Agriculture in the Middle Ages
by
Lance Williams
During the Middle Ages, Muslim farmers in North Africa and the Near East developed and disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on hydraulic and hydrostatic principles, the use of machines such as norias, and the use of water raising machines, dams, and reservoirs. Muslims also wrote location-specific Farming manual
Agriculture Origins
by
Lance Williams
Developed independently by geographically distant populations, evidence suggests that agriculture first appeared in Southwest Asia, in the Fertile Crescent area of Mesopotamia. Around 9,500 B.C., farmers first began to select and cultivate food plants with specific characteristics. Though there is evidence of earlier use of wild cereals, it wasn't
Crop Improvement
by
Lance Williams
Domestication of plants is done in order to increase yield, improve disease resistance and drought tolerance, ease harvest and to improve the taste and nutritional value and many other characteristics. Centuries of careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant breeders use greenhouses and othe
Agriculture
by
Lance Williams
Agriculture (a term which encompasses farming) is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals.
Agri is from Latin ager, meaning "a field", and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning "cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal reading of the English word yields
Other Categories
