Origin of Agriculture

Intro and Chp 10 sec 1

Terms/Concepts

• Agriculture• Crop• Vegetative Planting• Seed Agriculture• 1st Industrial Revolution

Agriculture

• Agriculture: the deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain– Agriculture originated when humans

domesticated plants and animals for their use

– The contrast in agricultural practices is one of the most fundamental differences between developed and developing countries – commercial and subsistence

Before Agriculture

• Hunter and Gatherers– Hunted and fished for animals and

gathered plants– Lived in small groups–Why switch to agriculture?• Environmental• Cultural

– Today 0.005% of population today

Invention of Agriculture• Began in many different places

simultaneously – What was grown was determined by

geography

• Two types of plant cultivation– Vegetative Planting

• Reproduction by cloning from existing plants– Began in Southeast Asia

– Seed Agriculture• Reproduction through planting of seeds

– Practiced by most farmers today and originated in both Eastern and Western Hemisphere

• All above known as 1st Agricultural Revolution

Why Agriculture Originated?

• Environmental factors– Domestication of crops and animals

• Cultural factors– Preference for living in a fixed place

Terms/Concepts

• Agriculture• Crop• Vegetative Planting• Seed Agriculture• 1st Industrial Revolution