs. This area was also

644-634: A handle. The finds shed new light on cereal harvesting techniques some 8,000 years before the Natufian and 12,000 years before the establishment of sedentary farming communities in the Near East. Furthermore, the new finds accord well with evidence for the earliest ever cereal cultivation at the site and the use of stone-made grinding implements. Agriculture appeared first in West Asia about 2,000 years later, around 10,000–9,000 years ago. The region

736-711: A highly advantageous geographical location that afforded them a head start in the Neolithic Revolution. Both shared the temperate climate ideal for the first agricultural settings, and both were near a number of easily domesticable plant and animal species. In areas where continents aligned north–south such as the Americas and Africa, crops—and later domesticated animals—could not spread across tropical zones. Agriculture in Neolithic China can be separated into two broad regions, Northern China and Southern China. The agricultural centre in northern China

828-487: A narrow optimal climatic range outside of which they cannot grow for reasons of light or rain changes. For instance, wheat does not normally grow in tropical climates, just like tropical crops such as bananas do not grow in colder climates. Some authors, like Jared Diamond , have postulated that this east–west axis is the main reason why plant and animal domestication spread so quickly from the Fertile Crescent to

920-522: A region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent. According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as "Neolithic", rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe. However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated. Mitochondrial DNA – a type of maternally inherited DNA located in the cell cytoplasm – was recovered from the remains of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farmers in

1012-549: A relatively short period of between 20 and 200 years. Some of the pioneering attempts failed at first and crops were abandoned, sometimes to be taken up again and successfully domesticated thousands of years later: rye , tried and abandoned in Neolithic Anatolia , made its way to Europe as weed seeds and was successfully domesticated in Europe, thousands of years after the earliest agriculture. Wild lentils presented

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1104-436: A science, movement or practice. Using the name as a movement became more common in the 1990s, especially in the Americas. Miguel Altieri , whom Buttel groups with the "political" agroecologists, has published prolifically in this sense. He has applied agroecology to sustainable agriculture , alternative agriculture and traditional knowledge . The history of agroecology depends on whether you are referring to it as

1196-400: A single field in a given farm to global systems. Wojtkowski differentiates the ecology of natural ecosystems from agroecology inasmuch as in natural ecosystems there is no role for economics, whereas in agroecology, focusing as it does on organisms within planned and managed environments, it is human activities, and hence economics, that are the primary governing forces that ultimately control

1288-446: A variety of other crops, dating back to 11,000 BP. Two potentially significant economic species, taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) and yam ( Dioscorea sp.), have been identified dating at least to 10,200 calibrated years before present (cal BP). Further evidence of bananas and sugarcane dates to 6,950 to 6,440 BCE. This was at the altitudinal limits of these crops, and it has been suggested that cultivation in more favourable ranges in

1380-810: Is a highly resilient crop, able to grow in varied and marginal environments, such as in regions of high altitude and latitude. Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Eurasia by 2,000 BCE. To further elucidate the routes by which barley cultivation was spread through Eurasia, genetic analysis was used to determine genetic diversity and population structure in extant barley taxa. Genetic analysis shows that cultivated barley spread through Eurasia via several different routes, which were most likely separated in both time and space. When hunter-gathering began to be replaced by sedentary food production it became more efficient to keep animals close at hand. Therefore, it became necessary to bring animals permanently to their settlements, although in many cases there

1472-500: Is a holistic approach that seeks to reconcile agriculture and local communities with natural processes for the common benefit of nature and livelihoods. Agroecology is inherently multidisciplinary, including sciences such as agronomy , ecology , environmental science , sociology , economics , history and others. Agroecology uses different sciences to understand elements of ecosystems such as soil properties and plant-insect interactions, as well as using social sciences to understand

1564-412: Is also assessed for several micronutrients, like zinc and boron . The percentage of organic matter, soil pH , and nutrient holding capacity ( cation exchange capacity ) are tested in a regional laboratory. Agronomists will interpret these laboratory reports and make recommendations to modify soil nutrients for optimal plant growth. Additionally, agronomists develop methods to preserve soil and decrease

