evolution of agriculture essay

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The Evolution of Agriculture

• Categories: Agriculture World History

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Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 999 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey. U.S. Department of Labor.
• Maddison, A. (2003). The world economy: Historical statistics. OECD Publishing.
• Maddison, A. (2006). The world economy: A millennial perspective. Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• Population Reference Bureau. (2021). 2021 World population data sheet. https://www.prb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021_World_Population_Data_Sheet.pdf
• Texas Almanac. (2022). Population and demographics. https://texasalmanac.com/topics/population-and-demographics
• Texas Department of Agriculture. (2022). Texas agriculture at a glance.
• Texas State Historical Association. (2022). Agriculture.
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. (2022). World population prospects 2019.
• U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). Historical national population estimates: July 1, 1900 to July 1, 1999. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/pre-1980-national.html
• U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). National population by characteristics: 2020-2021.

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• v.3(5-6); 2010 Sep

Evolutionary change in agriculture: the past, present and future

Peter h thrall.

1 CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, Australia

James D Bever

2 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

Jeremy J Burdon

In this special issue of Evolutionary Applications , we draw together a series of diverse studies that provide a sample of some of the ways in which evolution driven by both conscious and unconscious selection by humans has shaped the development of modern agriculture. Agriculture has been a crucible of evolutionary change ever since its inception thousands of years ago, and this change permeates agricultural endeavours at all levels of biological organisation, ranging from the individual gene through to whole communities. Agro-ecosystems thus provide one of the most cogent examples of situations where anthropogenic effects are major determinants of biotic interactions within and among species and communities, suggesting a central role for the application of evolutionary principles. This is particularly the case, given global concerns regarding food production and food security, and increasingly, the expectation that agricultural productivity gains must be achieved with greater efficiencies, and reduced environmental impact.

In the development of human society, the shift to a relatively settled way of life from a nomadic hunter-gatherer life-style was enormously profound, and made possible only by the development and adoption of early agricultural practices. In turn, this change in human life-style had major impacts on the environment of agriculture and hence the traits and characteristics of plants and animals that were favoured both consciously and unconsciously by humans. Very often traits suited to species growing without human protection/husbandry were not suitable for agriculture and were rapidly lost (e.g. seed shattering), while others were specifically favoured by the more protected environment agriculture provided, and increased in frequency (e.g. seed retention).

As agriculture developed, the environment of the field and paddock became increasingly differentiated from that of the natural environments in which plants and animals originally evolved. For plants, nutrient availability generally rose, plant density and genetic uniformity increased, and the balance in competition shifted from inter-specific considerations to intra-specific ones (particularly with the general reduction in species diversity). Tilling and crop rotation were further agronomic practices that were introduced partly for fertility reasons but also for control of natural enemies, as rotation causes shifts in whole fungal pathogen communities. It is interesting to note that another generation of changes to tilling practices – minimum tillage – is to some extent now altering ecological and evolutionary interactions at the plant–soil interface towards a different set of fungal control issues. Similarly for animals, domestication created a more predictable environment with increased resource availability during harsh times and protection from predators, but increased threats from contagious diseases, all subtly influencing the evolutionary make-up of our livestock.

Over the last few thousand years, domestication, selection and hybridisation, both unconscious and conscious, has also led to significant changes in the appearance of plants and animals and their nutritional value. Examples are seen in virtually all plant and animal species that are farmed. In horticulture, this diversity is often highly prized in the form of different varieties that are preserved for subtle variations in flavour, texture or simply appearance (e.g. in potato, tomato, apple). In a similar way, extensive selection in farmyard fowls (chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys), and in pigs, sheep and cattle have given rise to very many distinctive breeds that differ in milk production, flesh texture and flavour, and obvious appearance, as well as in less obvious traits, such as patterns of social behaviour. Extensive agriculture has also seen similar major changes that have resulted in significant increases in yield and productivity. In plants, perhaps one of the most dramatic changes to have occurred within a species is found in the emergence of modern high-yielding hybrid maize from its close relative teosinte, and the subsequent application of a number of induced mutations and the introduction of an F1 hybrid system. Similarly dramatic changes have occurred in meat and fibre production and quality in selected beef and sheep varieties respectively.

In essence, throughout the history of agriculture, changes in agronomic and animal husbandry practices and in the crops and animals being farmed have had collateral effects that have changed the balance and intensity of different selective forces. This has been particularly apparent in plants where increasing nutrient status (particularly nitrogen) generally favours the growth and development of insect and fungal pests – the numbers of which are frequently then further exacerbated by increased plant density (this increases humidity and thus conditions for fungal spore germination; and reduces inoculum loss during transmission) and genetic uniformity of crops. As selection by humans shifted to a conscious understanding of genetics, the focus also increasingly centred on accumulating single major gene traits because these could be more readily manipulated. While human selection has been a major driving force in the types of changes outlined above, subject to the vagaries of fashion, it has often tended to be highly directional favouring more and more extreme manifestations of the traits in question. In the realm of biotic interactions involving pests and pathogens, these approaches have often precipitated the equivalent of an ‘arms race’ between humans and these natural enemies of their crops.

Importantly, in contrast to many other evolutionary issues in agro-ecosystems, interactions between disease causing organisms and our crops and livestock are characterised by much more dynamic and unpredictable reciprocal evolutionary change. For example, during the 20th century, breeding for rust resistance in cereals through the deployment of single major genes for resistance, placed major selection pressure on relevant pathogen populations leading to the rapid emergence of new pathotypes with novel pathogenicity profiles capable of overcoming the recently deployed resistance. Indeed, this reciprocal process became so rapid and predictable that it became known as ‘man-guided evolution of the rusts’ ( Johnson 1961 ).

