5.01 Agricultural Revolutions
Introduction to Agriculture
Geographers study agriculture to better understand how humans produce food. They also consider:
How agriculture shapes population growth and distribution
The effects of agriculture on the development of societies and economies
Early hearths of domestication of plants and animals began in the Fertile Crescent Indus River Valley, Southeast Asia, and Central America.
Patterns of diffusion (e.g. Columbian Exchange and agricultural revolutions) fostered the global spread of various plants and animals.
New technology and increased food production (Second Agricultural Revolution) allowed better diets, longevity, and more jobs in factories.
Agriculture is the descendant of hunting and gathering.
Beginning of Agriculture
Hunter-gatherers gathered food via hunting and fishing and had small nomadic groups due to the scarcity of food resources. They left their region when local resources ran out or when the seasons changed. These factors prevented them from forming complex societies.
Some still hunt and gather today in regions like inner Australia, Africa, South America, the Arctic Circle, and islands in the Indian Ocean.
The First Agricultural Revolution (aka Neolithic Agricultural Revolution)
People gathered plants and dropped seeds, which grew, and they noticed and started to experiment with plants (horticulture).
The earliest cultivation was vegetative planting/root planting, which began in Southeast and South Asia (specifically China) due to their climate and landscape being suitable for agriculture, according to Carl Sauer.
People in Southeast and South Asia were less nomadic because they depended on fishing rather than hunting.
Keepinseed planting formed after vegetative planting/root planting and became the most used and common practice today, originating from the Fertile Crescent.
People who lived in the Fertile Crescent harvested wheat and barley to sustain the population. They later became more selective about which seeds to cultivate.
By choosing seeds from the healthiest and biggest plants, crops grew larger over time, and the rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) acted as irrigation.
As food sources became more stabilized, populations began to settle in the Fertile Crescent region and develop their own communities.
People hunted animals and captured them alive to find out if they could tame them and use them for their own advantage (animal domestication).
It’s undecided when animal domestication as a source of food began, but it is mostly agreed that it started after plant domestication, about 8,000 years ago.
When people became less nomadic, they started to use animals as pets, meat, and for other sources like eggs and milk.
Small and gentle animals were chosen to tame so that they were at less risk of getting hurt by a wild animal.
The species of the domestic animal depended on the region (e.g., camels in the Middle East).
The Spread of Agriculture
Agriculture began in various agricultural hearths, and those hearths’ agricultural practices spread to different parts of the world (physically), usually to another region that had a similar climate type. This is called relocation diffusion.
Columbian Exchange: Europeans colonized North and South America, and agricultural products were exchanged between the Old World and the New World.
Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia): animal domestication
New World (North and South America): plant domestication
The First Revolution: Increased the world's population and allowed people to form more organized societies. There are two types of agriculture — subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture.
Subsistence agriculture: the production of plants and animals for survival
The most common agriculture was until the late 1700s.
Involved the gathering of domesticated animals, rotating the type of crop planted in a specific field, or using fire to clear the land for growing crops.
Commercial agriculture: the production of plants and animals on a large scale for sale
Early technology was developed in the late 1700s and dominated subsistence agriculture.
The Second Revolution: The beginning of the shift from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture during the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s.
New industrial and technological growth led to new devices, which were used for efficiency.
More agricultural innovations fostered the colossal production of agricultural products.
Transportation innovations made it possible to ship goods.
The Third Revolution (the Green Revolution): Changed how farmers practiced agriculture to form modern commercial farming and helped farmers produce higher yields.
Biotechnology increased food processing and more powerful machinery.
Farms not only grow crops, but now they also process and sell them.
The Impact of Agriculture
Population Density: Agriculture allowed for both greater food production and a more stable food supply. People no longer needed to travel from place to place seeking food, so they were able to settle in denser numbers in villages and, later, cities.
Specialization: As food production became more efficient, fewer people could produce enough food to free some individuals from food production. This allowed people to specialize in other jobs.
Governments: Agriculture fostered denser populations and job specialization. Because of this, leaders and social classes formed to organize society. Governments and officials were created to make laws and keep order.
Social Structures: The growth of agricultural production also allowed for the rise of new cultural practices and social structures. Job specialization allowed certain members of society to become priests or other religious figures. Some specialized jobs and trades allowed members of the population to acquire wealth, thus establishing new socioeconomic class systems.