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104-503: Its postal code is 745700, and the population in 2019 was 316,703. Huanxian is known as one of the first places in China where agriculture was practiced. It was part of ancient Yongzhou . In 994 it was known as Huanzhou. In 1369 it became known as Huanxian. In 1669 Huanxian and the governing Qingyang were transferred from Shaanxi to Gansu. Huan County is divided to 10 towns, 10 townships and 1 other. Huanxian has extensive coal resources and

208-487: A sporocarp , ngardu ( Marsilea drummondii ). Indigenous Australians used systematic burning, fire-stick farming , to enhance natural productivity. In the 1970s and 1980s archaeological research in south west Victoria established that the Gunditjmara and other groups had developed sophisticated eel farming and fish trapping systems over a period of nearly 5,000 years. The archaeologist Harry Lourandos suggested in

312-652: A vegetable , stir-fried or stewed . Citrullis lanatus , variety caffer , grows wild in the Kalahari Desert , where it is known as tsamma . The fruits are used by the San people and wild animals for both water and nourishment, allowing survival on a diet of tsamma for six weeks. The watermelon is used variously as a symbol of Palestinian resistance , of the Kherson region in Ukraine, and of eco-socialism , as in 'green on

416-626: A common origin, possibly cultivated in the Nile Valley by 2340 BC. Watermelon fruit is 91% water , contains 6% sugars, and is low in fat (table). In a 100-gram ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -ounce) serving, watermelon fruit supplies 125 kilojoules (30 kilocalories) of food energy and low amounts of essential nutrients (see table). Only vitamin C is present in appreciable content at 10% of the Daily Value (table). Watermelon pulp contains carotenoids , including lycopene . The amino acid citrulline

520-521: A low-density agriculture in loose rotation; a sort of "wild" permaculture . A system of companion planting called the Three Sisters was developed in North America . Three crops that complemented each other were planted together: winter squash , maize (corn), and climbing beans (typically tepary beans or common beans ). The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating

624-572: A north–south pattern with a variety of different climatic zones in close proximity to each other. This fostered the domestication of many different plants. At the time of first contact between the Europeans and the Americans, the Europeans practiced "extensive agriculture, based on the plough and draught animals," with tenants under landlords, but also forced labor or slavery, while the Indigenous peoples of

728-650: A number of hypotheses to explain the historical origins of agriculture. Studies of the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies indicate an antecedent period of intensification and increasing sedentism ; examples are the Natufian culture in the Levant , and the Early Chinese Neolithic in China. Current models indicate that wild stands that had been harvested previously started to be planted, but were not immediately domesticated. Localised climate change

832-830: A pH between 5.7 and 7.2. Major pests of the watermelon include aphids , fruit flies , and root-knot nematodes . In conditions of high humidity, the plants are prone to plant diseases such as powdery mildew and mosaic virus . Some varieties often grown in Japan and other parts of the Far East are susceptible to fusarium wilt . Grafting such varieties onto disease-resistant rootstocks offers protection. The US Department of Agriculture recommends using at least one beehive per acre (4,000 m per hive) for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties for commercial plantings. Seedless hybrids have sterile pollen. This requires planting pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen. Since

936-913: A prehistoric archaeological site located in southwestern Libya . This archaeobotanical discovery may support the possibility that the plant was more widely distributed in the past. In the 7th century , watermelons were being cultivated in India, and by the 10th century had reached China. The Moors introduced the fruit into the Iberian Peninsula , and there is evidence of it being cultivated in Córdoba in 961 and also in Seville in 1158. It spread northwards through southern Europe , perhaps limited in its advance by summer temperatures being insufficient for good yields. The fruit had begun appearing in European herbals by 1600, and

1040-596: A prehistoric site in Libya that dates to approximately 3500 BC. In 2022, a study was released that traced 6,000-year-old watermelon seeds found in the Libyan desert to the Egusi seeds of Nigeria , West Africa. Watermelons were domesticated in north-east Africa and cultivated in Egypt by 2000 BC, although they were not the sweet modern variety. Sweet dessert watermelons spread across

1144-570: A single genetic origin from the wild rice Oryza rufipogon , in the Pearl River valley region of China. Rice cultivation then spread to South and Southeast Asia. The major cereal crops of the ancient Mediterranean region were wheat, emmer , and barley, while common vegetables included peas, beans, fava , and olives, dairy products came mostly from sheep and goats, and meat, which was consumed on rare occasion for most people, usually consisted of pork, beef, and lamb. Agriculture in ancient Greece

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1248-631: A specific emphasis on the cultivation of crops for trade and export. The Romans laid the groundwork for the manorial economic system, involving serfdom , which flourished in the Middle Ages. The farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories. Small farms were from 18 to 88 iugera (one iugerum is equal to about 0.65 acre). Medium-sized farms were from 80 to 500 iugera (singular iugerum ). Large estates (called latifundia ) were over 500 iugera. The Romans had four systems of farm management: direct work by

1352-428: A variety with sweet yellow flesh that is cultivated around the world for fodder and the production of citron peel and pectin . (syn. C. lanatus var. caffer ) C. caffer Schrad. is a synonym of C. amarus Schrad. The variety known as tsamma is grown for its juicy white flesh. The variety was an important food source for travellers in the Kalahari Desert . Another variety known as karkoer or bitterboela

1456-641: A wide geographical area. It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases: anthracnose and fusarium wilt . Others were also working on disease-resistant cultivars; J. M. Crall at the University of Florida produced 'Jubilee' in 1963 and C. V. Hall of Kansas State University produced 'Crimson Sweet' the following year. These are no longer grown to any great extent, but their lineage has been further developed into hybrid varieties with higher yields, better flesh quality and attractive appearance. Another objective of plant breeders has been

1560-526: Is botanically called a pepo . The sweet, juicy flesh is usually deep red to pink, with many black seeds, although seedless varieties exist. The fruit can be eaten raw or pickled , and the rind is edible after cooking. It may also be consumed as a juice or an ingredient in mixed beverages. Kordofan melons from Sudan are the closest relatives and may be progenitors of modern, cultivated watermelons. Wild watermelon seeds were found in Uan Muhuggiag ,

1664-469: Is monoecious . The male flowers predominate at the beginning of the season; the female flowers, which develop later, have inferior ovaries. The styles are united into a single column. The large fruit is a kind of modified berry called a pepo with a thick rind ( exocarp ) and fleshy center ( mesocarp and endocarp). Wild plants have fruits up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter, while cultivated varieties may exceed 60 cm (24 in). The rind of

1768-469: Is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit . A scrambling and trailing vine -like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties . Watermelon is grown in favorable climates from tropical to temperate regions worldwide for its large edible fruit , which is a berry with a hard rind and no internal divisions, and

1872-429: Is also known for its shadow play , which has been listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. It is called the home of shadow theatre in China. This Gansu location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of agriculture Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa . At least eleven separate regions of

1976-447: Is densely woolly with yellowish-brown hairs which disappear as the plant ages. Like all but one species in the genus Citrullus , watermelon has branching tendrils . Plants have unisexual male or female flowers that are white or yellow and borne on 40-millimetre-long ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) hairy stalks. Each flower grows singly in the leaf axils, and the species' sexual system , with male and female flowers produced on each plant,

2080-531: Is from around 21,000 BC with the Ohalo ;II people on the shores of the Sea of Galilee . By around 9500 BC, the eight Neolithic founder crops  – emmer wheat , einkorn wheat , hulled barley , peas , lentils , bitter vetch , chickpeas , and flax  – were cultivated in the Levant . Rye may have been cultivated earlier, but this claim remains controversial. Regardless, rye's spread from Southwest Asia to

2184-663: Is home to the Changqing Oilfield. Several wind farms have also been constructed in Huanxian. It is also an important agricultural base for grains. The county is considered poor, due to the arid climate making agriculture difficult, and the mountainous terrain hindering transport. Parts of the Qin Great Wall are located in the south of Huanxian. Huanxian food specialities include lamb meat, Huangjiu , buckwheat noodles, and Yanmian Rourou noodles ( Chinese : 燕面柔柔 ). Huanxian

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2288-614: Is often referred to as the "Yam Belt", due to its high production of yams. The guineafowl is a poultry bird that was domesticated in West Africa, and while the time of the guineafowl's domestication remains unclear, there is evidence that it was present in Ancient Greece during the 5th century BC. Several species of coffee were also domesticated throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with Coffea arabica originating in Ethiopia and serving as

2392-500: Is produced in watermelon rind . A number of cultivar groups have been identified: (syn. C. lanatus subsp. lanatus var. citroides ; C. lanatus var. citroides ; C. vulgaris var. citroides ) DNA data reveal that C. lanatus var. citroides Bailey is the same as Thunberg's bitter wooly melon, C. lanatus and also the same as C. amarus Schrad. It is not a form of the sweet watermelon C. vulgaris nor closely related to that species. The citron melon or makataan –

2496-480: Is the favoured explanation for the origins of agriculture in the Levant. When major climate change took place after the last ice age (c. 11,000 BC), much of the earth became subject to long dry seasons. These conditions favoured annual plants which die off in the long dry season, leaving a dormant seed or tuber . An abundance of readily storable wild grains and pulses enabled hunter-gatherers in some areas to form

2600-589: Is the oldest known field systems in europe. The horse was domesticated in the Pontic steppe around 4000 BC In Siberia . Cannabis was in use in China in Neolithic times and may have been domesticated there; it was in use both as a fibre for ropemaking and as a medicine in Ancient Egypt by about 2350 BC. In northern China , millet was domesticated by early Sino-Tibetan speakers at around 8000 to 6000 BC, becoming

2704-526: Is the semi-tough rachis and larger seeds of cereals from just after the Younger Dryas (about 9500 BC) in the early Holocene in the Levant region of the Fertile Crescent . Monophyletic characteristics were attained without any human intervention, implying that apparent domestication of the cereal rachis could have occurred quite naturally. Agriculture began independently in different parts of