Clearly then, developments in our understanding of evolution and genetics have had unintended effects as well as having a huge impact on the process of conscious plant and animal improvement. In recent decades, technological advances, particularly in molecular biology, have further accelerated this process. Traditionally in the context of agricultural breeding, to understand relationships between domesticated species we look to the concept of the gene pool to understand the closeness of relationship between any two species and the potential for utilising and combining desirable traits. Those in the primary (landraces and immediate wild progenitors) and secondary (closely related species) gene pools, because of their sexual compatibility have been used for some time as sources of beneficial traits. However, until the dawn of the molecular revolution, access to valuable traits in the tertiary gene pool (more distantly related species) was exceptionally difficult while access to the quadranary gene pool (organisms from other kingdoms) was impossible.

As noted above, the process of domestication is one of the most obvious ways in which human-driven selection has driven evolution in agriculture. The article by Moyle and Muir (2010) provides a fascinating overview of research on tomato and its wild relatives, in particular highlighting how such studies can provide insight into the mechanisms underlying traits of functional importance (e.g. adaptation to water stress). These studies also exemplify the genetic trade-offs that constrain high yield to a narrow set of environments. O'Neill et al. (2010) illustrates these trade-offs within a summary of the evolutionary history of Bos taurus cattle, as adaptation to stress-free temperate conditions generated breeds with little resistance to diseases common in tropical regions. They advocate explicit consideration of genotype × environment × management interactions in future breeding efforts. Such approaches may be critical to future livestock systems which must increasingly meet the twin goals of economic and environmental sustainability. A similar story is told within the article by Van Tassel et al. (2010) , which describes how man-guided adaptation of plants to crop field situations has favoured shorter-lived species with unusually high allocations to sexual reproduction. Given the high environmental costs of this mode of production, these authors argue that there is a need and growing promise in the development of useful perennial plants for agriculture.

Traits that differentially affect group versus individual fitness have particular importance in agricultural production where domesticated plant and animal populations are generally grown at high densities. Aggressive behaviour in chickens and pigs, for example, can be individually advantageous, but result in reduced yield overall. Wade et al. (2010) present a theoretical framework for and evidence of successful efforts to use the principles of group selection to evolve less aggressive domesticated pigs and chickens with positive effects on farm yield. Similar conflicts between individual and group yield mediate production in cropping systems and two examples of these are presented by Denison et al. (2010) and Weiner et al. (2010) who focus on complementary aspects of competition for light in agricultural fields.

Focusing on maize as an example, Mercer and Perales (2010) explores the issue of crop genetic resources as maintained in landraces, the evolutionary potential for crop adaptation to changing climates, and some of the problems associated with ex situ conservation of crop genetic resources. Crop weeds have direct economic impacts on productivity, but are also of evolutionary interest in several contexts (e.g. herbicide resistance, shifts in weed life history, cross-species gene transfer), particularly given that they demonstrate many of the ecological characteristics of crop species. A comparative analysis of weedy species that have evolved from domesticated plants suggests that useful insights can be gained with regard to traits that correlate with invasiveness ( Ellstrand et al. 2010 ).

Despite the generally simpler communities represented by agro-ecosystems relative to natural plant and animal communities, strong interspecific interactions still constrain yield and influence man directed and unconscious evolution in agro-ecosystems. Principal among these interactions are the pathogens ( Burdon and Thrall 2008 ), with the source of individual pathogen populations being a persistent question. Wang et al. (2010) integrate molecular, experimental and field studies to demonstrate that Fusarium wilt disease of cotton in Australia has most likely evolved locally from related fungal strains associated with native cotton hosts. The negative effect of pathogens and other natural enemies can be ameliorated through crop interactions with other symbionts, including endophytic fungi, though these fungi can themselves carry a yield penalty. Alternative frameworks for understanding conditions in which endophytic fungi improve yield are developed by Saunders et al. (2010) and Gundel et al. (2010) . While Saunders and colleagues focus on determinants of endophyte dynamics such as order of colonisation, Gundel et al. (2010) examine patterns of plant breeding system and plant-endophyte compatibility. Plant yield is also determined by interactions with soil micro-organisms and while there is increasing recognition of the role of soil biota as drivers of ecosystem function and productivity, there is still relatively little knowledge of how agronomic management practices (e.g. crop rotation, tilling practices, fertiliser applications) might impact on soil communities. Verbruggen and Kiers (2010) address this by focussing on agronomic management practices that influence underlying evolutionary forces that determine the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in farming systems, and how management might be shifted to enhance the benefits provided by these mutualisms.

Over the past decade, research into, and the deployment of GM technologies has increased rapidly, particularly in the developing world. Concomitant decreases in the costs of developing and implementing such approaches, together with advances in our technical ability to insert or modify specific genes or gene pathways will further contribute to shifts towards the use of these approaches. GM technologies provide one of the few examples where evolutionary principles (pyramiding of genes, crop refuges) have been explicitly applied in a pre-emptive fashion to minimise risks (another is seen in the use of varietal mixtures for disease control in cereals). In this issue, we highlight this topic with two papers which focus on management strategies aimed at delaying the evolution of resistance to Bt toxins in transgenic crops such as maize and cotton. Carriere et al. (2010) provide an excellent overview of the success of these approaches over the past 15 years; they conclude that, while refuges have been generally successful, better understanding of source-sink dynamics and improved ability to manipulate resistance costs in pest species may be important avenues for future research. Downes et al. (2010) examine the specific case of Bt cotton in Australia, where it has been widely deployed, and where Bt resistance has been explicitly and successfully managed since the initial release of transgenic cotton.

The studies presented here represent only a fraction of the diversity of evolutionary issues of relevance to agro-ecosystems. With regard to human-driven selection of yield-associated traits in crops there are many other issues associated with changes in plant structure and architecture, genome duplication during domestication, and life history traits such as flowering time; tillering rates etc. that have practical significance. While articles in this issue highlight some research on species interactions in agriculture, overall the evolutionary potential of feedbacks across the agro-ecological interface is under-studied, particularly given likely changes in agricultural land-use (diversification, intensification, increased area under production, greater use of GM technologies). Such feedbacks include increased pest and herbicide resistance, pathogen evolution, weediness, and more generally the consequences of durable pest control (e.g. opportunities for previously minor pathogens/pests to emerge). In at least one case (Bt resistance in crop pests), there has been explicit development of management approaches based on evolutionary principles. New opportunities for evolutionary analysis also arise from recent advances in our ability to quickly characterise patterns of soil biodiversity (e.g. next generation DNA sequencing, microarrays) at multiple spatial scales and with rigorous replication – the necessary foundation for exposing the cryptic genetic variation that underpins soil community function.

