Agriculture
From Almeopedia
| Author: Zerrakhi |
History
Among the first steps towards agriculture on Almea was the domestication of the goat (kapro) by the Elcari around -22000. An opportunistic form of agriculture developed within the next 2000 years.
Agriculture of a kind more familiar to us first flourished by the banks of the Xengi river around -4000. Its invention was prehistoric, and therefore not recorded. However, some disruption to the climate - which tipped the relative merits of gathering or growing crops in favour of the latter - is believed to have been the impetus for its development. Before that, practising agriculture would not have been worth the cost of a more crowded population and less varied diet.
Agriculture lead to the centralisation of population into villages, and to dramatic increases in the size of the population itself, so that groups which practised it soon overwhelmed their gatherer neighbours. Crop-growing was followed by the domestication of animals.
Spread
The practise of agriculture spread to the Monkhayic peoples of Eretald around -2000. By -1360, the north of Ereláe had overtaken the south in the domestication of animals, having domesticated not only the chicken, but also the cow and the pig.
Distribution
Farming is widespread in Ereláe and Arcél, and is practised in both temperate and tropical regions in both continents. Many crops are only grown, to a substantial degree, on either one continent or the other, but some - such as cotton and yams - are grown on both.
For more information on the agriculture of specific regions, see the following articles:
