History of Agriculture

1. History of Agriculture David A. Sleper

2. Agriculture Defined • The art, science, and business of managing the growth of plants and animals for human use. http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

3. Agriculture Defined • Cultivation of the soil • Growing & harvesting crops • Breeding & raising of livestock • Packing, processing, and marketing

4. World Agriculture • Began over 10,000 years ago • Humans discovered the value of wild plants and animals and domesticated and bred them • Cereals • Meat animals • Poultry, fish, milk, cheese, nuts, oils, fruits, vegetables etc http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

5. World Agriculture • 50% world’s labor force employed in agriculture • > 60% in Africa • < 4% in USA and Canada • 15% former Soviet Union • 7% in Western Europe

6. World Agriculture • Agricultural income also from nonfood crops • Rubber • Fiber plants • Tobacco • Oilseeds for synthetic chemical compounds • Animals for pelt http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

7. World Agriculture • Nations depend on agriculture for food, income, and raw materials • Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN concerns itself with agricultural trade and policies

8. History • Four broad periods of unequal length depending on location • Prehistoric • Historic through Roman period • Feudal • Scientific

9. Prehistoric Agriculture • Largely of Neolithic culture • Early centers of agriculture • (SW Asia) Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey • (SE Asia) Thailand • (Africa) Nile river • (Europe) Danube river

10. Prehistoric Agriculture • Early centers of agriculture continued • (China) Yellow River • (India & Pakistan) Indus River • (Mexico) Tehuacan Valley, NW of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

11. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated • Dates of domestication vary by regions • Earliest may be from 10,000 BC • Scientists used carbon-14 testing of plant & animal remains

12. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated • Sheep 9000 BC (N Iraq) • Cattle 6th millennium BC (NE Iran) • Goats 8000 BC (Iran) • Pigs 8000 BC (Thailand) & 7000 BC (Thessaly) • Horses 4350 BC (Ukraine) • Llama & alpaca 3rd millennium (Andean region of S America) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

13. Dates Plants &Animals Domesticated • Wheat & barley 8th millennium BC (Middle East) • Millet & rice 5500 BC (China & SE Asia) • Squash 8000 BC (Mexico) • Legumes 6000 BC (Thessaly & Macedonia) • Flax for textiles in early Neolithic period • Transition from hunting and food gathering to dependence on food gathering was gradual • Has not been accomplished worldwide http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

14. Neolithic Farmers • Lived in caves, sun-baked mud houses, of reed or wooden houses • Housed grouped into small villages with surrounding fields • Growth of cities such as Jericho (9000 BC) was stimulated by production of surplus crops

15. Pastoralism • A later development • Mixed farming, combining cultivation of crops and stock raising was a common Neolithic pattern • Nomadic herders roamed steppes of Europe and Asia where the horse and camel were domesticated

16. Neolithic Settlements • More permanent than camps of hunting populations • Needed to move periodically • Soils deteriorated • Practiced slash & burn in Europe • Nile settlements more permanent • River kept soils fertile

17. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period • Roughly defined as 2500 BC to 500 ad • Introduction of metals • Information from: • Bible • Near Eastern record & monuments • Chinese, Greek, & Roman writings • Later dev in Central & S. America

18. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period • Trade in wine and olive oil mentioned in Egyptian records (2900 BC) • Rye & oats cult widely in N. Europe (1000 BC) • Dates/figs important source of sugar in Near East • Cotton spun in India 2000 BC • Linen & silk in 2nd millennium in China

19. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period • Metal tools longer lasting & more efficient • Ox-drawn plow (iron tipped) • Funnel added to plow for seeding • Horses for work • Threshing done with animal power

20. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period • Irrigation in China, Egypt, & Near East • Allowed more land to be cultivated • Windmills and water mills added at end of Roman period • Introduction of fertilizers • Animal manures • Crop rotations http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

21. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period • Rome started as rural agriculture society • Large estates supplied grain to many cities • Used slave labor • Tenants paid predetermined share to estate owner • By 4th century AD serfdom was well established and former tenant was attached to the land

22. Feudal Agriculture • Began soon after the fall of the Roman empire • Reached its peak in about 1100 ad

23. Feudal Agriculture • Irrigation extended in Egypt & Spain • Grain production was sufficient in Egypt to sell wheat internationally • Irrigation from Mountain streams increased vineyards in Spain • In Spain silkworm was raised and its food the mulberry tree was grown