1656-540: Is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems . The term can refer to a science, a movement, or an agricultural practice. Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems. The field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming , whether it be organic , regenerative , integrated , or industrial , intensive or extensive , although some use

1748-583: Is an applied science that involves the adaptation of ecological concepts to the structure, performance, and management of sustainable agroecosystems. In Latin America , agroecological practices have a long history and vary between regions but share three main approaches or levels: plot scale, farm scale, and food system scale. Agroecology in Latin American countries can be used as a tool for providing both ecological, economic, and social benefits to

1840-572: Is being applied increasingly for novel uses other than food. For example, oilseed is at present used mainly for margarine and other food oils, but it can be modified to produce fatty acids for detergents , substitute fuels and petrochemicals . Agronomists study sustainable ways to make soils more productive and profitable. They classify soils and analyze them to determine whether they contain nutrients vital for plant growth. Common macronutrients analyzed include compounds of nitrogen , phosphorus , potassium , calcium , magnesium , and sulfur . Soil

1932-549: Is believed to be the homelands of the early Sino-Tibetan -speakers, associated with the Houli , Peiligang , Cishan , and Xinglongwa cultures , clustered around the Yellow River basin. It was the domestication centre for foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) and broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum ), with early evidence of domestication approximately 8,000 years ago, and widespread cultivation 7,500 years ago. ( Soybean

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2024-457: Is in the lower Yangtze River , believed to be the homelands of pre-Austronesians and associated with the Kauhuqiao , Hemudu , Majiabang , and Songze cultures . It is characterized by typical pre-Austronesian features, including stilt houses, jade carving, and boat technologies. Their diet were also supplemented by acorns , water chestnuts , foxnuts , and pig domestication. The second

2116-611: Is in the middle Yangtze River, believed to be the homelands of the early Hmong-Mien -speakers and associated with the Pengtoushan and Daxi cultures . Both of these regions were heavily populated and had regular trade contacts with each other, as well as with early Austroasiatic speakers to the west, and early Kra-Dai speakers to the south, facilitating the spread of rice cultivation throughout southern China. The millet and rice-farming cultures also first came into contact with each other at around 9,000 to 7,000 BP, resulting in

2208-560: Is limited to Northern Levant and Southern Turkey. A detailed satellite map study of a few archaeological sites in the Baluchistan and Khybar Pakhtunkhwa regions also suggests similarities in early phases of farming with sites in Western Asia. Pottery prepared by sequential slab construction, circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles, and large granaries are common to both Mehrgarh and many Mesopotamian sites. The postures of

2300-625: Is not customarily used in describing cultures in the Americas. However, a broad similarity exists between Eastern Hemisphere cultures of the Neolithic and cultures in the Americas. Maize (corn), beans and squash were among the earliest crops domesticated in Mesoamerica : squash as early as 6000 BCE, beans no later than 4000 BCE, and maize beginning about 7000 BCE. Potatoes and manioc were domesticated in South America . In what

2392-501: Is now the eastern United States, Native Americans domesticated sunflower , sumpweed and goosefoot c.  2500 BCE . In the highlands of central Mexico, sedentary village life based on farming did not develop until the "formative period" in the second millennium BCE. Evidence of drainage ditches at Kuk Swamp on the borders of the Western and Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea indicates cultivation of taro and

2484-471: Is the earliest Neolithic site in the north-west Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE. Neolithic domesticated crops in Mehrgarh include more than 90% barley and a small amount of wheat. There is good evidence for the local domestication of barley and the zebu cattle at Mehrgarh, but the wheat varieties are suggested to be of Near-Eastern origin, as the modern distribution of wild varieties of wheat

2576-618: The Aegean have been carbon-dated to c.  6500 BCE at Knossos , Franchthi Cave , and a number of mainland sites in Thessaly . Neolithic groups appear soon afterwards in the Balkans and south-central Europe. The Neolithic cultures of southeastern Europe (the Balkans and the Aegean ) show some continuity with groups in southwest Asia and Anatolia (e.g., Çatalhöyük ). Current evidence suggests that Neolithic material culture

2668-614: The Fertile Crescent , and perhaps 8000 BCE in the Kuk Early Agricultural Site of Papua New Guinea in Melanesia . Everywhere, this transition is associated with a change from a largely nomadic hunter-gatherer way of life to a more settled , agrarian one, with the domestication of various plant and animal species – depending on the species locally available, and influenced by local culture. Archaeological research in 2003 suggests that in some regions, such as

2760-547: The Fertile Crescent . Many grinding stones are found with the early Egyptian Sebilian and Mechian cultures and evidence has been found of a neolithic domesticated crop-based economy dating around 7,000 BP. Unlike the Middle East, this evidence appears as a "false dawn" to agriculture, as the sites were later abandoned, and permanent farming then was delayed until 6,500 BP with the Tasian culture and Badarian culture and

2852-622: The First Agricultural Revolution , was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period in Afro-Eurasia from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement , making an increasingly large population possible. These settled communities permitted humans to observe and experiment with plants, learning how they grew and developed. This new knowledge led to

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2944-719: The Kachi plain of Balochistan , Pakistan; the site has evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats). There is strong evidence for causal connections between the Near-Eastern Neolithic and that further east, up to the Indus Valley. There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan)

3036-780: The Levantine corridor that show early evidence of agriculture include Wadi Faynan 16 and Netiv Hagdud . Jacques Cauvin noted that the settlers of Aswad did not domesticate on site, but "arrived, perhaps from the neighbouring Anti-Lebanon , already equipped with the seed for planting" . In the Eastern Fertile Crescent, evidence of cultivation of wild plants has been found in Choga Gholan in Iran dated to 12,000 BP, with domesticated emmer wheat appearing in 9,800 BP, suggesting there may have been multiple regions in

3128-790: The Near East and then compared to available data from other Neolithic populations in Europe and also to modern populations from South Eastern Europe and the Near East. The obtained results show that substantial human migrations were involved in the Neolithic spread and suggest that the first Neolithic farmers entered Europe following a maritime route through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands . The earliest Neolithic sites in South Asia are Bhirrana in Haryana dated to 7570–6200  BCE , and Mehrgarh , dated to between 6500 and 5500 BP, in

3220-554: The Neolithic package , provided the basis for centralized administrations and political structures, hierarchical ideologies , depersonalized systems of knowledge (e.g. writing ), densely populated settlements, specialization and division of labour , more trade , the development of non-portable art and architecture , and greater property ownership. The earliest known civilization developed in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia ( c.  6,500 BP ); its emergence also heralded

3312-404: The genes of domesticated plants, he preferred theories of a single, or at most a very small number of domestication events for each taxon that spread in an arc from the Levantine corridor around the Fertile Crescent and later into Europe. Gordon Hillman and Stuart Davies carried out experiments with varieties of wild wheat to show that the process of domestication would have occurred over

3404-474: The population ecology of plants using different scientific disciplines. Ethnobotanist Efraim Hernandez X.'s work on traditional knowledge in Mexico in the 1970s led to new education programs in agroecology. Works such as Silent Spring and The Limits to Growth caused the public to be aware of the environmental costs of agricultural production, which caused more research in sustainability starting in

3496-673: The 1980s. The view that the socio-economic context are fundamental was used in the 1982 article Agroecologia del Tropico Americano by Montaldo, who argues that this context cannot be separated from agriculture when designing agricultural practices. In 1985 Miguel Altieri studied how the consolidation of the farms and cropping systems impact pest populations, and Gliessman how socio-economic, technological, and ecological components gave rise to producer choices of food production systems. In 1995, Edens et al . in Sustainable Agriculture and Integrated Farming Systems considered

3588-716: The 1st millennium CE, they also colonized Madagascar and the Comoros , bringing Southeast Asian food plants, including rice, to East Africa . On the African continent, three areas have been identified as independently developing agriculture: the Ethiopian highlands , the Sahel and West Africa . By contrast, Agriculture in the Nile River Valley is thought to have developed from the original Neolithic Revolution in

3680-619: The Ethiopian highlands. Crops domesticated in the Sahel region include sorghum and pearl millet . The kola nut was first domesticated in West Africa. Other crops domesticated in West Africa include African rice , yams and the oil palm . Agriculture spread to Central and Southern Africa in the Bantu expansion during the 1st millennium BCE to 1st millennium CE. The term "Neolithic"

3772-560: The Fertile Crescent where cereal domestication evolved roughly contemporaneously. The Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture has been identified at around fifty sites in Lebanon around the source springs of the River Jordan , but never reliably dated. In his book Guns, Germs, and Steel , Jared Diamond argues that the vast continuous east–west stretch of temperate climatic zones of Eurasia and North Africa gave peoples living there

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3864-582: The Neolithic advanced from one patch of fertile alluvial soil to another, bypassing mountainous areas. Analysis of radiocarbon dates show clearly that Mesolithic and Neolithic populations lived side by side for as much as a millennium in many parts of Europe, especially in the Iberian peninsula and along the Atlantic coast. The spread of the Neolithic from the Near East Neolithic to Europe

3956-657: The Southeast Asian peninsula, the transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist was not linear, but region-specific. Once agriculture started gaining momentum, around 9000 BP, human activity resulted in the selective breeding of cereal grasses (beginning with emmer , einkorn and barley ), and not simply of those that favoured greater caloric returns through larger seeds. Plants with traits such as small seeds or bitter taste were seen as undesirable. Plants that rapidly shed their seeds on maturity tended not to be gathered at harvest, therefore not stored and not seeded

4048-460: The adoption of a limited set of food-producing techniques. During the next millennia, it transformed the small and mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that had hitherto dominated human prehistory into sedentary (non- nomadic ) societies based in built-up villages and towns. These societies radically modified their natural environment by means of specialized food-crop cultivation, with activities such as irrigation and deforestation which allowed

4140-480: The application of plant breeding for turfgrass development has resulted in a reduction in the demand for fertilizer and water inputs (requirements), as well as turf-types with higher disease resistance. Agronomists use biotechnology to extend and expedite the development of desired characteristics. Biotechnology is often a laboratory activity requiring field testing of new crop varieties that are developed. In addition to increasing crop yields agronomic biotechnology

4232-572: The arrival of crops and animals from the Near East. Bananas and plantains , which were first domesticated in Southeast Asia , most likely Papua New Guinea , were re-domesticated in Africa possibly as early as 5,000 years ago. Asian yams and taro were also cultivated in Africa. The most famous crop domesticated in the Ethiopian highlands is coffee . In addition, khat , ensete , noog , teff and finger millet were also domesticated in

4324-735: The beginning of the Bronze Age . The relationship of the aforementioned Neolithic characteristics to the onset of agriculture, their sequence of emergence, and their empirical relation to each other at various Neolithic sites remains the subject of academic debate. It is usually understood to vary from place to place, rather than being the outcome of universal laws of social evolution . Prehistoric hunter-gatherers had different subsistence requirements and lifestyles from agriculturalists. Hunter-gatherers were often highly mobile and migratory, living in temporary shelters and in small tribal groups, and having limited contact with outsiders. Their diet

4416-459: The communities that practice it, as well as maintaining high biodiversity and providing refuges for flora and fauna in these countries. Due to its broad scope and versatility, it is often referred to as "a science, a movement, a practice." Garí wrote two papers for the FAO in the early 2000s about using an agroecological approach which he called "agrobiodiversity" to empower farmers to cope with

4508-492: The development of alternative cropping systems. Theoretical production ecology is the quantitative study of the growth of crops. The plant is treated as a kind of biological factory, which processes light , carbon dioxide , water , and nutrients into harvestable products. The main parameters are temperature, sunlight, standing crop biomass, plant production distribution, and nutrient and water supply. Neolithic Revolution The Neolithic Revolution , also known as

4600-488: The diversity of foods available, resulting in a decrease in the quality of human nutrition compared with that obtained previously from foraging , but because food production became more efficient, it released humans to invest their efforts in other activities and was thus "ultimately necessary to the rise of modern civilization by creating the foundation for the later process of industrialization and sustained economic growth". The Neolithic Revolution involved much more than

4692-463: The domestication of plants into crops . Archaeological data indicates that the domestication of various types of plants and animals happened in separate locations worldwide, starting in the geological epoch of the Holocene 11,700 years ago, after the end of the last Ice Age. It was humankind's first historically verifiable transition to agriculture. The Neolithic Revolution greatly narrowed

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4784-467: The earliest evidence for advanced planning of plants for food consumption and suggests that humans at Ohalo II processed the grain before consumption. Tell Aswad is the oldest site of agriculture, with domesticated emmer wheat dated to 10,800 BP. Soon after came hulled, two-row barley – found domesticated earliest at Jericho in the Jordan valley and at Iraq ed-Dubb in Jordan . Other sites in

4876-433: The economics of systems, ecological impacts, and ethics and values in agriculture. Several social movements have adopted agroecology as part of their larger organizing strategy. Groups like La Via Campesina have used agroecology as a method for achieving food sovereignty . Agroecology has also been utilized by farmers to resist global agricultural development patterns associated with the green revolution . Agroecology

4968-402: The effects of [erosion] by wind and water. For example, a technique known as contour plowing may be used to prevent soil erosion and conserve rainfall. Researchers of agronomy also seek ways to use the soil more effectively for solving other problems. Such problems include the disposal of human and animal manure , water pollution , and pesticide accumulation in the soil, as well as preserving

5060-408: The effects of farming practices on rural communities, economic constraints to developing new production methods, or cultural factors determining farming practices. The system properties of agroecosystems studied may include: productivity , stability , sustainability and equitability . Agroecology is not limited to any one scale; it can range from an individual gene to an entire population, or from

5152-624: The field. Wojtkowski discusses the application of agroecology in agriculture , forestry and agroforestry in his 2002 book. Buttel identifies four varieties of agroecology in a 2003 conference paper. The main varieties he calls ecosystem agroecology which he claims derives from the ecosystem ecology of Howard T. Odum and focuses less on the rural sociology, and agronomic agroecology which he identifies as being oriented towards developing knowledge and practices to agriculture more sustainable. The third long-standing variety Buttel calls ecological political economy which he defines as critiquing

5244-689: The first region to domesticate the dromedary . Henri Fleisch discovered and termed the Shepherd Neolithic flint industry from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and suggested that it could have been used by the earliest nomadic shepherds . He dated this industry to the Epipaleolithic or Pre-Pottery Neolithic as it is evidently not Paleolithic , Mesolithic or even Pottery Neolithic . The presence of these animals gave

5336-420: The following season; successive years of harvesting spontaneously selected for strains that retained their edible seeds longer. Daniel Zohary identified several plant species as "pioneer crops" or Neolithic founder crops . He highlighted the importance of wheat, barley and rye, and suggested that domestication of flax , peas , chickpeas , bitter vetch and lentils came a little later. Based on analysis of

5428-473: The health of early agriculturalists and their domesticated livestock would have been increased numbers of parasites and disease-bearing pests associated with human waste and contaminated food and water supplies. Fertilizers and irrigation may have increased crop yields but also would have promoted proliferation of insects and bacteria in the local environment while grain storage attracted additional insects and rodents . The term 'neolithic revolution'

5520-563: The human population. Selectively propagated figs , wild barley and wild oats were cultivated at the early Neolithic site of Gilgal I , where in 2006 archaeologists found caches of seeds of each in quantities too large to be accounted for even by intensive gathering , at strata datable to c. 11,000 years ago. Some of the plants tried and then abandoned during the Neolithic period in the Ancient Near East, at sites like Gilgal, were later successfully domesticated in other parts of