Agriculture is thus the source of diverse selective forces, and modern agriculture – its species and practices, is the outcome of a continuous process of change that has dramatically changed physically and genetically all components of agro-ecosystems. Further advances in the genetic potential of crops and livestock will continue to be dominated by conventional breeding strategies made increasingly efficient by advances in marker technologies. In addition though, the introduction of genes from other species via molecular manipulation (GM technologies) will become increasingly common but generally restricted to introducing changes that are unattainable via conventional approaches. Overall therefore, recognition and application of ecological and evolutionary principles will be an increasingly important part of the overall development and management of agriculture, particularly in the context of climate change (new plants and animals), and the imperative for greater sustainability (shifts in land management). As such, we suggest that biologists might do well to consider agro-ecosystems as useful models for the scientific investigation of evolutionary processes.

Literature cited

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The Development of Agriculture

The development of agricultural about 12,000 years ago changed the way humans lived. They switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to permanent settlements and farming.

Social Studies, World History

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The Farming Revolution Taking root around 12,000 years ago, agriculture triggered such a change in society and the way in which people lived that its development has been dubbed the “ Neolithic Revolution.” Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, followed by humans since their evolution, were swept aside in favor of permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Out of agriculture, cities and civilizations grew, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to meet demand, the global population rocketed—from some five million people 10,000 years ago, to eight billion today.

There was no single factor, or combination of factors, that led people to take up farming in different parts of the world. In the Near East , for example, it’s thought that climatic changes at the end of the last ice age brought seasonal conditions that favored annual plants like wild cereals . Elsewhere, such as in East Asia, increased pressure on natural food resources may have forced people to find homegrown solutions. But whatever the reasons for its independent origins, farming sowed the seeds for the modern age.

Plant Domestication

The wild progenitors of crops including wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), barley ( Hordeum vulgare ), and peas ( Lathyrus oleraceus ) are traced to the Near East region. Cereals were grown in Syria as long as 9,000 years ago, while figs ( Ficus carica ) were cultivated even earlier; prehistoric seedless fruits discovered in the Jordan Valley suggest fig trees were being planted some 11,300 years ago. Though the transition from wild harvesting was gradual, the switch from a nomadic to a settled way of life is marked by the appearance of early Neolithic villages with homes equipped with grinding stones for processing grain.

The origins of rice and millet farming date to the same Neolithic period in China. The world’s oldest known rice paddy fields, discovered in eastern China in 2007, reveal evidence of ancient cultivation techniques such as flood and fire control.

In Mexico, squash cultivation began around 10,000 years ago, but corn ( maize ) had to wait for natural genetic mutations to be selected for in its wild ancestor, teosinte. While maize -like plants derived from teosinte appear to have been cultivated at least 9,000 years ago, the first directly dated corn cob dates only to around 5,500 years ago.

Corn later reached North America, where cultivated sunflowers ( Helianthus annuus ) also started to bloom some 5,000 years ago. This is also when potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) growing in the Andes region of South America began.

Farmed Animals

Cattle ( Bos taurus ), goats ( Capra hircus ), sheep ( Ovis aries ), and pigs ( Sus domesticus ) all have their origins as farmed animals in the so-called Fertile Crescent , a region covering eastern Turkey, Iraq, and southwestern Iran. This region kick-started the Neolithic Revolution. Dates for the domestication of these animals range from between 13,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Genetic studies show that goats and other livestock accompanied the westward spread of agriculture into Europe, helping to revolutionize Stone Age society. While the extent to which farmers themselves migrated west remains a subject of debate, the dramatic impact of dairy farming on Europeans is clearly stamped in their DNA. Prior to the arrival of domestic cattle in Europe, prehistoric populations weren’t able to stomach raw cow milk. But at some point during the spread of farming into southeastern Europe, a mutation occurred for lactose tolerance that increased in frequency through natural selection thanks to the nourishing benefits of milk. Judging from the prevalence of the milk-drinking gene in Europeans today—as high as 90 percent in populations of northern countries such as Sweden—the vast majority are descended from cow herders.

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Related Resources

Food System Primer

• The Food System
• Distribution
• Food & Nutrition
• Food Safety
• Wasted Food
• Food Policy

History of Agriculture

• Industrialization of Agriculture
• Crops & Ecology
• Industrial Food Animal Production
• Food & Climate Change
• Ecological & Urban Agriculture

Agriculture, the cultivation of food and goods through farming, produces the vast majority of the world’s food supply. It is thought to have been practiced sporadically for the past 13,000 years, 1  and widely established for only 7,000 years. 2  In the long view of human history, this is just a flash in the pan compared to the nearly 200,000 years our ancestors spent gathering, hunting, and scavenging in the wild. During its brief history, agriculture has radically transformed human societies and fueled a global population that has grown from 4 million to 7 billion since 10,000 BCE, and is still growing. 3

The road to the present has not been smooth. Resource degradation, rapid population growth, disease, changing climates, and other forces have periodically crippled food supplies, with the poor bearing the brunt of famine. We still face many of the same challenges as our ancestors, in addition to new and even greater threats. To successfully navigate an uncertain future, we can begin by learning from the past.

Dawn of Agriculture

The San are among the first people to have lived in southern Africa, and are one of the few societies that still follow a hunter-gatherer diet. To sustain their lifestyle, San typically spend 12 to 19 hours per week gathering food from the wild—what many might consider a life of leisure. When one San person was asked why he hadn't adopted farming, he replied, "Why should we, when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world? 12 Photo credit: Dietmar Temps, 2010. Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 .

