origins of agriculture

Introduction
Research techniques
How agriculture and domestication began
- Earliest beginnings
- Early development
  - Southwest Asia
  - The Americas
  - East Asia
  - Europe
Early agricultural societies
- Sumer
- The Nile valley
- Mesoamerica
- South America
- North America
Agriculture in ancient Asia
- China
  - Early history
  - The classical-imperial era
  - Tools and techniques
  - Land use
- Korea
- Japan
- The Indian subcontinent
  - Early historic period
  - The Mughal century (c. 1600 ce)
- Southeast Asia
Improvements in agriculture in the West: 200 bce to 1600 ce
- The Roman epoch: 200 bce to 600 ce
  - The farm
  - Farm implements
  - Cropping systems
  - Harvesting and processing
  - Livestock
- The medieval period: 600 to 1600 ce
  - Agricultural advances
    - Open-field system
    - Plows and plowing
    - Hand tools
    - New lands and crops
  - Agricultural recession
    - The Netherlands
    - England
    - Spain
    - Italy
    - France
    - Germany
Scientific agriculture: the 20th century
- Developments in power: the internal-combustion engine
  - The tractor
  - Unit machinery
    - Grain combine
    - Mechanized equipment for corn
    - Mechanized equipment for cotton
    - Tomato-harvesting equipment
  - Automobiles, trucks, and airplanes
- New crops and techniques
  - New crops
    - The soybean
    - Sorghum
    - The sugar beet
  - New techniques
    - Terracing
    - Irrigation
    - Dry farming
    - Vertical Farming and the Future
- New strains: genetics
  - Early work in genetics
  - Maize, or corn
  - Wheat
  - Rice
  - The Green Revolution
  - Genetic engineering
- Animal breeding
  - Hogs
  - Sheep
  - Beef cattle
  - Artificial breeding
- Electricity in agriculture
  - Electrical cooperatives
  - Modern applications
- Pest and disease control in crops
  - Beginnings of pest control
  - Pesticides as a panacea: 1942–62
  - Integrated control
- Economics, politics, and agriculture

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

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origins of agriculture: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Facts

Also Known As	farming

Photos and Videos

Farm in Saskatchewan

Painting of herdsmen and cattle

Babylonia and Assyria

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Peruvian terraced fields

Terraced rice paddy

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Topics

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Key People

Justus von Liebig

Justus, baron von Liebig

German chemist

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver

American agricultural chemist

Sir Humphry Davy

Sir Humphry Davy

British chemist

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Muḥammad I Askia

Songhai ruler

Pierre-Eugène-Marcellin Berthelot, engraving by Philippe-Auguste Cattelain.

Pierre-Eugène-Marcellin Berthelot

French chemist

“Father of the green revolution” in India

M.S. Swaminathan

Indian scientist

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Arthur Young

English writer

Matthew, Patrick

Patrick Matthew

Scottish landowner and agriculturalist

Ben Tillman

Ben Tillman

American politician

Henry A. Wallace

Henry A. Wallace

vice president of United States

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David Dickson

American farmer and writer

David Fairchild

David Fairchild

American botanist

François-Alexandre-Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt

François-Alexandre-Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt

French educator

Ruffin, Edmund

Edmund Ruffin

American scientist

Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez

American labor leader

John Deere

John Deere

American manufacturer

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Pinhas Lavon

Israeli politician

Brain Trust: Rexford G. Tugwell

Rexford Guy Tugwell

American economist

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Billy Carter

American farmer and businessman

Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon

Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett

British agriculturalist