Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1.1
Wild flower
meadow Guernsey, channel
Islands
vital. Few people have achieved this more eloquently and effectively than Sir David
Attenborough with his television series “The Private Life of Plants” (
1995
).
The Development of People and Plant Interactions
The Neolithic people, 10,000 years ago were consumers of plants as they followed
animal herds. They gathered wild plants in season for food, clothing, shelter and
medicine (Solecki et al.
2004
; Janick
2014
). Later these folk developed into small
family groups with more permanent settlements leading to the first stages of eco-
nomic and social structure involving the early stages of horticulture, the intensive
cultivation of plants. As permanent settlements grew crop surpluses were created.
This released some people from the routine of horticulture practices to take on a
wider range of roles and responsibilities in the community such as trade, education,
literature and government.
Permanent settlements began emerging in about 2,800BC in the river valleys of
the Tigris-Euphrates, Indus and Nile. They developed orchards, vineyards and veg-
etable growing enterprises, as well as formal and semi-formal gardens (Singer et al.
1954
; Janick
2002
). Early civilizations encouraged the broader appreciation of horti-
culture as with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon once the initial need for a food sup-
ply had been satisfied. This provided trees for food, fibre and shade (Anon
2013b
).
Some of the early Kings of Assyria used the land adjacent to the Upper River Tigris
for parkland intended for rest and relaxation. Researchers such as Janick (
2008
,
2014
), Sansavini (
2014
), Warrington and Janick (
2014
), describe the development
of cropping enterprises and care for the environment in the ancient civilizations of
Sumeria, Egypt, Greece, China, India, and Italy. These civilizations exploited the
