The True Origin of Agriculture: Credit Goes to the Ants

Gadagkar, Raghavendra (2000) The True Origin of Agriculture: Credit Goes to the Ants. In: Resonance, 5 (2). pp. 76-79.

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Abstract

Human agriculture which is believed to have originated some 10,000 years ago has rightly been considered the most important development in the history of our species. Virtually all the plants which we consume today are derived from cultivars that have been bred and modified by humans for thousands of years. There has also been extensive exchange of cultivated crops from one part of the globe to another. While consuming plants and their products, we tend to forget that the cultivation of coffee originated in Ethiopia, that of tobacco around Mexico, tomato and potato in South America, rice in South East Asia and so on. The impact of agriculture on the further development of human societies has been profound – high rates of population growth, urbanization and economic surpluses all of which were pre-requisites for the development of modern civilization.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Resonance
Publisher:	Indian Academy of Sciences
Additional Information:	Copyright of this artcle belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	05 Jan 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:33
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/9336

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