IGNOU FST-1 Write a Detailed Account of the Origin of Agriculture and Civilisation.

IGNOU FST-1 Write a detailed account of the origin of agriculture and civilisation. 

Write a detailed account of the origin of agriculture and civilization.

Answer:

In the earliest stages of human society, the human existence revolved around food gathering and hunting. With the increase in population and the difficulty in food gathering and hunting in the cold conditions, the primitive or Stone Age people were forced to adopt a different method of production to survive.  The coming of new alloy in the Bronze Age replaced the stone during this period. This period was in fact, the beginning of a new type of productive activity, namely agriculture. Cultivation, however, marked a break from the primitive era, as human beings stopped being dependent on nature and started to control their livelihood and destiny. From here the transition from the primitive society to agricultural society came about.

There is no historical evidence to tell us exactly how agriculture arose. Cultivation may have arisen without any violent break from food gathering. Probably, the wild grains might have grown in some regions and enough seeds would have scattered around to produce crops worth reaping. The early development of agriculture may have involved first the management of wild grains and other useful plants by removing adjacent weeds. Thus, the process of agriculture might have resulted from the understanding that plants could be grown from seeds and that the crops had some relation to the seasons. And, the availability of water may also have helped this process.

Cultivation necessarily meant permanent or semi-permanent settlements. To cultivate better crops people moved to places that were climatically and soil-wise suitable for crop preparation. These settlements grew into villages, with some community life and leisure. Fast developments took place in those settlements which were established in regions most suitable for cultivation. As a result, the four-great civilization came into existence during this period (4000 B.C., 1500 B.C.). The civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China in the wide river valleys of the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Indus, and the Hwang Ho respectively.

These river valley civilisations came to understand the advantage afforded by the river for food production. Agriculture enabled them to control and manipulate nature to satisfy their needs. As a result, cities came into being and the needs of growing cities led to a spurt in scientific and technical activity adding to their fund of knowledge. The new techniques, in turn, led to better means of production. Thus, agriculture gave birth to civilisations, the rise of cities, social organisations, and growth of science.