2808-697: Is unpalatable to humans, but the seeds may be eaten. A small-fruited form with a bumpy skin has caused poisoning in sheep. This is Linnaeus's sweet watermelon; it has been grown for human consumption for thousands of years. This West African species is the closest wild relative of the watermelon. It is cultivated for cattle feed. Additionally, other wild species have bitter fruit containing cucurbitacin . C. colocynthis (L.) Schrad. ex Eckl. & Zeyh., C. rehmii De Winter, and C. naudinianus (Sond.) Hook.f. The more than 1,200 cultivars of watermelon range in weight from less than 1 kilogram ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 4 pounds) to more than 90 kg (200 lb);

2912-560: The Bronze Age of central Europe, c. 1800–1500 BC. Claims of much earlier cultivation of rye, at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria , remain controversial. Critics point to inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dates, and identifications based solely on grain, rather than on chaff . By 8000 BC, farming was entrenched on the banks of

3016-654: The Eastern United States dates to about 3000 BCE. Several plants were cultivated, later to be replaced by the Three Sisters cultivation of maize, squash, and beans. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 7000 BC. Bananas were cultivated and hybridized in the same period in Papua New Guinea . In Australia , agriculture was invented at a currently unspecified period, with

3120-639: The Inca Empire of South America grew large surpluses of food which they stored in buildings called Qullqas . The most important crop domesticated in the Amazon Basin and tropical lowlands was probably cassava , ( Manihot esculenta ), which was domesticated before 7000 BCE, likely in the Rondônia and Mato Grosso states of Brazil . The Guaitecas Archipelago in modern Chile was the southern limit of Pre-Hispanic agriculture near 44° South latitude, as noted by

3224-467: The Levant , although wheat was the first to be grown and harvested on a significant scale. At around the same time (9400 BC), parthenocarpic fig trees were domesticated. Domesticated rye occurs in small quantities at some Neolithic sites in (Asia Minor) Turkey, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (c. 7600 – c. 6000 BC) Can Hasan III near Çatalhöyük , but is otherwise absent until

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3328-781: The Middle Ages , both in Europe and in the Islamic world , agriculture was transformed with improved techniques and the diffusion of crop plants, including the introduction of sugar, rice, cotton and fruit trees such as the orange to Europe by way of Al-Andalus . After the voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Columbian exchange brought New World crops such as maize , potatoes , tomatoes , sweet potatoes , and manioc to Europe, and Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips , and livestock including horses, cattle, sheep, and goats to

3432-563: The Nile . About this time, agriculture was developed independently in the Far East, probably in China, with rice rather than wheat as the primary crop. Maize was domesticated from the wild grass teosinte in southern Mexico by 6700 BC. The potato (8000 BC), tomato , pepper (4000 BC), squash (8000 BC) and several varieties of bean (8000 BC onwards) were domesticated in the New World. Agriculture

3536-494: The Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin . The development of agriculture about 12,000 years ago changed the way humans lived. They switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to permanent settlements and farming. Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 104,000 years ago. However, domestication did not occur until much later. The earliest evidence of small-scale cultivation of edible grasses

3640-723: The Sahel region of Africa , sorghum was domesticated by 3000 BC in Sudan and pearl millet by 2500 BC in Mali. Kola nut and coffee were also domesticated in Africa. In New Guinea , ancient Papuan peoples began practicing agriculture around 7000 BC, domesticating sugarcane and taro . In the Indus Valley from the eighth millennium BC onwards at Mehrgarh , 2-row and 6-row barley were cultivated, along with einkorn, emmer, and durum wheats, and dates. In

3744-703: The Yucatán Peninsula . The indigenous people of the Eastern U.S. domesticated numerous crops . Sunflowers , tobacco , varieties of squash and Chenopodium , as well as crops no longer grown, including marsh elder and little barley . Wild foods including wild rice and maple sugar were harvested. The domesticated strawberry is a hybrid of a Chilean and a North American species, developed by breeding in Europe and North America. Two major crops, pecans and Concord grapes , were used extensively in prehistoric times but do not appear to have been domesticated until

3848-467: The 1980s that there was evidence of 'intensification' in progress across Australia, a process that appeared to have continued through the preceding 5,000 years. These concepts led the historian Bill Gammage to argue that in effect the whole continent was a managed landscape. Torres Strait Islanders are now known to have planted bananas . In New Guinea , archaeological evidence suggests that agriculture independently emerged around 7,000 years ago with

3952-510: The 19th century. The indigenous people in what is now California and the Pacific Northwest practiced various forms of forest gardening and fire-stick farming in the forests, grasslands, mixed woodlands, and wetlands, ensuring that desired food and medicine plants continued to be available. The natives controlled fire on a regional scale to create a low-intensity fire ecology which prevented larger, catastrophic fires and sustained

