Many people are interested in what agriculture is and what the history of its origin is. This type of activity appeared several thousand years ago and is still developing today. Modern farming involves the use of the latest technologies, high-quality equipment and various agricultural techniques. This helps to significantly increase productivity and facilitate human labor. However, this was not always the case.
What it is
Agriculture appeared during the primitive period 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 growing crops, selecting and propagating the most useful varieties. In addition, people began to exert various influences on plants in order to adapt them to their needs.
History of development
The first attempts at targeted cultivation of crops date back to 11-10 thousand years BC. People started farming in the Middle East. Up to this point, they hunted wild animals and collected plants. Once supplies ran out, they had to move to a new location. After the advent of agriculture, the nomadic way of life was replaced by a sedentary way of life.
Gradually, the cultivated areas expanded. Therefore, cultivating the land with hands has become difficult. This created the preconditions for the appearance of the first primitive tools. In 4000 BC, a prototype of the plow was created, and in 3000 BC, a wooden plow appeared. A flail and a sickle helped in harvesting. These devices have made farmers' work more efficient.
The ancient Sumerians made a significant contribution to the development of agriculture. They invented a plow-seeder and learned to smelt metals. Since these people lived in an arid region, they had to come up with the first artificial irrigation systems.
What did people grow first?
Initially, people began to grow millet, barley and wheat.Western Asia is considered the homeland of these plants. It was in these places that the oldest settlements of farmers were found, founded 10 thousand years ago. Subsequently, this type of activity became widespread throughout the world.
What was grown in different regions
Scientific research indicates that agriculture has a direct connection with the mountain plateau and valley zones in the subtropics. The famous researcher Nikolai Vavilov established a number of the most ancient zones of the emergence of agriculture:
- Western Asian - here people were engaged in growing wheat, barley and other cereals;
- center of Peru - legumes, cotton, pumpkin, and pepper predominated here;
- the mountainous part and eastern valley of China - millet, rice, and wheat were grown in this region;
- Mexico - people preferred growing legumes 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 and fourth millennia 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 types of human activity, which helped people change their nomadic lifestyle to a sedentary one. During its existence, this direction has undergone many changes and improvements.