Paleoanthropologists have estimated that the earliest fossil evidence of  Homo sapiens— anatomically modern humans—is roughly 196,000 years old. 4  For the vast majority of the time since our species’ arrival on the evolutionary scene, we acquired food by gathering it from the wild. 1,5  Wild plant-based foods and fungi were important staples in the paleolithic diet, including the wild ancestors of some species that are widely cultivated today. 6  While the ancestral hunt for wild animals is often depicted as an epic conflict against woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, giant elk, and other prehistoric megafauna, early humans also took to foraging for humble insects 7  and scavenging the remains of dead animals. 8

From as early as 11,000 BCE, people began a gradual transition away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward cultivating crops and raising animals for food. The shift to agriculture is believed to have occurred independently in several parts of the world, including northern China, Central America, and the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East that cradled some of the earliest civilizations. 1  By 6000 BCE, most of the farm animals we are familiar with today had been domesticated. 1  By 5000 BCE, agriculture was practiced in every major continent except Australia. 2

Why did people give up hunting and gathering for farming? There are many plausible reasons, all of which likely played some role at different times and across different parts of the world:

• Changes in climate  may have made it too cold or too dry to rely on wild food sources. 1
• Greater population density  may have demanded more food than could be harvested from the wild, and farming provided more food per acre, even if it did require more time and energy. 1,9
• Overhunting  may have helped push woolly mammoths and other megafauna to extinction. 10
• Changing technology , such as domesticated seeds, would have made agriculture a more viable lifestyle. 5,11

Dawn of Civilizations

Grave chamber of an Egyptian public official, circa 1250 BCE.

The plow is believed to have been used as early as 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. Although it brought tremendous gains in short-term productivity, it has also been a major contributor to soil erosion . The loss of fertile topsoil has played a role in the decline of numerous civilizations. 14 Photo: public domain.

For better or for worse, agriculture was a driving force behind the growth of civilizations.

Farming probably involved more work than hunting and gathering, but it is thought to have provided 10 to 100 times more calories per acre. 5  More abundant food supplies could support denser populations, and farming tied people to their land. Small settlements grew into towns, and towns grew into cities. 1

Agriculture produced enough food that people became free to pursue interests other than worrying about what they were going to eat that day. Those who didn’t need to be farmers took on roles as soldiers, priests, administrators, artists, and scholars. As early civilizations began to take shape, political and religious leaders rose up to rule them, creating classes of “haves” and “have-nots.” Whereas hunter-gatherer societies generally viewed resources as belonging to everyone, agriculture led to a system of ownership over land, food, and currency that was not (and is still not) equitably distributed among the people. 1,13

Some have questioned whether moving away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle was in humanity’s best interests, pointing to problems of social inequality, malnutrition, and military conflict that followed the adoption of farming. 1,5  One prominent scientist has even called agriculture the “worst mistake in the history of the human race.” 12 That may be, but given the size and density of human populations today, returning to a paleolithic lifestyle is not a practical option. Hunting, gathering, and farming, however, can complement one another in ways that provide people with a more varied and abundant food supply. People still harvest  aquatic plants and animals  from the sea, for example, and even urban dwellers might find edible berries, greens, and mushrooms in their local park.

Limits to Growth

In the history of civilization … the plowshare has been far more destructive than the sword. – Daniel Hillel 15

Depleted farmland and a changing climate set the stage for periodic famines throughout much of Europe from 1300 to 1850. 19 This print, titled Dance of Death, conveys the fragility of life during this period. Image attributed to Michael Wolgemut, 1493. Public domain.

Agriculture may have made civilizations possible, but it has never been a safeguard against their collapse. Throughout history, increases in agricultural productivity competed against population growth, resource degradation, droughts, changing climates, and other forces that periodically crippled food supplies, with the poor bearing the brunt of famine.

Like many of their modern counterparts, early farmers often worked land in ways that depleted its fertility. Technological innovations like irrigation (circa 6000 BCE) and the plow (circa 3000 BCE) brought enormous gains in productivity, but when used irresponsibly they degraded soil—the very foundation that makes agriculture possible. 16,17 By the beginning of the Common Era, Roman farmers had degraded their soil to the point where they could no longer grow enough food and had to rely on imports from distant Egypt. Rome’s eventual decline is one of many cautionary tales about the importance of sustainable agriculture. 1

By 1798, economist Thomas Malthus warned that unchecked population growth would outpace food production, setting the stage for widespread starvation. 18 History is no stranger to this scenario—depleted farmland and changing climates set the stage for periodic famines throughout much of Europe from 1300 to 1850. 1,19 Malthus’ critics, meanwhile, argued (and still argue) that scientific innovation would keep famine at bay by always finding ways to increase food production. Although his predictions have not played out exactly as he described, Malthus’ work reminds us that the Earth has limited capacity to support human development.

The Population Boom

Application of anhydrous ammonia (synthetic nitrogen) fertilizer at planting time on an Iowa farm.

Synthetic fertilizers are manufactured using a technique that transforms nitrogen in the atmosphere into a form that can be applied to crops (ammonia). These chemicals have dramatically increased short-term crop yields, though not without  consequences . The heavy use of synthetic fertilizers has become a hallmark of industrial agriculture . Photo credit: Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service.

From 1900 to 2011, the global population grew from 1.6 billion to 7 billion. 20 Despite such explosive growth, the world’s farmers produced enough calories in 2012 to feed the entire population, plus an additional 1.6 billion people. 21 Hunger  remains a global crisis, largely because those calories are not evenly distributed across the population, and much of the world’s food supply is  never eaten . Still, the sheer volume of production dwarfs that of earlier generations. What has made such unprecedented abundance possible?

