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Introduction to Plant Science
AGRI 20 Session 4459
Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources
Santa Rosa Junior College
Yousef R. Zadegan
January 2016
Introduction • A Brief History
• Trends, Issues, & Challenges
Let us talk ‘plant science’
History
• Many plants 150 million years ago were very
similar to those common in our century.
• Many plants no longer exist, and many have changed,
some as a result of climate changes and some as a result
of human neglegance.
History
• Modern man appeared about 28,000 years ago,
and for thousands of years existed without doing
much to change how plants grew.
– Nomadic hunter/gatherers followed herds of animals and gathered plant materials—probably some of the same nuts, grains & fruits we eat today.
• Other plants known today would have also provided shelter.
History
•Modern man began studying plants:
Taste
Health
Fuel
Clothing
Medicine
• Actually, the first farmers were women
•Start of Cultivation: Neolithic Age (7000 –10000 years ago)
History
• About 10,000 years ago humans began
purposeful cultivation of plants, believed to
have started in the Middle East and Africa. – Our agricultural practices have changed the world.
History
•Egypt 3000 B.C.
• Land preparation
• Irrigation
• Pruning
History
•Temple of Queen Hatshepsut- 1500 BC
Advances in farming practices
Fruit and vegetable
gardens
Small domestic gardens
Palace gardens
Temple gardens
Plant and animal gardens
History
•Mesopotamia 3500 B.C.
• Irrigation canals lined with burnt brick and sealed with
asphalt joints
• 10,000 square miles under cultivation-feeding 15,000
• people
• Figs, dates, olives, grapes
Advances in farming practices
History
“Garden of Eden” 36,288 BC •The biblical "garden of God“
•Fruitful, well-watered "plain"
•Mesopotamia vs. Tabriz vs. Armenia
The First Garden in History
•The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Built by Nebuchadnezzar
• 4 acres
• 300 ft high
• How did they water ?
The First Garden in History
•Mesopotamia-Iraq 3500 B.C.
History
•Irrigation system-Qanat
•Persian Gardens: 500 BC-600 AD
The ancient irrigation system
The ancient irrigation system
• By cultivating plants, humans reduced the need
to travel to follow the food supply. – Those who did travel became traders more than gatherers.
• Commerce began when goods from distant
places were transported & sold/traded to a local
population.
– Many of these products were plants or plant
products.
• Along with the goods, ideas about cultivating plants
spread.
History
• As trade increased commercial or urban centers
developed, along with a need to bring in more
food and other plant products from rural areas.
– Urban citizens became less and less aware of how
the plants they used were produced, and the
rural/urban interface developed.
• As plant product demand increased, cultivation
methods developed to help production keep up.
– Some of the earliest included farm implements such
as plows, and planting & harvesting equipment.
History
• Agronomy is the study of field-grown crops
such as wheat, soybeans, corn, forages, and
those used for industrial purposes.
– These require relatively low input during growth,
but need significant processing for uses other than
animal feed.
History
• Horticulture studies crops requiring more
intense, constant care, from planting to
consumer delivery.
– Examples include fruits, vegetables and
ornamentals. • Most can be eaten with little or no processing.
• There are gray areas where the disciplines overlap.
– Tomatoes grown for processing, and turfgrass are examples of crops that can be designated agronomic
or horticultural.
History
• According to classical economics, the price of
commodities results from the balance between
the supply of commodities and the demand for
them.
– Supply should be influenced by availability of
resources and raw materials required for production.
– Demand should be influenced by the value
consumers perceive in the commodity.
– Many people have drawn attention to the mismatch
between ecological and money values.
Trends and Issues Affecting Plant Science
Trends and Issues Affecting Plant Science
• Many people make unwise choices on both sides
of the market relationship.
– In the 1930s, farmers contributed to soil erosion on
their own farms through their crop management
practices.
• The market for tobacco products remains strong after fifty
years of health warnings.
The Dust Bowl
Trends and Issues Affecting Plant Science
• The soil conservation service was born out of
the dust bowl experience.
– Plant science research/education grew from a
perception of a wider public good, obtained by
applying scientific principles to food production.
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