5612-868: The impacts of the AIDS on rural areas in Africa. In 2011, the first encounter of agroecology trainers took place in Zimbabwe and issued the Shashe Declaration. The European Commission supports the use of sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture , organic farming , agroecology, agroforestry and stricter animal welfare standards through the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. Within academic research areas that focus on topics related to agriculture or ecology, such as agronomy, veterinarian science, environmental science, and others, there

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5704-638: The impetus of the Austronesian expansion which started with the migration of the Austronesian-speakers from Taiwan to the Philippines at around 5,000 BP. Austronesians carried rice cultivation technology to Island Southeast Asia along with other domesticated species. The new tropical island environments also had new food plants that they exploited. They carried useful plants and animals during each colonization voyage, resulting in

5796-602: The lowlands may have been even earlier. CSIRO has found evidence that taro was introduced into the Solomon Islands for human use, from 28,000 years ago, making taro the earliest cultivated crop in the world. It seems to have resulted in the spread of the Trans–New Guinea languages from New Guinea east into the Solomon Islands and west into Timor and adjacent areas of Indonesia . This seems to confirm

5888-490: The name specifically for alternative agriculture. Agroecology is defined by the OECD as "the study of the relation of agricultural crops and environment." Dalgaard et al . refer to agroecology as the study of the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment within agricultural systems. Francis et al . also use the definition in the same way, but thought it should be restricted to growing food. Agroecology

5980-437: The natural environment, while agronomists dedicated their attention to the cultivated systems in agriculture, but in the 1970s agronomists saw the value of ecology, and ecologists began to use the agricultural systems as study plots, studies in agroecology grew more rapidly. More books and articles using the concept of agroecosystems and the word agroecology started to appear in 1970s. According to Dalgaard et al ., it probably

6072-418: The politics and economy of agriculture and weighted to radical politics. The smallest and newest variety Buttel coins agro-population ecology , which he says is very similar to the first, but is derived from the science of ecology primarily based on the more modern theories of population ecology such as population dynamics of constituent species, and their relationships to climate and biogeochemistry , and

6164-410: The population expanded and communities developed specialized workers and more advanced tools. The process was not as linear as was once thought, but a more complicated effort, which was undertaken by different human populations in different regions in many different ways. One of the world's most important crops, barley , was domesticated in the Near East around 11,000 years ago (c. 9,000 BCE). Barley

6256-401: The production of surplus food. Other developments that are found very widely during this era are the domestication of animals , pottery , polished stone tools, and rectangular houses. In many regions, the adoption of agriculture by prehistoric societies caused episodes of rapid population growth, a phenomenon known as the Neolithic demographic transition . These developments, sometimes called

6348-545: The rapid introduction of domesticated and semi-domesticated species throughout Oceania . They also came into contact with the early agricultural centres of Papuan -speaking populations of New Guinea as well as the Dravidian -speaking regions of South India and Sri Lanka by around 3,500 BP. They acquired further cultivated food plants like bananas and pepper from them, and in turn introduced Austronesian technologies like wetland cultivation and outrigger canoes . During

6440-429: The region a large advantage in cultural and economic development. As the climate in the Middle East changed and became drier, many of the farmers were forced to leave, taking their domesticated animals with them. It was this massive emigration from the Middle East that later helped distribute these animals to the rest of Afroeurasia . This emigration was mainly on an east–west axis of similar climates, as crops usually have

6532-622: The rest of Eurasia and North Africa, while it did not reach through the north–south axis of Africa to reach the Mediterranean climates of South Africa , where temperate crops were successfully imported by ships in the last 500 years. Similarly, the African Zebu of central Africa and the domesticated bovines of the fertile-crescent – separated by the dry sahara desert – were not introduced into each other's region. Use-wear analysis of five glossed flint blades found at Ohalo II ,

6624-509: The rise of civilizations and technological evolutions . However, higher population and food abundance did not necessarily correlate with improved health. Reliance on a very limited variety of staple crops can adversely affect health even while making it possible to feed more people. Maize is deficient in certain essential amino acids ( lysine and tryptophan ) and is a poor source of iron . The phytic acid it contains may inhibit nutrient absorption . Other factors that likely affected