Innovations in food production and distribution have thus far helped food supplies keep pace with population growth. Crops indigenous to the Americas, such as corn, sweet potatoes, and cassava, spread across the globe. The nutrients provided by these prolific crops helped prevent malnutrition, supporting a widespread increase in population over the 18 th  century. 20  Expanded railways, shipping canals, and new machinery for storing and moving grain helped the U.S. become a major exporter of surplus wheat and corn, supplying much of Europe during times of scarcity overseas. 22 Improvements in  refrigerated transport  allowed farmers to ship perishable food over greater distances. 23

Of all the innovations in agriculture, arguably none has been more influential than synthetic fertilizers—chemicals manufactured using a technique that transforms nitrogen in the atmosphere into a form that can be applied to crops (ammonia). First introduced in the early 1900s, synthetic fertilizers dramatically increased crop yields (though not without  consequences ), and have been credited with providing the lion’s share of the world’s food over the 20 th  century. 24 The use of these and other chemicals has become a hallmark of  industrial agriculture .

This list is a starting point for further exploration. Some materials may not reflect the views of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

For teachers

• Industrialization of Agriculture  (lesson plan). FoodSpan. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
• Introduction to the US Food System: Public Health, Environment, and Equity  (textbook). Neff RN (editor). Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. 2014.
• Foodies Unite: Insects Should Be More Food Than Fad . Emma Bryce. The Guardian. 2014.
• Hunter-Gatherer Energetics and Human Obesity  (open access). Pontzer H, Raichlen DA, et al. PLOS One. 2012.
• Are Malthus's Predicted 1798 Food Shortages Coming True?  Jeffrey Sachs. Scientific American. 2008.
• The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race . Jared Diamond. Discover Magazine. 1999.
• Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise in America . Jonathan Rees. 2013.
• Fresh: A Perishable History . Susanne Freidberg. 2009.
• Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations . David Montgomery. 2008.
• The World's Greatest Fix: A History of Nitrogen and Agriculture . G. J. Leigh. 2004.  
• Montgomery D. Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press; 2008.
• Bulliet RW, Crossley PK, Headrick DR, Johnson LL, Hirsch SW. The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, Volume I. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin; 2008.
• Kremer M. Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990. Q J Econ. 1993;108(3):681-716.
• Trinkaus E. Early Modern Humans. Annu Rev Anthropol. 2005;34(1):207-230.
• Diamond J. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York, New York: W. W. Norton and Company; 1999.
• Diamond J. Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature. 2002;418(6898):700-707.
• Raubenheimer D, Rothman JM, Pontzer H, Simpson SJ. Macronutrient contributions of insects to the diets of hunter-gatherers: A geometric analysis. J Hum Evol . 2014;71:70-76.
• Moleón M, Sánchez-Zapata JA, Margalida A, Carrete M, Owen-Smith N, Donázar JA. Humans and Scavengers: The Evolution of Interactions and Ecosystem Services. Bioscience. 2014.
• Vasey D. An Ecological History of Agriculture: 10,000 B.C. - A.D. 10,000. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press; 1992.
• Stuart AJ, Sulerzhitsky LD, Orlova LA, Kuzmin Y V., Lister AM. The latest woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach) in Europe and Asia: A review of the current evidence. Quat Sci Rev. 2002;21(14-15):1559-1569.
• Dow G, Olewiler N, Reed C. The Transition to Agriculture: Climate Reversals, Population Density, and Technical Change. Simon Fraser University; 2005.
• Diamond J. The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race. Discov Mag. 1987:64-66.
• Price TD. Social Inequality at the Foundations of Agriculture. In: Price TD, Feinman G, eds. Foundations of Social Inequality. New York: Platinum Press; 1995.
• Pryor LF. The invention of the plow. Comp Stud Soc Hist. 1985;27(4).
• Hillel D. Out of the Earth: Civilization and the Life of the Soil. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1991.
• Montgomery D. Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press; 2008.
• Cohen JE. People control the growth of nonhuman populations. In: How Many People Can the Earth Support?. New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company; 1995.
• Malthus TR. An Essay on the Principle of Population, Volume 1.; 1798.
• Appleby AB. Epidemics and Famine in the Little Ice Age. J Interdiscip Hist. 2013;10(4).
• Cohen JE. How Many People Can the Earth Support? New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company; 1995.
• U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization. FAOSTAT. 2013. http://faostat3.fao.org/.

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How agriculture and domestication began

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• World History Encyclopedia - Origins of World Agriculture
• Biology LibreTexts - Agriculture
• National Geographic - Agriculture
• Frontiers - Apes and agriculture
• Oregon State University Pressbooks - History and Science of Cultivated Plants - The Origins of Agriculture
• Table Of Contents

Agriculture has no single, simple origin. A wide variety of plants and animals have been independently domesticated at different times and in numerous places. The first agriculture appears to have developed at the closing of the last Pleistocene glacial period, or Ice Age (about 11,700 years ago). At that time temperatures warmed, glaciers melted, sea levels rose, and ecosystems throughout the world reorganized. The changes were more dramatic in temperate regions than in the tropics.

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Although global climate change played a role in the development of agriculture, it does not account for the complex and diverse cultural responses that ensued, the specific timing of the appearance of agricultural communities in different regions, or the specific regional impact of climate change on local environments . By studying populations that did not develop intensive agriculture or certain cultigens, such as wheat and rice , archaeologists narrow the search for causes. For instance, Australian Aborigines and many of the Native American peoples of western North America developed complex methods to manage diverse sets of plants and animals, often including (but not limited to) cultivation . These practices may be representative of activities common in some parts of the world before 15,000 years ago.

Plant and animal management was and is a familiar concept within hunting and gathering cultures , but it took on new dimensions as natural selection and mutation produced phenotypes that were increasingly reliant upon people. Because some resource management practices, such as intensively tending nondomesticated nut-bearing trees, bridge the boundary between foraging and farming, archaeologists investigating agricultural origins generally frame their work in terms of a continuum of subsistence practices.

Notably, agriculture does not appear to have developed in particularly impoverished settings; domestication does not seem to have been a response to food scarcity or deprivation. In fact, quite the opposite appears to be the case. It was once thought that human population pressure was a significant factor in the process, but research indicated by the late 20th century that populations rose significantly only after people had established food production. Instead, it is thought that—at least initially—the new animals and plants that were developed through domestication may have helped to maintain ways of life that emphasized hunting and gathering by providing insurance in lean seasons. When considered in terms of food management, dogs may have been initially domesticated as hunting companions, while meat and milk could be obtained more reliably from herds of sheep , goats , reindeer , or cattle than from their wild counterparts or other game animals. Domestication made resource planning a more predictable exercise in regions that combined extreme seasonal variation and rich natural resource abundance.

Evolution of Agriculture (Timeline): Complete Lesson

• May 10, 2021
• Science Facts

Food. The basic need for survival. An integral part of life. It has existed since the dawn of time, and without it, there would be no you and me.

Early humans did not have it as easy as we have it today for food to be produced. They had to go over a long thousand years to properly comprehend the necessity of food, how to consume it, how to produce, and how to sustain it.

The importance of storing food and regrowing it was understood at a later point in time in human evolution. With the growing population and the rapid diminishing of ready food, the realization hit them, and that’s how the thought of ‘agriculture’ came about.

In the beginning, it was not very refined and not as developed as today. Constant tweakings and nippings throughout lifetimes, generations after generations with the added experience, lead to more complex methods of doing agriculture.

The History of Agriculture

The concept of agriculture has multiple origins from different parts of the world and different continents all together too.

Since there was no form of immediate communication, they could not share their innovations, resulting in varying evidence dates of the initiation of agriculture. The majority of the reports suggest the earliest be from ‘Southwest Asia.’

‘Farming’ was the name given to agriculture in its early days. It started in the ‘Predynastic Period,’ which comes at the end of the ‘Paleolithic Era,’ after 10,000 B.C.

The early menu consisted of ‘semi-solid rachis’ (rachis meaning, the softer or thinner part of a plant, usually between the leaves) and ‘large-sized seeds.’

When 9,500 B.C. came around, there were now 8 significant forms of food divisions. They were – majorly emmer and einkorn wheat, followed by hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chickpeas, and flax. ‘Wheat’ and ‘Barley’ were consumed the most, with ‘Flax’ and ‘Papyrus’ in lower amounts.

There were many forms of ancient agriculture . Some of them being – ‘Sumerian Agriculture’ of Sumer (present day-Iraq), ‘Aztec and Maya Agriculture’ in Mesoamerica (present day-North America), ‘Roman Agriculture’ (present day-Rome), ‘Chinese Agriculture’ (present day-China), and ‘Indian Agriculture.’

When did Agriculture Begin?

If we look at our history, there have always been patterns in which things came about. We just have to take a deeper look into it to decipher the code. The same is in the case of agriculture .

A very vague idea is that some plants and animals started self-domestication at fixed places. In search of food and water, humans began settling down near those areas and thus started civilizing them.

The first noticeable commonly agreed upon proof is ‘The Fertile Crescent,’ also known as ‘Cradle of Civilization,’ claimed to birth the idea of agriculture. Mesopotamia and Levant regions were also part of this Crescent.

The term ‘The Fertile Crescent’ was coined by an archaeologist of the University of Chicago named James Henry Breasted.

He called it so because of its shape on the map. The Crescent is formed by countries of present-day Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Cyprus.

The lesser-known reason is that the humans thought of agriculture as a more efficient way of getting food rather than moving about ‘hunting and gathering.’

What Event Enabled the Evolution of Agriculture

No one event, in particular, enabled the evolution of agriculture . The Earth has since the beginning a developing planet. It has undergone numerous changes regarding time, space, land; earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, temperatures; both extreme hot and cold, water; rainfall, blizzard, hailstorms, tsunamis, cyclones, etc., beyond the comprehension of humans.

These certainly impacted, giving a push to the start of a cascade of changes necessary for its survival. And the aftermath and side-effects may have indirectly influenced certain sudden changes.

The transition of humans from being ‘Hunter-gatherers’ to ‘Agricultures’ is contributed by several factors, but the pieces of evidence are inconclusive or have divergent origins. Two of the major factors are –

• Climate change – Earth was entering into a warmer trend at the end of the last Ice Age.
• Intelligence development in human brains

The shift is also said to have been ‘the Neolithic Period’ in the chronology of agricultural development .

Stages of Evolution of Agriculture

When an idea is conceived in one’s mind, the next course of action is to gather the required tools to perform the concept practically.

And so, the idea of cultivation needed a set of tools for its actual projection. The tools were for them to begin digging the ground, placing the seeds, and then covering them with soil. With development through the many eras, agriculture became just more than the three acts.

Another crucial element to be considered before the initiation of cultivation was ‘irrigation.’ The supply of water is a must for growing crops and thus needed to be channelised in the fields at suitable times and in the right amount. Therefore, simple contraptions were then built to water the pastures at regular intervals.

Now that the problem of water was solved, then comes farming equipment to be utilized.

Let us look at some of the ancient tools, developing to the tools used nowadays.

Ancient Tools

These are very primitive and under-developed compared to modern-day tools, but they were the most advanced in the olden times. Strong and longer durability than today’s tools.

• Stone Age Axe

It consisted of a sharp stone of different sizes and shapes. Initially used by hand, but due to bruising and scraping, a thick wooden stem as a ‘handle’ was tied later. This gave a better grip and safety. It was used to cut wood.

Other materials like iron, copper, or bronze were used instead of wood in the later years or ages.

It was made up of a long wooden stick with a sharper one attached horizontally perpendicular to the first one. It was used to dig the ground and required a tremendous amount of force by the hands.

In the later years or ages, it was tied to animals, and then the animals were made to move forward while dragging the plough along with them, in the process digging the ground.

3. Digging Stick

A long stick, almost the height of a man or maybe longer. It was used to loosen the soil and till it. Sometimes a handle was attached to it for better grip and handling.

Similar to Plough but instead of a sharp end, this has a rectangular flattened head. Inferior to Plough in strength and is used to move less soil than digging the ground.