4056-522: The 21st century, rising to nearly 85% of total watermelon sales in the United States in 2014. A melon from the Kordofan region of Sudan – the kordofan melon – may be the progenitor of the modern, domesticated watermelon. The kordofan melon shares with the domestic watermelon loss of the bitterness gene while maintaining a sweet taste, unlike other wild African varieties from other regions, indicating

4160-536: The Americas practiced "intensive agriculture, based on human labour." Europeans wanted control of land for the grazing of their livestock and property rights for the control of production. Though they were impressed with the productivity of traditional farming techniques, they saw no connection to their system and were dismissive of Native American practices as "gardening" rather than a commercializable enterprise. Due to several thousand years of selective breeding, maize ,

4264-658: The Americas. Irrigation , crop rotation , and fertilizers were introduced soon after the Neolithic Revolution and developed much further in the past 200 years, starting with the British Agricultural Revolution . Since 1900, agriculture in the developed nations, and to a lesser extent in the developing world, has seen large rises in productivity as human labour has been replaced by mechanization , and assisted by synthetic fertilizers, pesticides , and selective breeding . The Haber-Bosch process allowed

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4368-512: The Atlantic was independent of the Neolithic founder crop package. Rice was domesticated in China by 6200 BC with earliest known cultivation from 5700 BC, followed by mung , soy and azuki beans. Rice was also independently domesticated in West Africa and cultivated by 1000 BC. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 11,000 years ago, followed by sheep . Cattle were domesticated from

4472-579: The Eastern Woodlands of North America. Sumerian farmers grew the cereals barley and wheat , starting to live in villages from about 8000 BC. Given the low rainfall of the region, agriculture relied on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Irrigation canals leading from the rivers permitted the growth of cereals in large enough quantities to support cities. The first ploughs appear in pictographs from Uruk around 3000 BC; seed-ploughs that funneled seed into

4576-617: The Indus Valley Civilization. Records from the Warring States , Qin dynasty , and Han dynasty provide a picture of early Chinese agriculture from the 5th century BC to 2nd century AD which included a nationwide granary system and widespread use of sericulture . An important early Chinese book on agriculture is the Qimin Yaoshu of AD 535, written by Jia Sixie. Jia's writing style was straightforward and lucid relative to

4680-732: The Mediterranean world during Roman times . Considerable breeding effort has developed disease-resistant varieties. Many cultivars are available that produce mature fruit within 100 days of planting. In 2017, China produced about two-thirds of the world's total of watermelons. The watermelon is an annual that has a prostrate or climbing habit. Stems are up to 3 metres (10 feet) long and new growth has yellow or brown hairs. Leaves are 60 to 200 millimetres ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 4 to 7 + 3 ⁄ 4 inches) long and 40 to 150 mm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 6 in) wide. These usually have three lobes that are lobed or doubly lobed. Young growth

4784-709: The Ptolemaic grain market also played a critical role in the rise of the Roman Republic . In the Seleucid Empire , Mesopotamia was a crucial area for the production of wheat, while nomadic animal husbandry was also practiced in other parts. In the Greco-Roman world of Classical antiquity , Roman agriculture was built on techniques originally pioneered by the Sumerians, transmitted to them by subsequent cultures, with

4888-611: The abolition of slavery. After the Civil War, black people were maligned for their association with watermelon. The sentiment evolved into a racist stereotype where black people shared a supposed voracious appetite for watermelon, a fruit long associated with laziness and uncleanliness. Seedless watermelons were initially developed in 1939 by Japanese scientists who were able to create seedless triploid hybrids which remained rare initially because they did not have sufficient disease resistance . Seedless watermelons became more popular in

4992-605: The above sources have been converted to BC.) In the Andes region, with civilizations including the Inca , the major crop was the potato , domesticated between 8000 and 5000 BC. Coca , still a major crop to this day, was domesticated in the Andes, as were the peanut , tomato , tobacco , and pineapple . Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 4200 BC. Animals were also domesticated , including llamas , alpacas , and guinea pigs . The people of

5096-644: The bitter wooly melon Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai are not closely related to each other. A proposal to conserve the name, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai, was accepted by the nomenclature committee and confirmed at the International Botanical Congress in 2017. Prior to 2015, the wild species closest to Citrullus lanatus was assumed to be the tendril-less melon Citrullus ecirrhosus Cogn. from South African arid regions based on an erroneously identified 18th-century specimen. However, after phylogenetic analysis,

5200-560: The central west coast and eastern central Australia, forms of agriculture were practiced. People living in permanent settlements of over 200 residents sowed or planted on a large scale and stored the harvested food. The Nhanda and Amangu of the central west coast grew yams ( Dioscorea hastifolia ), while various groups in eastern central Australia (the Corners Region) planted and harvested bush onions ( yaua – Cyperus bulbosus ), native millet ( cooly, tindil – Panicum decompositum ) and

5304-413: The closest relative to Citrullus lanatus is now thought to be Citrullus mucosospermus (Fursa) from West Africa (from Senegal to Nigeria), which is also sometimes considered a subspecies within C. lanatus . Watermelon populations from Sudan are also close to domesticated watermelons. The bitter wooly melon was formally described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1794 and given the name Momordica lanata . It

