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Agriculture: Origins of Agriculture in Brazil

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

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What caused people to cultivate the land? There are at least two main hypotheses, which try to produce an answer to what is regarded as one of the most fascinating issues in our cultural history. The first postulates climate restrictions, while the second defends the gradual shortage of extractive resources imposed by increasing demographic pressure. We ought not to discard either of them and even the combination of both, especially because agriculture emerged in diverse points and times, in a wide variety of environments. The oldest appeared in the “fertile crescent” of the Middle East 10,000 years before the present (BP) and in Mesoamerica 9,000 years BP.

However, whatever the motivations that led to systematic and lasting cultivation of the soils, the agricultural awakening did not emerge quickly. It would have taken thousands of years until we could understand plant reproduction, leading us to imitate the natural process in supervised planting beds.

The first vegetable gardens...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, Business and Accounting, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Professor Luciano Gualberto, 908, 05508-010, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Rafael Feltran-Barbieri

  2. Accounting, Actuarial and Financial Research Institute Foundation - FIPECAFI - São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Rafael Feltran-Barbieri

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  1. Rafael Feltran-Barbieri
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Correspondence to Rafael Feltran-Barbieri .

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  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Helaine Selin

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Feltran-Barbieri, R. (2014). Agriculture: Origins of Agriculture in Brazil. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10217-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10217-3

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Agriculture: Origins of Agriculture in Brazil
    Published:
    05 January 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10217-3

  2. Agriculture: Origins of Agriculture in Brazil
    Published:
    27 November 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10217-2

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    Agriculture: Origins of Agriculture in Brazil
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    11 August 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10217-1

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