The earliest civilizations based on intensive agriculture arose near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia (now Iraq and Iran) and along the Nile River in Egypt. New economies were so successful in some areas that cities grew and civilizations developed. Agriculture kept formerly nomadic people near their fields and led to the development of permanent villages. Food surpluses allowed people to work at other tasks unrelated to farming. They could use this extra food when crops failed or trade it for other goods. Agriculture enabled people to produce surplus food. Eventually, people used domesticated animals such as oxen for plowing, pulling, and transportation. Now many of them are also sources of milk, cheese, and butter. Most of these animals had once been hunted for hides and meat. People also domesticated cattle and pigs. Sheep and goats were probably domesticated next. The first domesticated animals were dogs, which were used for hunting. Chinese farmers were cultivating rice as early as 7500 BCE. The first domesticated plant was probably rice or corn. Adapting wild plants and animals for people to use is called domestication. When people began growing crops, they also began herding and breeding wild animals. Scholars are not sure why this shift to farming took place, but it may have occurred because of climate change. By 2,000 years ago, much of the Earth’s population had become dependent on agriculture. About 11,500 years ago, people gradually learned how to grow cereal and root crops, and settled down to a life based on farming. Before agriculture became widespread, people spent most of their lives searching for food-hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants. Start of Agriculture Over centuries, the growth of agriculture contributed to the rise of civilizations. These products, as well as the agricultural methods used, may vary from one part of the world to another. Agriculture also provides wood for construction and paper products. Cotton, wool, and leather are all agricultural products. Agriculture provides most of the world’s food and fabrics. It includes the preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to markets. Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock.
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