Agriculture began in Eastern Asia because of its good soil and useful local crops. Such places are the highlands of northwest and central India and areas around the banks of the Yellow River in China. Both regions had good natural resources and a climate suitable for farming. Archaeologists have found the remains of several early farming villages in both places.
Central India had grassy uplands suitable for cattle grazing and river banks with rich soil for crops. It was around 7000 B.C. when farming began in this region. Barley was a popular crop, and farmers herded cattle, goats and sheep on the hills. In some places, people gathered together to build villages. One of the first was called Mehrgarh, a cluster of houses by the river Bolan in northwest India. The houses were square or rectangular, and built of mud bricks plastered with mud. The flat roofs were made of reed thatch supported on long wooden poles. Inside, there were several rooms. Thick walls and small windows kept the house warm in winter and cool in summer. The style remained much the same for the next 1,000 years.
Meanwhile, agriculture was developing in China. In China, millet was the favored crop and the pig was the first creature to be domesticated. Chinese farmers quickly learned that their soils needed a rest after a season of cultivation. They developed a method of farming that switched from one field to another so as to allow the land to have a fallow period, in which the land was not sown or plowed. They found that by leaving a long fallow period between periods of growing, the land could be restored. Much later, around 1100 B.C., they began to alternate crops of millet and soy beans. The bean plants brought goodness back to the soil, so that it was less important to have a fallow period.
Allow me to say something about this fallow period. I heard once from my old folks that having the soil rest once every seven years, like what the first farmers do in China (although their fallow period is not seven years), is a good practice ...supposed to be, because like what the Chinese believe before, this is to allow the land to be restored. Sadly, this Chinese practice by the first farmers was gradually not followed because of their discovery of plants' alternation.
In this present time, the reason why plants lack the nutrients that we suppose to benefit is because the soil is already depleted. Add to that are floods, erosion and other nature disasters. Sometimes human's abuse of our Mother Earth, where we get all things we need resulted more problems to man like sickness, calamities, disasters and many more.
We should apply the Law of Nature to have a happy life in this Universe.
Meanwhile, agriculture was developing in China. In China, millet was the favored crop and the pig was the first creature to be domesticated. Chinese farmers quickly learned that their soils needed a rest after a season of cultivation. They developed a method of farming that switched from one field to another so as to allow the land to have a fallow period, in which the land was not sown or plowed. They found that by leaving a long fallow period between periods of growing, the land could be restored. Much later, around 1100 B.C., they began to alternate crops of millet and soy beans. The bean plants brought goodness back to the soil, so that it was less important to have a fallow period.
Allow me to say something about this fallow period. I heard once from my old folks that having the soil rest once every seven years, like what the first farmers do in China (although their fallow period is not seven years), is a good practice ...supposed to be, because like what the Chinese believe before, this is to allow the land to be restored. Sadly, this Chinese practice by the first farmers was gradually not followed because of their discovery of plants' alternation.
In this present time, the reason why plants lack the nutrients that we suppose to benefit is because the soil is already depleted. Add to that are floods, erosion and other nature disasters. Sometimes human's abuse of our Mother Earth, where we get all things we need resulted more problems to man like sickness, calamities, disasters and many more.
We should apply the Law of Nature to have a happy life in this Universe.
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