Significant Periods in Agriculture History

I. Pre-Historic Agriculture
II. Historical Agriculture through the Roman Period
III. Feudal Agriculture
IV. Scientific Agriculture
V. Industrial Agriculture
VI. Modern Agriculture (Economic and Ecological)

Period I: Pre-historic Agriculture (Neolithic Revolution)

8000 B. C. End of the nomadic hunter-gatherers. Agriculture arises with crop cultivation and
animal domestication. In Southwestern Asia (Fertile Crescent) wheat and barley
were cultivated, and sheep and goats were domesticated.
7000 B. C. Grain agriculture developed in Egypt.
6500 B. C. Cattle were domesticated in Greece.
6000 B. C. The Huang (Yellow) River Valley was an area of early farming in northern China.
Millet was a staple crop there.
5500 B. C. Rice, which may have originated in India, was cultivated throughout much of Asia.
5000 B. C. In Mesopotamia, simple irrigation began and led to increased agricultural
production, eventually contributing to the rise of cities.
3500 B. C. Agriculture developed in parts of the Americas. Domesticated crops included
beans, corn (maize), cassavas, squashes, potatoes, and peppers, Mexico has
widespread corn production (7300 B. C. evidence of maize domestication,
Science Daily 2007). Llamas were domesticated in South America. The animals
were used as beasts of burden and as sources of wool and meat in some Andean
areas.
3000 B. C. The water buffalo was domesticated in India and became an important draft
animal. In Egypt, irrigation became complexthe Nile River was placed with dams
to increase water control.
2500 B. C. Grain agriculture formed the basis of the Harappan civilization in the Indus River
Valley in present day Pakistan and India.
Period II: Historical Agriculture through the Roman Period
1000 B. C. Many modern agricultural practices were implemented: (a) manure was used as
fertilizer; (b) animal husbandry was vital; and (c) wooden plow was common.
400 B.C. Evidence of iron plow in China.
Period III: Feudal Agriculture
500 A. D. Crop rotation in China.
800 A. D. In Europe, villagers farmed open-field system of planting, land was divided into
two or three large fields, and crops were rotated in each field yearly, with one field
left unplanted, sharing plows and other tools.
1400 A. D. Crop rotation with legumes is widespread in Europe.
1600 A. D. Improvements in agricultural technology in England.
Period IV: Scientific Agriculture
1600 Exploration between the new and old worlds with explorers introducing plants and
agricultural products from Asia and the Americas into Europe. Coffee, tea, and
indigo were carried back from Asia. Potatoes, tomatoes, corn (maize), and beans
were among the plants brought from the Americas. Some of these plants
expanded people's diets in parts of Europe.
Early 1700s New crop rotation methods evolved in Europe's Low Countries and in England,
improving previous systems. Charles Townshend popularized a four-field system
in Norfolk County, England. He found that turnips could be rotated with wheat,
barley, clover, and ryegrass to make soil more fertile and increase yields.
1701 Jethro Tull introduced the seed drill to English farmers. The device, which cut
furrows and dropped in seeds, ended the slow, laborious task of sowing seeds by
hand for many people.
Late 1700s In England, Robert Bakewell pioneered the selective breeding of cattle and sheep
to produce meatier animals. European societies saw stagnant/falling yields; high
prices and widespread concern about food availability.
1793 In the United States, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that separated
fiber from seed much more quickly than people could do it by hand.
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Significant Periods in Agriculture History
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 Population increases exponentially; food supplies increase arithmetically equals
1798
famine Thomas Malthus
1800 First simple threshing machine, horse-drawn hoes, seed drill (America) came into
use.
1819 to 1825 U.S. food canning industry established.
1825 World population reaches one billion people.
1834 In the United States, the first practical reaper, or grain harvesting machine, was
patented by Cyrus McCormick.
1837 In the United States, John Deere patented the steel plow. It was stronger, sharper,
and more efficient than wooden or iron plows. Heavy damp soil did not stick to it
as readily.
1842 In England, Sir John Bennet Lawes founded the first factory to manufacture
superphosphate. This marked the beginning of the chemical fertilizer industry.
1850-1900 Crop yields are sufficient to provide exports. Population of industrialized nations
grows from 500 to 800 million.
1850s to Early Railroad and steamship lines were expanded, opening up new markets. Improved
1900s methods of refrigeration and canning made possible the long distance shipping of
perishable agricultural products.
1866 The results of Gregor Mendel's studies in heredity were published in Austria. In
experiments with pea plants, Mendel learned how traits were passed from one
generation to the next. His work paved the way for improving crops through
genetics.
1881 Hybridized corn produced.
Early 1890s The first gasoline powered tractors were built. They gradually replaced steam-
powered tractors and draft animals in many parts of the world.
1890s The combine harvester, which combined the cutting and threshing of grain crops,
came into widespread use in California. It gradually spread to other western states.
The combine reduced the amount of labor needed to harvest one hectare of wheat
from 37 to 6.25 man-hours.
1900 Land becomes limiting factor in agricultural expansion.
1920 Haber-Bosch process allows nitrogen fertilizers to be produced synthetically.
1920s Better nutrition, disease control measures, and breeding practices greatly
improved livestock production in many countries.
Late 1920s Scientists improved the seeds from which farmers grew corn. The best qualities
of several kinds of seeds were combined. Fertilizers helped farmers produce more
from each plant.
1927 World population reached two billion.
1935 The U.S. Rural Electrification Administration was established. Electricity became
more readily available in rural areas.
1939 DDT was introduced, marking the beginning of agriculture's heavy use of chemical
pesticides in developing countries.
NB: The U.S. banned DDT in 1972 because it was harming the environment.
1940s Breeding programs founded to develop high- yielding hybrids of different cereals.
Period V: Industrial Agriculture
1945 to about Machines and increased productivity in industrialized countries sharply reduced
1970 the number of people working in agriculture. Through scientific advances and
improved management techniques, farmers produced more food than ever before.
Late 1950s Anhydrous ammonia increasingly used as cheap source of nitrogen, boosting
yields.
1950s to 1960s Several developing countries, such as India and the Philippines, experienced the
green revolution. High yield grains were introduced, greatly increasing production
and local supplies.
1960 Beginning of the Green Revolution. Farms continue to decrease in number and
increase in size. World population reached three billion.
Industrial methods in agriculture well established in U.S. and other Western
nations.
Mechanized methods of farming and food production became the norm.
Animal agriculture industry begins, raising large numbers of animals confined
in crowded indoor facilities.
The Green Revolution:
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 Planned international effort to eliminate hunger by improving crop performance.
Norman Borlaug considered the father of the Green Revolution, won the 1970
Nobel Peace Prize.
Increased food production more than 1000% in some places.
Led to increased costs of production and negative environmental impacts.
1962 Silent Spring, by U.S. biologist Rachel Carson, warns of dangers to wildlife from
indiscriminate use of persistent pesticides, such as DDT. The book becomes a
bestseller.
Period VI: Modern Agriculture (Economic and Ecological)
1970 Earth Day is celebrated for the first time.
1970s No tillage agriculture popularized.
1971 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) organized to
fund regional research institutes in developing countries
1973 Fifty farmers organize California Certified Organic Farmers.
1970s to Researchers in California first spliced a gene from one organism into another, and
present the age of genetic engineering began. Genetic engineering offers the possibility of
making plants and animals hardier, more resistant to disease, and more
productive.
1980 The first American patent for a genetically engineered organism, a bacterium used
to clean up oil spills, is granted.
Early 1980s In developed countries, farmers began using computers to keep farm accounts, to
monitor crop prices and weather conditions, to help decide when to irrigate and
plant, and to automate the application of fertilizers and pesticides.
1989 After several slow years, the sale of farm equipment rebounds; more farmers
begin to use low input sustainable agriculture (LISA) techniques to reduce
chemical applications
1990s Sir Albert Howard, proponent of organic farming argued that the overuse of
pesticides and synthetic fertilizers damages the long-term fertility of the soil.
1994 FDA grants first approval for a whole food produced through biotechnology, the
FLAVRSAVR tomato. Farm Bureau celebrates its 75th anniversary. U.S.
Congress approves General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), helping
liberalize world trade.
1997 The first weed and insectresistant biotech crops soybeans and cottonare
available commercially.
2000s Plants have been used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, bioplastics, and
pharmaceuticals.

