David A. Cleveland
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520277410
- eISBN:
- 9780520957084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520277410.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
The transition from foraging to agriculture—the Neolithic revolution—began about twelve thousand years ago. It changed three basic human relationships—with other species, the environment, and other ...
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The transition from foraging to agriculture—the Neolithic revolution—began about twelve thousand years ago. It changed three basic human relationships—with other species, the environment, and other humans. Through crop domestication, humans controlled the evolution of other species. Domestication makes plants dependent on humans, necessitating the second change—increased management of ecosystems for crop plants. The third change was in society and culture to support agriculture, leading eventually to cities, occupational specialization, and greater material wealth and social inequity. Subsequent revolutions advanced basic Neolithic changes, including the global spread of agriculture; the increase in fossil energy, manufactured fertilizers, and machinery with the industrial and scientific revolutions; the Green Revolution, which spread industrial agriculture to the Third World; and the biotechnology revolution.Less
The transition from foraging to agriculture—the Neolithic revolution—began about twelve thousand years ago. It changed three basic human relationships—with other species, the environment, and other humans. Through crop domestication, humans controlled the evolution of other species. Domestication makes plants dependent on humans, necessitating the second change—increased management of ecosystems for crop plants. The third change was in society and culture to support agriculture, leading eventually to cities, occupational specialization, and greater material wealth and social inequity. Subsequent revolutions advanced basic Neolithic changes, including the global spread of agriculture; the increase in fossil energy, manufactured fertilizers, and machinery with the industrial and scientific revolutions; the Green Revolution, which spread industrial agriculture to the Third World; and the biotechnology revolution.
Vernon W. Ruttan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199754359
- eISBN:
- 9780190261320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199754359.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
This chapter explores lessons relevant to the controversy surrounding the biotechnology revolution. The development and introduction of high-yielding modern varieties (MVs) of wheat, maize, and rice ...
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This chapter explores lessons relevant to the controversy surrounding the biotechnology revolution. The development and introduction of high-yielding modern varieties (MVs) of wheat, maize, and rice in tropical Latin America and Asia during the 1960s and the 1970s was characterized as the Green Revolution. Critics of the Green Revolution argued that the gains in production of MVs would be counterbalanced by losses in equity and the new technology would make the rich richer and the poor poorer.Less
This chapter explores lessons relevant to the controversy surrounding the biotechnology revolution. The development and introduction of high-yielding modern varieties (MVs) of wheat, maize, and rice in tropical Latin America and Asia during the 1960s and the 1970s was characterized as the Green Revolution. Critics of the Green Revolution argued that the gains in production of MVs would be counterbalanced by losses in equity and the new technology would make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