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5408-533: The domestication of crops such as bananas and taro . Pigs and chickens were imported to New Guinea, which were later innovated by other Pacific Island nations, such as those in Polynesia . The Middle Ages saw further improvements in agriculture. Monasteries spread throughout Europe and became important centers for the collection of knowledge related to agriculture and forestry. The manorial system allowed large landowners to control their land and its laborers, in

5512-590: The earliest levels of Merhgarh, wild game such as gazelle , swamp deer , blackbuck , chital , wild ass , wild goat, wild sheep, boar , and nilgai were all hunted for food. These are successively replaced by domesticated sheep, goats, and humped zebu cattle by the fifth millennium BC, indicating the gradual transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Maize and squash were domesticated in Mesoamerica ; potatoes in South America, and sunflowers in

5616-402: The edible var. vulgaris may be the most important. This taxonomy originated with the erroneous synonymization of the wooly melon Citrullus lanatus with the sweet watermelon Citrullus vulgaris by L.H. Bailey in 1930. Molecular data, including sequences from the original collection of Thunberg and other relevant type material, show that the sweet watermelon ( Citrullus vulgaris Schrad.) and

5720-501: The elaborate and allusive writing typical of the time. Jia's book was also very long, with over one hundred thousand written Chinese characters , and it quoted many other Chinese books that were written previously, but no longer survive. The contents of Jia's 6th century book include sections on land preparation, seeding, cultivation, orchard management, forestry, and animal husbandry. The book also includes peripherally related content covering trade and culinary uses for crops. The work and

5824-411: The elimination of the seeds which occur scattered throughout the flesh. This has been achieved through the use of triploid varieties, but these are sterile, and the cost of producing the seed by crossing a tetraploid parent with a normal diploid parent is high. As of 2017, farmers in approximately 44 states in the United States grew watermelon commercially, producing more than $ 500 million worth of

5928-404: The end of the Paleolithic into the Neolithic, between around 10,000 BC and 4000 BC. This was made possible with the development of basin irrigation. Their staple food crops were grains such as wheat and barley, alongside industrial crops such as flax and papyrus . Archaeological evidence also suggests that the spread of agriculture in Egypt was facilitated by farming communities associated with

6032-433: The first settled villages at this time. Across Western Eurasia it was not until approximately 4,000 BC that farming societies completely replaced hunter-gatherers. These technologically advanced societies expanded faster in areas with less forest, pushing hunter-gatherers into denser woodlands. Only the middle-late Bronze Age and Iron Age societies were able to fully replace hunter-gatherers in their final stronghold located in

6136-413: The flesh can be red, pink, orange, yellow or white. Charles Fredrick Andrus, a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina , set out to produce a disease-resistant and wilt-resistant watermelon. The result, in 1954, was "that gray melon from Charleston". Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship. Its adaptability meant it could be grown over

6240-476: The flesh of the watermelon to develop a large hole, sometimes in an intricate, symmetric shape. Watermelons suffering from hollow heart are safe to consume. Farmers of the Zentsuji region of Japan found a way to grow cubic watermelons by growing the fruits in metal and glass boxes and making them assume the shape of the receptacle. The cubic shape was originally designed to make the melons easier to stack and store, but these " square watermelons " may be triple

6344-529: The form of peasants or serfs . During the medieval period, the Arab world was critical in the exchange of crops and technology between the European, Asia and African continents. Besides transporting numerous crops, they introduced the concept of summer irrigation to Europe and developed the beginnings of the plantation system of sugarcane growing through the use of slaves for intensive cultivation. By AD 900, developments in iron smelting allowed for increased production in Europe, leading to developments in

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6448-421: The fruit annually. Georgia, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona are the United States' largest watermelon producers, with Florida producing more watermelon than any other state. This now-common fruit is often large enough that groceries often sell half or quarter melons. Some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon—both red- and yellow-fleshed—are sometimes called "icebox melons". The largest recorded fruit

6552-438: The fruit is mid- to dark green and usually mottled or striped, and the flesh, containing numerous pips spread throughout the inside, can be red or pink (most commonly), orange, yellow, green or white. A bitter watermelon, C. amarus , has become naturalized in semiarid regions of several continents, and is designated as a "pest plant" in parts of Western Australia where they are called "pig melon". The sweet watermelon

6656-491: The globe and included a diverse range of taxa. At least 11 separate regions of the Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin . Some of the earliest known domestications were of animals. Domestic pigs had multiple centres of origin in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 11,000 BC and 9000 BC. Cattle were domesticated from

6760-650: The hemisphere's most important crop, was more productive than Old World grain crops. Maize produced two and one-half times more calories per acre than wheat and barley. The earliest known areas of possible agriculture in the Americas dating to about 9000 BC are in Colombia , near present-day Pereira , and by the Las Vegas culture in Ecuador on the Santa Elena peninsula . The plants cultivated (or manipulated by humans) were lerén ( Calathea allouia ), arrowroot ( Maranta arundinacea ), squash ( Cucurbita species), and bottle gourd ( Lagenaria siceraria ). All are plants of humid climates and their existence at this time on

