Reasons why Agriculture Developed in Southwest Asia

Reasons why Agriculture Developed in Southwest Asia 

Southwest Asia also known as the Near East was first recorded during archaeology’s formative development. It is one of the areas believed to be productive in terms of agriculture. The study will present the reasons why agriculture developed in Southwest Asia. 

Several pieces of evidence indicate that places like Levanta dated in 9000 B.C gives the first evidence of plant domestication (Karlovsky & Sabloff, 1995). One of the reasons why this happened is due to the disequilibrium in hunting and gathering that was brought by either environmental change or demographic stress. As a result, communities in Southwest Asia were forced to develop new edible resources by domesticating plants and animals. 

Secondly, population growth also led to the development of agriculture in the Near East. It made people move to marginal areas where people tried to grow artificial crops around the outskirts of optimum zones. It eventually led to the adaptation of economies that were producing food to survive in the marginal areas. Researchers such as Flannery adopted Binford’s model of demographic stress as highlighted in the article to explain the development of food production in the near east. 

Thirdly, increased sedentism i.e., permanent residents in the marginal areas also led to increased domestication of plants. However, archaeological evidence to support this point does not exist. According to the article, there are archaeological sites that symbolize permanent settlement, however, evidence showing permanent domestication of plants does not exist. However, researchers argue that permanent residence necessitates permanent domestication. 

Conclusion 

It can be concluded that agriculture in Southwest Asia was necessitated by environmental change and demographic stress that led to the exhaustion of natural resources. It also led to a disequilibrium in hunting and gathering hence making them resort to domesticating crops for subsistence use. Sedentism is also one of the reasons that led to the domestication of plants however, no archaeological evidence exists to support this argument. As an early agriculturalist in the Near East, I would come up with an approved variety of crops to maximize food production. The technique would lead to different innovative ways of coming up with different types of crops that were weather friendly hence increasing food production in the region.

Reference

Karlovsky, L., & Sabloff. (1995). The Neolithic Revolution.