Crop Evolution

How did the worlds land become

inhabited with plants?

Why did agriculture begin?

Where and when did our agricultural

crops evolve?

What events have molded the genotypes

of our crops since cultivation?

Bacteria

Algae

Liverwort Club Mosses

Ferns

Gymnosperms

Angiosperms

Tracheophytes

(vascular plants)

Bryophytes (non-

vascular plants)

Seeded

Seedless

Angiosperms

Gymnosperms

FernsClub mosses

Mosses

Hornworts

Liverworts

Fresh

water

alga

Time

Period

Event

2,500 m. 1st bacteria

500 m. 1st land plants (fungi & liverwort)

400 m. 1st gymnosperms

200 m. 1st angiosperms, 1st mammals,

dinosaurs rule the world

25 m. Monkeys and apes

3 m. Lucy

1 m. Homo sapiens

Time Scales

Event Date & Time

1st bacteria Jan. 1, 12 midnight

1st land plants Oct. 12, 12 midnight

1st gymnosperms Nov. 27, 9:30 am

1st angiosperms & mammals Dec. 3, 4:45 am

Monkeys and apes Dec. 27, 3:30 pm

Lucy Dec. 31 10:30 am

1st homo sapiens Dec. 31 8:30 pm

1st farmers Dec. 31, 11:05 pm

Why did agriculture begin?

Where were crop plants first grown?

When did all this happen?

Why did humans become farmers and

not remain hunter/foragers?

It was easier to grow food than to find it or catch it.Human labor to collect sorghum in the

Sudan returns 14 kcal for every 1 kcal expended.Traditional hand agriculture growing

sorghum returns 4 kcal for every 1 kcal expended.Mechanized wheat farming returns <2 kcal

for every 1 kcal expended.

The earth had recently come through a mini-iceage.

Mass extinction of large ‘easy to catch’ mammals.

Most settlements were located near large rivers or along the coast line.

Men remained hunters while women became farmers?

Did the earliest farmers grow crops and later domesticated livestock?

Did the earliest farmers grow crops so that they could feed their livestock?

What are the benefits of livestock to mankind?

When Did Crops Evolve

Time

period

Evidence of crop cultivation

> 5,000

years

pea, barley, wheat, maize, millet,

lentil, beans, millet, rice, potato.

1,000 to

5,000

years

Sugar beet, sunflower, soybean,

alfalfa, onion, cotton.

< 1,000

years

rapeseed, coffee, rubber, macademia

nut.

Where did Farming begin?

Where did Farming begin?

barley, wheat,

lentil, pea

.

sugarbeet,

rapeseed

..

rice,

soybean.

millet,

coffee

.

cotton,

rubber

.

.

potato,

maize, bean

.

sunflower

.

alfalfa,

apple

.

.

Macademia

Crop type Near East/

Europe

Asia Africa America Total

Cereals &

Pulses11 5 6 10 32

Veg’s &

Fruit18 21 5 13 57

Other

Crops12 12 8 6 38

Total 41 38 19 29 127

Where Did Crops Evolve

Potato

Solanum tuberosum ssp tuberosum

2n = 4x = 48

Named Solanum

tuberosum by Casper

Banhin in 1596

South American

Indian called the

crop papa. The

name potato comes

from the Caribbean

Aeawak Indian

word batata

Sir Walter Raleigh Elizabeth I

First commercialized in Ireland around 1700’s

Major food source by 1750’s

Potato Blight

Phytophthora infestans

1840’s

English Absentee Landlords

The Real Irish Potato Blight

Why are the world record potato

yields in Idaho and Holland?

How did the potato crop evolve

so quickly?

How did the potato evolve

from this to this is a very short

period of time?

1992

Crop Evolution