6864-442: The late 2nd century, heavy ploughs had been developed with iron ploughshares and mouldboards . These slowly spread west, revolutionizing farming in Northern Europe by the 10th century. ( Thomas Glick , however, argues for a development of the Chinese plough as late as the 9th century, implying its spread east from similar designs known in Italy by the 7th century.) Asian rice was domesticated 8,200–13,500 years ago in China, with

6968-429: The main crop of the Yellow River basin by 5500 BC. They were followed by mung , soy and azuki beans. In southern China, rice was domesticated in the Yangtze River basin at around 11,500 to 6200 BC, along with the development of wetland agriculture , by early Austronesian and Hmong-Mien -speakers. Other food plants were also harvested, including acorns , water chestnuts , and foxnuts . Rice cultivation

7072-413: The main production of modern-day coffee since the late 15th century. Indigenous Australians were predominately nomadic hunter-gatherers . Due to the policy of terra nullius , Aboriginals were regarded as not having been capable of sustained agriculture. However, the current consensus is that various agricultural methods were employed by the indigenous people. In two regions of Central Australia,

7176-499: The mention of the cultivation of Chiloé potatoes by a Spanish expedition in 1557. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was transformed through human selection into the ancestor of modern maize, about 7,000 BC. It gradually spread across North America and to South America and was the most important crop of Native Americans at the time of European exploration. Other Mesoamerican crops include hundreds of varieties of locally domesticated squash and beans , while cocoa , also domesticated in

7280-665: The most densely forested areas. Unlike their Bronze and Iron Age counterparts, Neolithic societies couldn't establish themselves in dense forests, and Copper Age societies had only limited success. Early people began altering communities of flora and fauna for their own benefit through means such as fire-stick farming and forest gardening very early. Wild grains have been collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago, and possibly much longer. Exact dates are hard to determine, as people collected and ate seeds before domesticating them, and plant characteristics may have changed during this period without human selection. An example

7384-438: The need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants use, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight , helping prevent the establishment of weeds . The squash leaves also act as a "living mulch ". In the Sahel region, civilizations such as the Mali and Songhai empires cultivated sorghum and pearl millet , which were domesticated between 3000 and 2500 BC. The donkey

7488-544: The oldest eel traps of Budj Bim dating to 6,600 BC and the deployment of several crops ranging from yams to bananas. The Bronze Age , from c.  3300 BC , witnessed the intensification of agriculture in civilizations such as Mesopotamian Sumer , ancient Egypt , ancient Sudan , the Indus Valley civilisation of the Indian subcontinent , ancient China , and ancient Greece . From 100 BC to 1600 AD, world population continued to grow along with land use, as evidenced by

7592-527: The origin of the valuable spice trade . In the 1st millennium AD, Austronesian sailors also settled Madagascar and the Comoros , bringing Southeast Asian and South Asian food plants with them to the East African coast, including bananas and rice. Rice was also spread southwards into Mainland Southeast Asia by around 2000 to 1500 BC by the migrations of the early Austroasiatic and Kra-Dai -speakers. In

7696-429: The outside, red on the inside'. In the United States, it has also been used as a racist stereotype associated with African Americans . Watermelons are plants grown from tropical to temperate climates, needing temperatures higher than about 25 °C (77 °F) to thrive. On a garden scale, seeds are usually sown in pots under cover and transplanted into the ground. Ideal conditions are a well-drained sandy loam with

7800-526: The owner and his family; slaves doing work under the supervision of slave managers; tenant farming or sharecropping in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm's produce; and situations in which a farm was leased to a tenant. Agricultural history took a different path from the Old World as the Americas lacked large-seeded, easily domesticated grains (such as wheat and barley) and large domestic animals that could be used for agricultural labor. Rather than

7904-648: The playa lakes of the Sahara some 6,500 years ago. Jujube was domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BC. Barley and wheat cultivation – along with the domestication of cattle, primarily sheep and goats – followed in Mehrgarh culture by 8000–6000 BC. This period also saw the first domestication of the elephant . Pastoral farming in India included threshing, planting crops in rows – either of two or of six – and storing grain in granaries . Cotton

8008-404: The ploughed furrow appear on seals around 2300 BC. Vegetable crops included chickpeas , lentils , peas, beans, onions , garlic , lettuce , leeks and mustard . They grew fruits including dates , grapes, apples, melons, and figs. Alongside their farming, Sumerians also caught fish and hunted fowl and gazelle . The meat of sheep, goats, cows and poultry was eaten, mainly by the elite. Fish

8112-451: The practice which developed in the Old World of sowing a field with a single crop, pre-historic American agriculture usually consisted of cultivating many crops close to each other utilizing only hand labor. Moreover, agricultural areas in the Americas lacked the uniformity of the east–west area of Mediterranean and semi-arid climates in southern Europe and southwestern Asia, but instead had