6716-575: The role of genetics . Dalgaard et al . identify different points of view: what they call early "integrative" agroecology, such as the investigations of Henry Gleason or Frederic Clements . The second version they cite Hecht (1995) as coining "hard" agroecology which they identify as more reactive to environmental politics but rooted in measurable units and technology. They themselves name "soft" agroecology which they define as trying to measure agroecology in terms of "soft capital" such as culture or experience. The term agroecology may used by people for

6808-898: The skeletal remains in graves at Mehrgarh bear strong resemblance to those at Ali Kosh in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran. Despite their scarcity, the Carbon-14 and archaeological age determinations for early Neolithic sites in Southern Asia exhibit remarkable continuity across the vast region from the Near East to the Indian Subcontinent, consistent with a systematic eastward spread at a speed of about 0.65 km/yr. The most prominent of several theories (not mutually exclusive) as to factors that caused populations to develop agriculture include: Agroecology Agroecology ( IPA : /ˌæ.ɡroʊ.i.ˈkɑː.lə.dʒi/ )

6900-512: The soil for future generations such as the burning of paddocks after crop production. Pasture management techniques include no-till farming , planting of soil-binding grasses along contours on steep slopes, and using contour drains of depths as much as 1 metre. Agroecology is the management of agricultural systems with an emphasis on ecological and environmental applications. This topic is associated closely with work for sustainable agriculture , organic farming , and alternative food systems and

6992-481: The speed of 0.6–1.3 km/yr (at 95% confidence level). Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe. Considering that the movement of the people implies a consequent movement of their genes, it is possible to estimate the impact of these migrations through the genetic analysis of human populations. Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in

7084-503: The study of crop ecology by Klages in 1928. This work is a study of where crops can best be grown. Wezel et al . say the first mention of the term agroecology was in 1928, with the publication of the term by Basil Bensin. Dalgaard et al . claim the German zoologist Friederichs was the first to use the name in 1930 in his book on the zoology of agriculture and forestry, followed by American crop physiologist Hansen in 1939, both using

7176-454: The theories of Carl Sauer who, in "Agricultural Origins and Dispersals", suggested as early as 1952 that this region was a centre of early agriculture. Archaeologists trace the emergence of food-producing societies in the Levantine region of southwest Asia at the close of the last glacial period around 12,000 BCE, and developed into a number of regionally distinctive cultures by the eighth millennium BCE. Remains of food-producing societies in

7268-572: The understanding of plant nutrition and soil chemistry . Their work laid for the establishment of modern fertilizers and agricultural practices. Agronomy continued to evolve with the development of new technology and practices in the 20th century. From the 1960s, the Green Revolution saw the introduction of high-yield variety of crops, modern fertilizers and improvement of agricultural practices. It led to an increase of global food production to help reduce hunger and poverty in many parts of

7360-483: The use of composting in sustainable agriculture today. The use of agroecological practices such as nutrient cycling and intercropping occurs across hundreds of years and many different cultures. Indigenous peoples also currently make up a large proportion of people using agroecological practices, and those involved in the movement to move more farming into an agroecological paradigm. According to Gliessman and Francis et al ., agronomy and ecology were first linked with

7452-426: The word for the application of ecology within agriculture. Tischler's 1965 book Agrarökologie may be the first to be titled 'agroecology'. He analyzed the different components (plants, animals, soils and climate) and their interactions within an agroecosystem as well as the impact of human agricultural management on these components. Gliessman describes that post-WWII ecologists gave more focus to experiments in

7544-537: The world. Once early farmers perfected their agricultural techniques like irrigation (traced as far back as the 6th millennium BCE in Khuzistan ), their crops yielded surpluses that needed storage. Most hunter-gatherers could not easily store food for long due to their migratory lifestyle, whereas those with a sedentary dwelling could store their surplus grain. Eventually granaries were developed that allowed villages to store their seeds longer. So with more food,

