Agriculture: what is it, history of origin and crops grown in different regions
Many people are interested in what agriculture is and what is the history of its origin. This type of activity appeared several thousand years ago and is developing to this day. Modern agriculture involves the use of the latest technologies, high-quality devices and various agricultural practices. This helps to significantly increase productivity and facilitate human labor. However, this was not always the case.
What is this
Agriculture appeared in the days of the primitive system and is the result of a long period of human development.This type of activity arose when people already knew how to hunt and collect wild fruits. As a result, they began to direct their labor to the cultivation of crops, the selection and reproduction of the most useful varieties. In addition, people began to exert various kinds of influences on plants in order to adapt them to their needs.
Development history
The first attempts at targeted cultivation of crops date back to 11-10 thousand years BC. People began to engage in agriculture in the Middle East. Up to this point, they hunted wild animals and collected plants. After the stocks ran out, they had to move to a new place. After the advent of agriculture, the nomadic way of life was replaced by a sedentary one.
Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionIn 9000 BC, people began to collect and dry grain.In addition, they learned to save his winter. The rest was used for sowing. In 8000 BC, farmers determined which grains yielded the most. They began sorting them, selecting the best seeds for sowing.Gradually the area under crops grew. Therefore, it became difficult to cultivate the land with hands. This created the prerequisites for the appearance of the first primitive tools. In 4000 BC, a prototype plow was created, and in 3000 BC, a wooden plow appeared. The flail and sickle helped to harvest. These devices have made farmers more efficient.
A significant contribution to the development of agriculture belongs to the ancient Sumerians. They invented the plow-seeder and learned how to melt metals. Since this people lived in an arid region, they had to come up with the first artificial irrigation systems.
What people first grew
Initially, people began to grow millet, barley and wheat. The homeland of these plants is Western Asia. It was in these places that the oldest settlements of farmers, founded 10 thousand years ago, were found. Subsequently, this type of activity has become widespread throughout the world.
What was grown in different regions
Scientific studies show that agriculture has a direct connection with the zones of mountain plateaus and valleys in the subtropics. The famous explorer Nikolai Vavilov established a number of the most ancient zones of the appearance of agriculture:
- Period Asian - here people were engaged in the cultivation of wheat, barley and other cereals;
- the center of Peru - beans, cotton, pumpkin, pepper prevailed here;
- mountainous part and east of the valley of China - millet, rice, wheat were grown in this region;
- Mexico - people preferred growing beans and peppers.
In America, agriculture appeared independently of other continents, and here this type of activity is also considered very ancient. In Western European countries, people began to cultivate cultivated plants in the fifth or fourth millennium BC.On the territory of modern Russia, agriculture appeared in the Stone Age. At the same time, the regions of Central Asia and Transcaucasia became the most ancient centers.
Agriculture is considered one of the most ancient human activities that helped people change their nomadic lifestyle to a settled one. During its existence, this direction has undergone many changes and improvements.
