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.