From the History of Agriculture

Since its development roughly 10,000 years ago, agriculture has expanded vastly in geographical coverage and yields. Throughout this expansion, new technologies and new crops were integrated. Following the domestication of several major crops, plant improvement was painfully slow because people may have remained unaware that humans could make changes in living organisms.

Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers, and pesticides were developed long ago, but have made great strides in the past century. The history of agriculture has played a major role in human history, as agricultural progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change. Division of labor enabled specializations rarely seen in hunter-gatherer cultures are commonplace in societies which practice agriculture. So, too, are arts such as epic literature and monumental architecture, as well as codified legal systems. When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible.

The eight so-called Neolithic founder crops of agriculture appear: first emmer wheat and einkorn wheat, then hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax.

The potato, tomato, pepper, several varieties of bean, tobacco, and several other plants were also developed in the New World, as was extensive terracing of steep hillsides in much of Andean South America.

1. What enabled specializations in societies which practice agriculture?

a) hunter-gatherer cultures; b) division of labor; c) new technologies; d) living organisms.

2. What happened to agriculture during its 10 000 years development?

a) monumental architecture was developed; b) it has expanded in geographical coverage and yields; c) domestication of several crops; d) plant improvement was painfully slow.

3. What plants were also developed in the New World?

a) potato, tomato, pepper, beans and tobacco; b) pears, garlic and onions; c) carrots, beets and tomatoes; d) potatoes, tomatoes and apples.

4. What was the role of agriculture in human history?

a) codified legal systems; b) development of fertilizers; c) it has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change; d) extensive terracing of steep hillsides.

5. What happened when farmers could produce food beyond the needs of their own families?

a) it made the civilization possible; b) founder crops appeared; c) new plants were developed; d) plant improvement became slow.

І. Reading Comprehension Test

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Modern Era of Agriculture

After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred. Key crops involved in this exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, manioc, cocoa bean and tobacco going from the New World to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, spices, coffee, and sugar cane going from the Old World to the New.

The potato became an important staple crop in northern Europe. Since being introduced by Portuguese in the 16th century, maize and manioc have replaced traditional African crops as the continent's most important staple food crops.

By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks and cultivated plants selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the Middle Ages. Although there is a vast and interesting history of crop cultivation before the dawn of the 20th century, there is little question that the work of Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel created the scientific foundation for plant breeding that led to its explosive impact over the past 150 years.

With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible. These advances have led to efficiencies enabling certain modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany, and a few other nations to output volumes of high-quality produce per land unit at what may be the practical limit.

1. What enabled modern farms to output most of high-quality produce in the late 19th and 20th centuries?

a) rise of mechanization; b) speed of plants’ growth; c) Argentina, Israel and Germany; d) scale of farming tasks.

2. What crops went from the New World to the Old after 1492?

a) wheat, spices, coffee and sugar cane; b) tomato, maize, potato, manioc, cocoa bean and tobacco; c) onion, potato, garlic and carrot; d) apples, pears and plums.

3. What crops went from the Old World to the New after 1492?

a) wheat, spices, coffee and sugar cane; b) tomato, maize, potato, manioc, cocoa bean and tobacco; c) onion, potato, garlic and carrot; d) apples, pears and plums.

4. What crop became the most important in northern Europe?

a) wheat; b) maize; c) manioc; d) potato.

5. What crops introduced by Portuguese replaced traditional African crops?

a) maize and manioc; b) potato; c) garlic; d) cucumber.