Abstract
Human history provides the foundation for modern agricultural theory. It started with the first agricultural revolution some 10,000 years ago when a few of our early ancestors realized that hunting and gathering was not the most efficient way to put food “on the table.” From the numerous plants and animals around them, they selected a very limited number of crop varieties to cultivate and a few animals to domesticate. In doing so, they were better able to meet their food requirements. Their choices predetermined much of the human diet, even to the present day. By trial and error, the first elements of the science of agriculture were born.
Grant us shall know a common faith that man bread and peace….
from a prayer by Stephen Vincent Benet
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
A.I.D. Human Population Doubling Time. 7000 BC to 2023 AD. Science and Technology Directorate for Population, 1987.
Ehrlich, Paul R. The Population Bomb. Ballantine Books, 1968, p. xi.
FAQ Production Yearbook, various years
FAQ at Work, October/November 1986, p. 2.
FAO Agricultural Inputs in Developing Countries 1960–79. World Bank, 1982.
Johnson, Lyndon B.President’s Science Advisory Committee,Food vs. People. Excerpts from “The World Food Problem,” p. 3.
Mellors, John W “Agriculture on the Road to Industrialization.”Development Strategies Reconsidered, edited by John P. Lewis and Valeriana Kallab. Overseas Development Council, published by Transaction Books, 1986, pp. 67–89.
Paddock, William and Paul. Famine – 1975. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, Ltd., 1966, p. 9.
Revelle, Roger .Symposium on the Prospects of the World Food Supply. National Academy of Sciences, 1966, p. 26.
Sauvy, A. Humanity and Subsistence. Annales Nestle, 1961, pp. 29–30.
United States Technical Cooperation Congressional Presentation 1958, various country data.
USDA. World Indices of Agricultural and Food Production, 1981, various pages.
USDA . Economic Research Service, China. Outlook and Situation Report, July 1985, p. 5.
World Bank. World Development Report 1984, pp. 192–193.
Sen, A. K. Poverty and Famine: An Essay in Entitlement. London: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Valdes, A., and Zietz, J. Agricultural Protection in OECD Countries:Its Cost to Less-Developed Countries,IFPRI, 1983.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brady, N.C. (1989). Theory and Practice in World Agriculture. In: DeGregori, T.R. (eds) Development Economics: Theory, Practice, and Prospects. Recent Economic Thought Series, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1077-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1077-5_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6974-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1077-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive