The development of agriculture has been a fundamental part of the march of civilization. It is an ongoing challenge, for as long as population growth continues, mankind will need to improve agricultural production.

The agricultural revolution is actually a series of four major advances, closely linked with other key historical periods. The first, the Neolithic or New Stone Age, marks the beginning of sedentary (settled) farming. Much of this history is lost in antiquity, dating back perhaps 10,000 years or more. Still, humans owe an enormous debt to those early pioneers who so painstakingly nourished the best of each year's crop. Archaeologists have found corn cobs a mere 2 in (5.1 cm) long, so different from today's giant ears.

The second major advance came as a result of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the New World. Isolation had fostered the development of two completely independent agricultural systems in the New...