8216-596: The price of normal ones, so appeal mainly to wealthy urban consumers. Pyramid-shaped watermelons have also been developed, and any polyhedral shape may potentially be used. Watermelons, which are called tsamma in Khoisan language and makataan in Tswana language , are important water sources in South Africa , the Kalahari Desert , and East Africa for both humans and animals. In 2020, global production of watermelons

8320-469: The production of agricultural implements such as ploughs , hand tools and horse shoes . The carruca heavy plough improved on the earlier scratch plough , with the adoption of the Chinese mouldboard plough to turn over the heavy, wet soils of northern Europe. This led to the clearing of northern European forests and an increase in agricultural production, which in turn led to an increase in population. At

8424-564: The rapid increase in methane emissions from cattle and the cultivation of rice. During the Iron Age and era of classical antiquity , the expansion of ancient Rome , both the Republic and then the Empire , throughout the ancient Mediterranean and Western Europe built upon existing systems of agriculture while also establishing the manorial system that became a bedrock of medieval agriculture. In

8528-766: The region, was a major crop. The turkey , one of the most important poultry birds, was probably domesticated in Mexico or the U.S. Southwest. In Mesoamerica , the Aztecs were active farmers and had an agriculturally focused economy. The land around Lake Texcoco was fertile, but not large enough to produce the amount of food needed for the population of their expanding empire. The Aztecs developed irrigation systems, formed terraced hillsides, fertilized their soil, and developed chinampas or artificial islands, also known as "floating gardens". The Mayas between 400 BC to 900 AD used extensive canal and raised field systems to farm swampland on

8632-457: The same time, some farmers in Europe moved from a two field crop rotation to a three-field crop rotation in which one field of three was left fallow every year. This resulted in increased productivity and nutrition, as the change in rotations permitted nitrogen-fixing legumes such as peas, lentils and beans. Improved horse harnesses and the whippletree further improved cultivation. Watermelon Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus )

8736-468: The semi-arid Santa Elena peninsula may be evidence that they were transplanted there from more humid environments. In another study, this area of South America was identified as one of the four oldest places of origin for agriculture, along with the Fertile Crescent, China, and Mesoamerica, dated between 6200 BC and 10000 BC. (To facilitate comprehension by readers, Radiocarbon calibrated BP dates in

8840-458: The square-pallet chain pump by the 1st century AD, powered by a waterwheel or oxen pulling an on a system of mechanical wheels. Although the chain pump found use in public works of providing water for urban and palatial pipe systems , it was used largely to lift water from a lower to higher elevation in filling irrigation canals and channels for farmland . By the end of the Han dynasty in

8944-432: The style in which it was written proved influential on later Chinese agronomists , such as Wang Zhen and his groundbreaking Nong Shu of 1313. For agricultural purposes, the Chinese had innovated the hydraulic -powered trip hammer by the 1st century BC. Although it found other purposes, its main function to pound, decorticate, and polish grain that otherwise would have been done manually. The Chinese also began using

9048-440: The supply of viable pollen is reduced, and pollination is much more critical in producing the seedless variety, the recommended number of hives per acre increases to three hives per acre ( 1,300 m per hive). Watermelons have a longer growing period than other melons and can often take 85 days or more from the time of transplanting for the fruit to mature. Lack of pollen is thought to contribute to "hollow heart" which causes

9152-447: The synthesis of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on an industrial scale, greatly increasing crop yields . Modern agriculture has raised social, political, and environmental issues including overpopulation, water pollution , biofuels , genetically modified organisms , tariffs and farm subsidies . In response, organic farming developed in the twentieth century as an alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides. Scholars have developed

9256-455: The wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and India around 8500 BC. Camels were domesticated relatively late, perhaps around 3000 BC. It was not until after 9500 BC that the eight so-called founder crops of agriculture appear: first emmer and einkorn wheat , then hulled barley , peas , lentils , bitter vetch , chick peas and flax . These eight crops occur more or less simultaneously on Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ( PPNB ) sites in

9360-414: The wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and India around 8500 BC. Camels were domesticated late, perhaps around 3000 BC. In subsaharan Africa , sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 3000 BC, along with pearl millet by 2000 BC. Yams were domesticated in several distinct locations, including West Africa (unknown date), and cowpeas by 2500 BC. Rice ( African rice )

9464-471: Was also independently domesticated in West Africa and cultivated by 1000 BC. Teff and likely finger millet were domesticated in Ethiopia by 3000 BC, along with noog , ensete , and coffee . Other plant foods domesticated in Africa include watermelon , okra , tamarind and black eyed peas , along with tree crops such as the kola nut and oil palm . Plantains were cultivated in Africa by 3000 BC and bananas by 1500 BC. The helmeted guineafowl

9568-747: Was being grown in Massachusetts by 1629, and by 1650 was being cultivated in Peru , Brazil and Panama . Around the same time, Native Americans were cultivating the crop in the Mississippi valley and Florida . Watermelons were rapidly accepted in Hawaii and other Pacific islands when they were introduced there by explorers such as Captain James Cook . In the Civil War era United States, watermelons were commonly grown by free black people and became one symbol for