5. Sickle/Scythe

The Sickle has a short thick handle, with a crescent-shaped stone or metal-based edge, which cuts the crop in one sharp swipe. Scythe is also pretty much the same, but the handle is thinner and longer.

This was used to harvest the end product, i.e., the fully grown plants, and crops.

Modern Tools

Observe how almost all the tools have the word ‘automatic’ before them. Yes. In today’s world, more than half the things work automatically,  without any manual assistance. This has saved time due to their speed and precision and money, because the owners will not have to pay any wages to manual laborers.

• Automatic Harvester

A regular tractor is fixed with the harvester in the front. The tractor is then run over the crop-ready fields, and the harvester harvests them with precision and efficiency. The size of the harvester differs depending upon the area to be harvested.

2. Automatic Row Weeder

Weeds are unwanted plants that grow with the main crop due to the availability of favorable conditions. But these also utilize the nutrients and fertilizers necessary for the growth of the crop. This causes the crops to suffer from malnutrition and stunted growth, the same of which the human consuming it will suffer too.

Therefore, it is mandatory to remove them at regular intervals to avoid poor growth and development of the main crop. The Row Weeder does that same job for us. It removes all the weeds, even the tiniest ones, perfectly and maintains proper rows without mixing them while rooting them out.

3. Automatic Separator

This is mainly used for grains like rice, wheat, barley, jowar, etc., to remove their husks. The separation of husk and the actual edible grain is essential for consumption since husk is harmful.

In the olden days, manual threshing was done to remove these husks, but some still stuck to the grain and caused distaste and upset stomach. This separator is the best solution to the problem. It saves the energy of threshing the dried crops on the floor with immense force.

4. Sprayer Pump

It is very handy and can be used for multi-purposes. Unlike the pre-tech times, where each farmer/cultivator had to sprinkle the crops with pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers using hands and three different batches, this sprayer saves that time.

It has to be simply filled with whatever chemical you want to spray at one time and use it. It can spray all three chemicals in lesser time than one chemical by hand. A good bargain indeed.

5. Seed Drill

This is fixed in front of a regular tractor. The container above the contraption is filled with seeds to be sown. This container is then connected through pipes to the drills at the bottom.

As the tractor moves, the drills drill the ground, creating holes for the seeds flowing from the pipes to fall in each hole and get planted. This saves the time of the farmer/cultivator in the multifold. The time duration for hand-sowing is vastly cut down by using a Seed Drill.

The differences between the ancient tools and the modern tools are pronounced and distinct. It displays the vast spectrum of technology from then to now.

A timeline shows the step-by-step development of agricultural advancements in tools, production time and cost, profit, loss, and much more.

The following flowchart gives an overview of agricultural development over the years.

9000 – 7000 BC

Agriculture was discovered and developed.

7000 – 3000 BC

The variety in food being produced increased along with the introduction of irrigation. Animal rearing had also begun.

3000 BC – 800 AD

Crop rotation had begun, i.e., more than one batch of each crop was produced.

800 – 1500 AD

Inter-state and Inter-country trading of crops was initiated. The crops were now divided into domestic crops like vegetables, commercial crops like coffee, and beans.

1500 AD – 1700 AD

Tools for propagating agriculture had gained attention other than just producing crops, so advancements in tools like ‘fiber separator,’ ‘reaper’ along with fertilizers like ‘superphosphate’ began.

1700 AD – 1900 AD

Experiments by the Scientist Mendel in crops based on Genetics improved their quality. Long-distance shipping was now possible due to the development of inland and ship routes.

1900 AD – 1970 AD

Huge advancements in machinery and productivity. A large number of people took up jobs in the agricultural sector . Advanced scientific methods and techniques were introduced for the analysis of crops.

1970 AD – Present

Technology has taken over every aspect of farming and agriculture. Everything is based on computerized calculations, from the percentage of good crop production to automated fertilizer systems.

Evolution of Agriculture in Insects

Since the dawn of agriculture , it underwent innumerable changes. Along with humans, creatures of all kinds were also affected, either directly or indirectly.

An ecosystem encompasses all, living and nonliving. So, any change in one ecosystem element induces a difference in the elements interconnected with it.

The same happened in the case of the evolution of agriculture in insects . Notably, 3 types of insects also evolved with agriculture – Ants, Termites, and Ambrosia Beetles.

Though these 3 categories of insects are quite different from each other, but fundamentally similar in some characteristics, hinting at convergent evolution (different to one).

Insect farmers are a category of farmers who propagate insects for their by-products. These may include silk or honey from silkworms and honey bees. The problem arises when both the insects and crops are needed to cultivate together.

So, for this, the farmers have taken specific measures to avoid any joint damage. They are –

• Isolating their crop fields from insect breeding grounds.
• Keen monitoring and control of crops to detect early infestations and treat them at the earliest.
• Growing genetically different crops, which does not allow a certain group of insects to infect them.
• Introducing particular microbes in the crops, which cause ‘disease suppression.’

Influence of insects on agriculture has been witnessed for thousands of years. This co-relationship should not be underestimated, and its benefits must be yielded as much as possible.

The Evolution of Agriculture is unlike anything the world has seen or has ever witnessed. The phenomenon was on such a large scale that another one of its kind seems next to impossible to occur.

This evolution has also shown the extent to which humankind can go to get what they want, whether it be for convenience or lack of better quality or aiming for better livelihood.

All this contributes to the only factor of bettering ourselves one day at a time to the next advancement waiting for us to be achieved.

Reference for Images:

Agriculture Timeline – from Robinson Library

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Essay on Agriculture

Updated October 27, 2023

Essay on Agriculture – Introduction

Agriculture is a timeless ancient practice of growing crops or raising animals that started 11,700 years ago. Every day, thanks to the dedication of over 600 million farmers worldwide, we are able to enjoy delicious and healthy meals filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. It is not just farming, it’s the foundation of our existence. Agriculture is the skill of producing food resources that keep us healthy and help us survive. Countries such as China, India, and the United States are among the leading producers of key agricultural goods like wheat, rice, and cotton. In this essay on agriculture, we will explore the essential role of agriculture in feeding and nurturing our world while considering the challenges and opportunities it presents.

