2. History of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources
Lesson 1.2
History of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources

3. Lesson Outcomes
Describe advancements made in agricultural production systems since 10,000 BCE
Understand the role of increasing global population on the agricultural industry
Analyze the impact of inventions and new technology on agriculture throughout history
Everett Historical

4. Lesson Outcomes
Compare and contrast agriculture systems of the past to those of the present
Speculate on new advances that will be needed by agriculture to meet global demands
Everett Historical

5. The Birthplace of Agriculture
The Fertile Crescent is often cited to be the birthplace of agriculture
As nomadic tribes settled this region, there was a shift to agrarian civilizations
Image: map of Fertile Crescent.
Points of discussion:
The Fertile Crescent extends from the eastern part of the Mediterranean to the lower Zagros Mountains in Iraq and Iran.
As the climate changed around 10,000 BCE, the land in this area became more suitable for growing crops.
Nomadic tribes began settling in this region, causing the shift to agrarian civilization.
Many anthropologists believe the movement of these tribes from a nomadic to agrarian society was the largest single factor in developing the modern world.
Terms to define: nomadic tribe (group that travels from place to place, hunting available food sources); agrarian civilization (those based in agricultural production).
Robert Simmon/NASA

6. The Shift to an Agrarian Society
The shift to an agrarian society had definitive impact on human civilization
Social
Government
Property ownership
Villages and cities
Larger communities
Business concepts
Water control
Metal working
Points of discussion: The development of agrarian societies allowed people to:
Develop more complex social organizations (leadership, familial, marriage)
Formulate methods for governing people and resources
Develop concepts of property ownership
Build permanent villages and cities
Build larger communities
Establish business concepts
Develop methods of water control through irrigation
Develop metal working techniques

7. Plant and Animal Domestication
Domestication is the process of humans changing a plant or animal from its wild form to a domesticated form for the benefit of humans
Image: fig tree (one of the earliest plants domesticated by humans).
cycnoclub/Shutterstock.com

8. Domesticated versus Wild
To be considered domesticated, a plant or animal must differ from its wild variety in five ways
Can you list the five ways?
Points of discussion: Ask students if they know the five ways in which a plant or animal must differ from its wild counterpart in order to be domesticated. The five points are listed below and on the following slide.
(1) structural difference (2) behavioral difference (3) rely on humans for sustenance (4) reproduction subject to human control (5) clear purpose for humans to use and cultivate the organism

9. Domesticated versus Wild
Structural difference
Behavioral difference
Rely on humans for sustenance
Reproduction subject to human control
Clear purpose for humans to use and cultivate the organism

10. Domesticated versus Wild
Images: domestic pig in show ring; wild hog.
Ask students to identify ways in which the swine differ physically.
Ask students how their behavior differs.
G and L Showpigs; KOO/Shutterstock.com
How do the swine differ?

11. Early Plant Domestication
Image: chart listing plant, region, and date of domestication.
Points of discussion:
Most experts believe that fig trees, wheat, and millet were the first domesticated crops.

12. Early Animal Domestication
Image: chart listing animal, region, and date of domestication.
Points of discussion:
Domestication of animals occurred at roughly the same time as the earliest crop domestication, with one exception, the dog.
Most anthropologists agree that the dog was domesticated as early as 30,000 BCE.
Evidence suggests nomadic tribes kept dogs with them for protection, hunting, and companionship.
Livestock animals were domesticated as humans moved into a more civilized agrarian society.

13. Early Agriculture: Fertile Crescent
Successful farming gave rise to some of the largest civilizations recorded in ancient history, including that of the ancient Egyptians
Image: Egyptian farm field on the Nile.
Repina Valeriya/Shutterstock.com

14. Early Agriculture: East Asia
Agriculture was driven largely by desire for products produced in Asia by countries in the Middle East and Asia
Image: terraced rice fields.
John Bill/Shutterstock.com

15. Early Agriculture: Europe
800 ADE and 1400 ADE
Feudal system: landowners would lease land, along with supplies, to a farmer in exchange for the payment of taxes and goods as rent
Image: farmers’ rents due (circa XV century).
Igor Plotnikov/Shutterstock.com

16. Early Agriculture: Central America
Agricultural advances were the driving forces behind the success of ancient Mayan, Aztec, and Inca civilizations
Image: landscape of farms, fields, and mountains of Chiapas, Mexico (in Ocosingo by Tonina archaeological site).
Svetlana Bykova/Shutterstock.com