9672-620: Was cultivated by the 5th–4th millennium BC. By the 5th millennium BC, agricultural communities became widespread in Kashmir . Irrigation was developed in the Indus Valley Civilisation by around 4500 BC. The size and prosperity of the Indus civilization grew as a result of this innovation, leading to more thoroughly planned settlements which used drainage and sewers . Archeological evidence of an animal-drawn plough dates back to 2500 BC in

9776-512: Was domesticated in Nubia at approximately 5000 BC. Archaeological evidence suggests that Sanga cattle may have been independently domesticated in East Africa at around 1600 BC. In the tropical region of West Africa , crops such as black-eyed peas , Sea Island red peas , yams , kola nuts , Jollof rice and kokoro were domesticated between 3000 and 1000 BC. The coastal region of West Africa

9880-620: Was domesticated in West Africa. Sanga cattle was likely also domesticated in North-East Africa, around 7000 BC, and later crossbred with other species. In South America, agriculture began as early as 9000 BC, starting with the cultivation of several species of plants that later became only minor crops. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 8000 BC and 5000 BC, along with beans , squash , tomatoes , peanuts , coca , llamas , alpacas , and guinea pigs . Cassava

9984-572: Was domesticated in the Amazon Basin no later than 7000 BC. Maize ( Zea mays ) found its way to South America from Mesoamerica , where wild teosinte was domesticated about 7000 BC and selectively bred to become domestic maize. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 4200 BC; another species of cotton was domesticated in Mesoamerica and became by far the most important species of cotton in the textile industry in modern times. Evidence of agriculture in

10088-649: Was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and given the name Cucurbita citrullus . It was reassigned to the genus Citrullus in 1836, under the replacement name Citrullus vulgaris , by the German botanist Heinrich Adolf Schrader . (The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants does not allow names like " Citrullus citrullus ".) The species is further divided into several varieties, of which bitter wooly melon ( Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. lanatus ), citron melons ( Citrullus lanatus var. citroides (L. H. Bailey) Mansf.), and

10192-529: Was grown in Tennessee in 2013 and weighed 159 kilograms (351 pounds). Watermelon is a sweet, commonly consumed fruit of summer, usually as fresh slices, diced in mixed fruit salads , or as juice. Watermelon juice can be blended with other fruit juices or made into wine . The seeds have a nutty flavor and can be dried and roasted, or ground into flour. Watermelon rinds may be eaten, but their unappealing flavor may be overcome by pickling , sometimes eaten as

10296-744: Was hindered by the topography of mainland Greece that only allowed for roughly 10% of the land to be cultivated properly, necessitating the specialised exportation of oil and wine and importation of grains from Thrace (centered in what is now Bulgaria ) and the Greek colonies of Pontic Greeks near the Black Sea . During the Hellenistic period , the Ptolemaic Empire controlled Egypt , Cyprus , Phoenicia , and Cyrenaica , major grain-producing regions that mainland Greeks depended on for subsistence, while

10400-699: Was independently developed on the island of New Guinea . Banana cultivation of Musa acuminata , including hybridization , dates back to 5000 BC, and possibly to 8000 BC, in Papua New Guinea . Bees were kept for honey in the Middle East around 7000 BC. Archaeological evidence from various sites on the Iberian peninsula suggest the domestication of plants and animals between 6000 and 4500 BC. The Céide Fields , located in Ireland consist of extensive tracts of land enclosed by stone walls, these walls date to 3500 BC and

10504-550: Was later spread to Maritime Southeast Asia by the Austronesian expansion , starting at around 3,500 to 2,000 BC. This migration event also saw the introduction of cultivated and domesticated food plants from Taiwan , Maritime Southeast Asia , and New Guinea into the Pacific Islands as canoe plants . Contact with Sri Lanka and Southern India by Austronesian sailors also led to an exchange of food plants which later became

10608-514: Was preserved by drying, salting and smoking. The civilization of Ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal flooding. The river's predictability and the fertile soil allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth. Egyptians were among the first peoples to practice agriculture on a large scale, starting in the pre-dynastic period from

10712-571: Was reassigned to the genus Citrullus in 1916 by Japanese botanists Jinzō Matsumura and Takenoshin Nakai . Watermelons were originally cultivated for their high water content and stored to be eaten during dry seasons, as a source of both food and water. Watermelon seeds were found in the Dead Sea region at the ancient settlements of Bab edh-Dhra and Tel Arad . Many 5000-year-old wild watermelon seeds ( C. lanatus ) were discovered at Uan Muhuggiag ,

10816-531: Was widely planted in Europe in the 17th century as a minor garden crop. Early watermelons were not sweet, but bitter, with yellowish-white flesh. They were also difficult to open. The modern watermelon, which tastes sweeter and is easier to open, was developed over time through selective breeding . European colonists introduced the watermelon to the New World . Spanish settlers were growing it in Florida in 1576. It

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