7636-596: The world. This topic of agronomy involves selective breeding of plants to produce the best crops for various conditions. Plant breeding has increased crop yields and has improved the nutritional value of numerous crops, including corn , soybeans , and wheat . It has also resulted in the development of new types of plants. For example, a hybrid grain named triticale was produced by crossbreeding rye and wheat. Triticale contains more usable protein than does either rye or wheat. Agronomy has also been instrumental for fruit and vegetable production research. Furthermore,

7728-630: Was broomcorn millet , domesticated in East Asia. The earliest evidence of cheese -making dates to 5500 BCE in Kujawy , Poland . The diffusion across Europe, from the Aegean to Britain, took about 2,500 years (8500–6000 BP). The Baltic region was penetrated a bit later, around 5500 BP, and there was also a delay in settling the Pannonian plain . In general, colonization shows a "saltatory" pattern, as

7820-419: Was a distinction between relatively sedentary farmers and nomadic herders. The animals' size, temperament, diet, mating patterns, and life span were factors in the desire and success in domesticating animals. Animals that provided milk, such as cows and goats, offered a source of protein that was renewable and therefore quite valuable. The animal's ability as a worker (for example ploughing or towing), as well as

7912-568: Was also domesticated in northern China 4,500 years ago. Orange and peach also originated in China, being cultivated c.  2500 BCE . ) The agricultural centres in southern China are clustered around the Yangtze River basin. Rice was domesticated in this region, together with the development of paddy field cultivation, between 13,500 and 8,200 years ago. There are two possible centres of domestication for rice. The first

8004-488: Was first studied quantitatively in the 1970s, when a sufficient number of Carbon 14 age determinations for early Neolithic sites had become available. In 1973, Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza discovered a linear relationship between the age of an Early Neolithic site and its distance from the conventional source in the Near East ( Jericho ), demonstrating that the Neolithic spread at an average speed of about 1 km/yr. More recent studies (2005) confirm these results and yield

8096-665: Was introduced to Europe via western Anatolia. All Neolithic sites in Europe contain ceramics , and contain the plants and animals domesticated in Southwest Asia: einkorn , emmer , barley , lentils , pigs , goats , sheep , and cattle . Genetic data suggest that no independent domestication of animals took place in Neolithic Europe, and that all domesticated animals were originally domesticated in Southwest Asia. The only domesticate not from Southwest Asia

8188-476: Was invented by V. Gordon Childe in his book Man Makes Himself (1936). Childe introduced it as the first in a series of agricultural revolutions in Middle Eastern history, calling it a "revolution" to denote its significance, the degree of change to communities adopting and refining agricultural practices. The beginning of this process in different regions has been dated from 10,000 to 8,000 BCE in

8280-524: Was the centre of domestication for three cereals (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat and barley), four legumes (lentil, pea, bitter vetch and chickpea), and flax. Domestication was a slow process that unfolded across multiple regions, and was preceded by centuries if not millennia of pre-domestication cultivation. Finds of large quantities of seeds and a grinding stone at the Epipalaeolithic site of Ohalo II , dating to around 19,400 BP, has shown some of

8372-410: Was the concept of "process ecology" such as studied by Arthur Tansley in the 1930s which inspired Harper's 1974 concept of agroecosystems , which they consider the foundation of modern agroecology. Dalgaard et al . claim Frederic Clements 's investigations on ecology using social sciences, community ecology and a "landscape perspective" is agroecology, as well as Henry Gleason 's investigations of

8464-794: Was well-balanced though heavily dependent on what the environment could provide each season. In contrast, because the surplus and plannable supply of food provided by agriculture made it possible to support larger population groups, agriculturalists lived in more permanent dwellings in more densely populated settlements than what could be supported by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The agricultural communities' seasonal need to plan and coordinate resource and manpower encouraged division of labour , which gradually led to specialization of labourers and complex societies . The subsequent development of trading networks to exchange surplus commodities and services brought agriculturalists into contact with outside groups, which promoted cultural exchanges that led to

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