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Essay on Agriculture – Evolution

1. birth of farming.

A long time ago, our human ancestors were just hunters and gatherers. They didn’t farm but hunted animals and gathered fruits and plants to eat. Around 11,000 years ago, people found they could plant seeds in the ground and grow plants. This was the birth of farming.

As time passed, farming became more organized. People began to settle in one place, leading to the growth of ancient civilizations, like the Egyptians, who cultivated crops along the Nile River.

2. Evolving Agricultural Tools & Techniques

Agriculture kept evolving with inventions and discoveries. Humans built plows to help with planting and harvesting. The Chinese even developed paper money to make trading farm products easier.

The 20th century of agriculture saw a big shift as scientists developed new crop varieties that could produce more food. Farmers also started using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to protect crops. This period is known as the Green Revolution.

 3. Modern Agriculture

Today, farming has gone high-tech. We have tractors, GPS-guided planting, and even robots to help with farming. Moreover, some farmers use satellites to monitor their fields, experimenting with things like vertical farming (growing crops in stacked trays) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil).

Important Roles of Agriculture

Agriculture is the backbone of our civilization, providing us with the food we eat and many other important resources for our well-being. It is our primary food source that ensures our well-being through diverse crop production, supporting our physical and mental health.

Moreover, it also provides employment and income to millions worldwide, including farmers, laborers, and supply chain workers. Agricultural raw materials help us create useful products. For instance, we use cotton for textiles and plants for biofuels.

Agriculture shapes culture, traditions, and social structures in many societies, deeply influencing our way of life. It also reduces the impact of climate change through sustainable practices. Additionally, it plays a significant role in international trade, fostering economic interdependence by exporting surplus agricultural products.

Top Agricultural Nations Worldwide

These are the top 5 countries that have the highest agricultural exports in the world.

Agriculture Sector’s Growth and Development In India

The agriculture sector in India has played a crucial role in the country’s economic development, employment generation, and food security. Over the years, it has witnessed significant growth, as mentioned below:

• In India, farmers are transitioning from conventional crops like corn and wheat to high-value produce such as organic mangoes in Maharashtra, vibrant floriculture in Gujarat, and export-quality bananas in Andhra Pradesh.
• Farmers use modern farm machinery, high-yield seeds, and modern farming techniques, e.g., the adoption of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties in Punjab, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh.
• India is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agriculture to help farmers optimize crop yield and minimize wastage. For instance, a startup, Cropin, gives farmers real-time data that helps them analyze their produce’s quality.
• The government has built major dams and canals for improved water access, e.g., Bhakra Nangal and Sardar Sarovar Dams.
• Food processing industries have grown substantially, e.g., companies like Amul, ITC, and Patanjali.
• There is MSP (Minimum Support Prices) and crop insurance to ensure minimum crop prices and mitigate other risks.

The Pattern of Agriculture in India

In India, the monsoon determines the prospects of agriculture. Therefore, India’s agriculture is heavily reliant on the monsoon season. The two main agriculture seasons are the kharif and rabi seasons.

1. Kharif Season

This season begins with the arrival of the monsoon. Farmers sow crops when monsoons begin and harvest usually between September and October. Key crops during this season include maize, cotton, rice, sorghum, and soybean. As these crops need a lot of rain to grow well, monsoon is the best season to plant them.

2. Rabi Season

Plants like wheat, pulses, linseed, mustard, oats, and barley grow better during the dry season. Thus, these rabi crops are planted in the winter, around October and November, and typically harvested in spring.

Agriculture’s Negative Impact

Although agriculture is the heart of human survival and growth, improper agricultural practices can have several negative impacts.

1. Deforestation

When nations clear forests for big farms, it harms nature, releases climate-changing carbon, and disturbs ecosystems. For instance, in the Amazon rainforest, large forest areas are still being cleared for soybean farming, leading to deforestation.

2. Water Pollution & Wastage

Farming needs lots of water, which can cause water shortages. Moreover, farm chemicals run into the water, hurting fish and making drinking unsafe. For instance, groundwater depletion in India’s Punjab region due to irrigation is causing water scarcity. Excess fertilizer runoff in the Mississippi River Basin has created a massive “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

3. Health Impacts

Farming generates greenhouse gasses, like the beef industry contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, as cows produce methane during digestion. In addition, chemicals in farming can end up in our food and water, harming our health.

4. Harmful Agricultural Practices

Sometimes, hard farming damages soil, making it less fertile and prone to erosion. For example, intensive corn farming in the US Midwest has led to soil erosion and declining fertility. Additionally, when modern farming takes over, like the change from traditional rice farming to new methods in Japan, it can put at risk special cultural traditions.

Final Thoughts

This essay on agriculture covers how agriculture is an important and dynamic economic sector vital to human society. With an expanding global population and rising consumer demand for food and other goods, agriculture’s importance will only increase.

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The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective . David Rindos

1985, American Anthropologist

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LOA Library (Museum of New Mexico - Museum of Indian Arts and Culture)

F Scott Worman , Heather Richards-Rissetto , Wetherbee Dorshow

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John R Stein

Andy Munro , J. McKim Malville

Sergey Samsonov

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Keith W Kintigh , John Kantner

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jeffery clark , Paul F Reed

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Home / Essay Samples / Science / Agriculture / Cultivating Life: The Evolution and Significance of Agriculture

Cultivating Life: The Evolution and Significance of Agriculture

• Category: Science , Psychology , Health
• Topic: Development , Old Age

Pages: 2 (918 words)

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• Food - We know that all of the foodstuffs which to cal and to keep our selves are the production of agriculture such as milk, meat, seeds, roots, shoots, flowers, and fruits.
• Clothes - Clothes of all major kinds are made from such agricultural products as cotton, wool, jute, and natural silk.
• Shelter - Trunks, wood, and leaves have been from sheltering mankind from ages. Even now the wood is the basic material used in our houses.

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