24. Feudal Agriculture • Middle East agriculture became static by 12th century • Fell back to subsistence levels • Irrigation systems destroyed by Mongols • Crusades increased European contact with Islamic lands & familiarized W Europe with citrus, silk & cotton

25. Feudal Agriculture • In Scandinavia and E Germany, small farms and villages remained • The manorial system could not flourish in most of Europe • Stock raising and grape culture were normally outside the system

26. Feudal Agriculture • Manorial system • 900 to 2000 acres • Self-contained community • Large home for the lord • One or more villages as part of the manor • Peasants were the actual farmers • Raised crops and livestock and paid taxes to the lord • Large mill for grinding grain & vegetable gardens

27. Feudal Agriculture • Manor system • Woolen garments from sheep • Linen textiles from flax and the oil also • Food served in feudal castle varied according to season & hunting ability • Hunting done by the lord • Castle residents ate meat from poultry, cattle and etc produced by peasant farmers

28. Feudal Agriculture • Independent manorialism affected by wars of 14th & 15th centuries & widespread plague outbreaks • Villages were wiped out and land was abandoned • Remaining peasants were discontented

29. Scientific Agriculture • By 16th century population & agriculture were expanding in Europe • New period of exploration & colonization • Circumvent Turkey’s control of the spice trade • Provide homes for religious refugees • Provide wealth for European nations http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

30. Scientific Agriculture • Colonial agriculture • Feed colonies • Produce cash crops & feed home country • Cultivation of sugar, cotton, tobacco, tea, animals for wool and hide etc • From 15th to 19th centuries slaves were used • Slaves worked in Caribbean on sugar plantations & in N America

31. Scientific Agriculture • Colonial agriculture • Indians enslaved in Mexico • Slaves from England’s prisons provided skilled and unskilled labor for colonies • Slavery and serfdom wiped out in the 19th century http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

32. Scientific Agriculture • Scientific revolution occurred from the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment in Europe • Plant breeding • Breeding cattle & sheep • Guernsey cow breed • Crop rotations • Drainage brought more land into cultivation

33. Scientific Agriculture • Livestock breeding in 1700s • Limestone on soils in late 1700s • Cast-iron plow • 1797 by Charles Newbold • John Deere improved it in 1830s & made it from steel • Seed drill in early 1700s • Reaper by Cyrus McCormick in 1831

34. Scientific Agriculture • By late 1800s steam power replaced animal power in drawing plows and operating threshing machinery • Science and technology developed for industrial purposes in agriculture • Resulting in agribusinesses of the mid-20th century • Poisons for pests developed in 19th century • Improvements in transportation (19 & 20th) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

35. Scientific Agriculture • After World War II • Green revolution • Selective breeding of crops • DNA technology • Intensive cultivation methods • Machinery development http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

36. Agriculture in USA • Until 19th century, shared history of European & colonial areas • Dependent upon Europe for seeds, livestock, machinery • Forced farmers in new world to be more innovative • Government policies encouraged land settlement • Homestead Act of 1862 • Establishments of Land Grant Colleges

37. Agriculture in USA • Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862 • Annual appropriations to each state to support Land-Grant Colleges by 1890 • $15,000 first year & increased in $1,000 increments until reached $25,000 • 1890 Colleges • Support for African American Colleges • Research tied to teaching

38. Agriculture in USA • 20th century • Steam, gasoline, diesel, electric power • Chemical fertilizers manufactured • Loss of soil combated • Selected breeding of plants & animals • Hybridization of corn in 1930s • Improvements in storage, processing, transportation & marketing • Chemical control of pests

39. Agriculture in USA • In 1980s high technology farming • Hybrids for many crops • Better methods of soil conservation • Irrigation systems improved • Growing use of fertilizers • Genetic engineering of many crops http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

40. Food Sources for Humans Today

42. Future of Agriculture • Genetic engineering will be important • Pests to pharmaceuticals to industrial products • Identity preserved crops • From farm gate to table top to industrial uses • Need students well versed in the basic sciences • Ever growing world population is of great concern • Space?

43. References • www.adbio.com/science/agri-history • www.aces.uiuc.edu/~sare/columbian.html • Franklin, R.B. 1948. A history of agriculture. G. Bell and Sons Ltd, London. • Kerr, N.A. 1987. The legacy, a centennial history of the agricultural experiment stations 1887-1987. Missouri Ag Exp Sta., Univ of Missouri-Columbia.