Category FAQs Search : Horticulture
Question: The Origins of Horticultural Technology and Science
Answer: Horticulture is an ancient pursuit. Beginning some 10,000 years ago, our
brilliant forebears discovered the horticultural craft secrets that are the basis of our
profession. They initiated a revolution that changed forever the destiny of humans
from scavenging, collecting, and hunting to agriculture. We all are the heirs and
beneficiaries of this legacy from the past. Our roots derive from prehistoric gatherers,
Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Korean farmers, Hellenic root diggers, medieval
peasants, and gardeners everywhere who devised practical solutions to problems of
plant growing for food, ornament, medicine, fiber, and shelter. The accumulated
successes and improvements passed orally from parent to child, from artisan to
apprentice, and became embedded in human consciousness via legend, craft secrets,
and folk wisdom. It was stored in tales, almanacs, herbals, and histories and has
become part of our common culture. More than practices and skills were involved as
improved germplasm was selected and preserved via seed and graft from harvest to
harvest and generation to generation. Practically all of our cultivated crops were
selected and improved by prehistoric farmers. An array of technological approaches
from primitive tools fashioned during the Bronze and Iron Ages through the
development of the horticultural arts – irrigation, propagation, cultivation, pruning
and training, drying, and fermentation – were devised to accommodate the needs and
desires of humankind. The sum total of these technologies makes up the traditional
lore of horticulture. It represents a monumental achievement of our forebears, unknown and unsung. Horticultural technology has been continuous over the millennia
but in the last 100 years dramatic changes have occurred that have transformed
horticulture from a craft to a science, and these changes will be displayed in the
present Congress. However, all these advances are based solidly on the foundation of
ancient techniques.
(Source: Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, 10 Jun 2021)
Source Link: https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/originhorttech.pdf