The origins of agriculture

For most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers. Then, about 10,000

years ago, we began to domesticate plants and animals as a way to make our
food supply more accessible and predictable. In many ways, the birth of
agriculture can be defined as the moment we stopped chasing our food and
started raising it.
As humans have advanced agriculture, agriculture has reshaped human
civilization. For the most part, these changes have been good ones. However, as
we enter a new era of human history, agriculture faces new challenges and new
responsibilities.
Without a time machine, it is impossible to know the exact date on which the
first human held a seed in his or her hand and thought: If I plant this in the
ground, Ill know exactly where to find food in a few months.
What we do know is that sometime around 8,500 BC, humans in the Fertile
Crescent (an area that stretches through modern-day Egypt, Israel, Turkey and
Iraq) slowly started to plant grains, instead of gathering them in the wild.
By 7,000 BC, they also began to domesticate animals such as sheep, pigs and
goats. A thousand years later, they domesticated cattle.
Before the advent of agriculture, humans were nomadic, traveling constantly in
search of wild animals and grain. With the rise of agriculture as a predictable,
centralized source of food, they suddenly had an incentive to stay put. Cities
began to form.
In this way, agriculture began to change not only the human diet, but
human civilization as well.

Gradual advancement
Over the next 8,500 years, agriculture evolved relatively slowly. Through trial
and error, farmers around the world began to breed better plants.
They naturally noticed that not all plants within a species were the same. Some
grew larger, tasted better or were easier to grind into meal. They simply began
to save seeds from the best plants and sow them for the next years harvest.
Over hundreds of generations, this led to the transformation of wild plants into
the larger, tastier grains and vegetables we know today.
During the Bronze and Iron Ages, stronger, more efficient metal tools replaced
stone and wooden tools. However, farming remained a time- and labor-intensive
pursuit that involved nearly 80% of the worlds population.

The agricultural revolution

From 800 to 1400 A.D., the tools of farming remained essentially unchanged.
The early colonists in North America used plows that were no different or better
than the plows used during the Roman Empire.
Then suddenly, during the 18th and 19th centuries, agricultural innovation
exploded. Plow design was improved and an Englishman named Jethro Tull
invented the worlds first seed drill, a device that allowed seeds to be planted
quickly in neat, straight rows. Horse-drawn, mechanized harvesting equipment
like Cyrus McCormicks reaperquickly followed.
Farmers could now plant and harvest in a fraction of the time is used to take
them. Agricultural productivity soared.

Industrialization
During the 20th century, gasoline-powered machines began to replace
traditional, horse-drawn equipment. This, combined with advancements in
fertilizer and pesticide technology after World War II, allowed agricultural
productivity to take another leap forward.
The new technological efficiencies meant farmers could manage more land. Over
time, this led to fewer, larger farms. For developed countries, it also led to a shift
in the labor force. In the United States, for example, the percentage of the
workforce engaged in farming dropped from 40% (in 1900), to just 2% (in 2000).
Because fewer of us lived on farms, it became easier to forget how crops were
grown, processed and shipped. In the more developed countries, at least, food
became an available, affordable commodity that came from somewhere else.

Post-industrialization
Between 1900 and 2012, the worlds population grew from 1.6 billion to more
than 7 billion. In 1700, only 7% of the earths surface was used for agriculture.
Today it is more than 40%. Only a portion the land that is left is currently
suitable for growing crops.
Clearly, agriculture is at a crossroads. The world needs to produce more food
than ever before, while conserving the limited resources we have available.
Where we go from here will require the ingenuity and cooperation of farmers,
companies, governments, universities and citizens alike.

Our biggest environmental footprint

By some estimates, agriculture currently uses 60% of the arable land on planet
Earth. It also uses 70% of our fresh water.
There are different opinions about how agriculture can meet the needs of a
growing population. However, one thing is clear: if we have to double our food
production in the next few decades, well have to get more efficientits

mathematically impossible to double the amount of land and water we already

use.

Agriculture and climate change

As a society, we are just beginning to feel the impacts of climate change. Some
effects of agriculturesuch as the greenhouse gases produced by farm
machinery and the production of fertilizerare contributing factors. And of
course, agriculture itself can suffer from the effects of climate change.
Agriculture needs to adapt to changing conditions and use farming techniques
that reduce the impact of our changing climate.

Water issues
In addition to rising global temperatures, erratic precipitation patternstoo much
in some areas, not enough in othersare causing new challenges for farmers.
Due to glacial melting, some areas have lost, or are in danger of losing, their
supply of freshwater for irrigation.

Deforestation and biodiversity

Another complexity in the agricultural and environmental cycle is the role of
deforestation.
A leading cause of deforestation is the need to clear new land for cattle grazing
and crop production. In many parts of the world, this deforestation is happening
in areas that are rich in biodiversity, such as rainforests.
Not only does this put additional pressure on important plant and animal species,
the elimination of thousands of acres of trees reduces the ability of the Earth to
trap carbon. More carbon in the atmosphere can intensify the effects of climate
change, increasing the potential negative effects on crop production.

A complicated cycle
The relationship between agriculture and climate change is complex. Just as
agriculture is searching for ways to dramatically increase food production, the
effects of climate change are making production increases more difficult.