17. Early Agriculture: South America
Specialized production of crops such as sugar cane and coffee were important when European settlers first visited these regions
Images: (left) coffee beans; (right) sugar cane.
krutar/Shutterstock.com; lzf/Shutterstock.com

18. Early Agriculture: North America
Native Americans were the first to widely develop agriculture systems
Image: maize or “Indian” corn.
Points of discussion:
Agrarian tribes cultivated crops such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and tomatoes.
Many tribes were also hunters and gatherers.
Matteo Festi/Shutterstock.com

19. Settlers in the New World
Many of the earliest European settlers came to North America with little or no agricultural experience
Without assistance and education from Native Americans, the settlers would have likely perished due to starvation

20. Post Civil War Agriculture
Sharecropping: landowner provided the use of arable land to a farmer in exchange for a share of the crop produced
Indentured servitude: a person is indebted to someone and required to work for that person until their debt is paid
Discuss the impacts sharecropping and indentured servitude have had on North American agriculture.
Ask students if these labor systems are still in use in the United States or in other parts of the world.

21. The Dust Bowl
1930‒1936
Mismanagement of cropland led to massive dust storms through the Midwest
Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congress

22. The Green Revolution 1940 through the late 1960s
Focused on developing technology to increase agricultural production on a worldwide scale
uchschen/Shutterstock.com

23. Legislation & Agricultural Education
Morril Act of 1862
Homestead Act of 1862
Hatch Act of 1887
Smith-Lever Act of 1914
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917
Points of discussion: legislative acts that influenced modern agricultural education
Morril Act (1862): this act set aside land in every state for college level education in agriculture (land grant institutions).
Homestead Act (1862): allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land in a designated area and earn ownership rights by fencing it, digging a well, plowing ten acres for agricultural production, building a house, and living there. This act had a large impact on western expansion in the United States.
Hatch Act (1887): setup of agricultural experiment stations. These stations were developed for regional research in agricultural commodities.
Smith-Lever Act (1914): federal funding for outreach education for land grant institutions (still in place today in the form of cooperative extension programs).
Smith-Hughes Act (1917): federal funding for agricultural education prior to graduation from high school (essentially started high school agricultural education).

24. Inventions That Changed Agriculture
Each new technology affects every aspect of agricultural production
Image: moldboard plow (made the task of plowing the prairie easier and faster).
New inventions and new technology affect every aspect of agricultural production; from the seeds planted to the amount of labor required to harvest and process commodities.
Weldon Schloneger/Shutterstock.com

25. Inventions That Changed Agriculture
Cotton gin—Eli Whitney, 1793
Mechanical reaper—Cyrus McCormick, 1837
Steel plow—John Deere, 1837
Image: horse-drawn reaper.
Points of discussion:
Cotton gin: effectively removed seeds from cotton fibers; cleaned 50 times more cotton than a worker could by hand.
Mechanical reaper: horse-drawn harvesting machine that reduced harvesting time allowing a massive increase in the amount of grains planted each year.
Steel plow: prior to the steel plow, farmers would have to stop and clean the dense soil off their cast iron plows with a wooden paddle; the steel plow decreased downtime and increased the speed with which the tough Midwestern soil could be turned.
Ask students to identify other important inventions that revolutionized agriculture.
Hein Nouwens/Shutterstock.com

26. Inventions That Changed Agriculture
Steam tractor—first engine driven labor, 1868
Barbed wire—Joseph Glidden, 1874
General purpose tractor—International Harvester, 1924
Image: early steam tractor.
Points of discussion:
Steam tractors: led to the decreased use of draft animals and the search for other more practical power sources.
Barbed wire: allowed ranchers to keep their cattle in managed pastures.
General purpose tractor: first widely available tractor; cost effective for the average farmer and replaced the majority of dependence on draft animals for farm labor.
pwrmc/Shutterstock.com

27. Inventions That Changed Agriculture
Satellite technology
Precision agriculture is the method of managing agricultural land with the assistance of computer or satellite information
Image: GPS-guided tractor planting potatoes.
Global positioning system (GPS) technology allows farmers to use precision agriculture techniques.
Denton Rumsey/Shutterstock.com

28. Inventions That Changed Agriculture
Biotechnology is the use of scientific modification to the genetic material of living cells in order to produce new substances or functions
In what ways has biotechnology changed agriculture?
The first biotechnology crop approved for human consumption was the Flavrsavr Tomato in 1994.