Historical Land Use and Development

Wendell Berry
stated that How we eat
determines to a
considerable extent how
the world is used. The
degree of changes
agriculture brought to the
world explains what
humanity ate and how the
world population grew.
Figure 1 articulates the
periods where mans
eating behavior
progressed, from natural
ecosystems by being
hunter-gatherers, to
frontier clearings where
Figure 1. Transition of land use. Adapted from Foley, et al. (2005).
they start settlements and

Agric 22: Intro to Ecological Agriculture (Second Semester 2016-2017)

Significant Periods in Agriculture History
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start putting up small production areas that then eventually became source of income forming small-
scale production farms.
The increase of family size and overall the increase in population numbers greatly influenced
the change in the extent of food production around the globe. Population boom dictated the demand for
food and over time the extent of land use became mostly intended for food production, followed by
urban use, and areas protected and use for recreation, this happening within a short period of time (see
Relevant Historical Developments in Agriculture for population statistics). Small farms became almost
of the same size with natural ecosystems as intensive agriculture progressed.

Agricultural Systems Development

Traditional Farming Rise of Science- Specific Scientific

Rise of Ecoagriculture
Systems Based Farming Advances
Low-yield Industrial farming for Agroecology
production, mainly surplus production Conservation biology
for household Indigenous farming
subsistence, small technology studies
surplus Green Revolution, Landscape ecology
mainly for surplus Molecular biology
High-yield production Population genetics
production, through Systems analysis
unsustainable Economic valuation of
extractive practices environmental services
Remote sensing
High-yield Computer analysis and
production, through modeling
large-scale Agricultural System Ecoagriculture
landscape Innovations
modification
Ecosystem
management, landscape
planning
Organic agriculture
Integrated nutrient
resource management
Multi-functional
agriculture
Natural systems
agriculture
Sustainable agriculture,
forestry, agroforestry
Interaction with Wild Biodiversity
Coexistence or Destruction of wild Protect biodiversity useful Landscapes managed
destruction of wild biodiversity on farms; to farming; Reduce harm both for the production of
biodiversity Set-up of wildlife to wildlife; Learn to co- food and the
reserves apart from exist; Learn to manage conservation of wildlife
farms wildlife; Use biodiversity and ecosystem services
Year 1850 1970 2000 Present
Figure 2. Approaches to wild biodiversity in agricultural systems. Adapted from McNeely and Scherr
(2002).

Agric 22: Intro to Ecological Agriculture (Second Semester 2016-2017)

Significant Periods in Agriculture History
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