When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible.
During the Middle Ages, in North Africa and the Near East developed and disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on and principles, the use of machines such as norias, and the use of water raising machines, dams, and reservoirs.
The last century has seen the intensification, concentration and specialization of agriculture, relying upon new technologies of agricultural chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides), mechanization, and plant breeding (hybrids and GMO's). I
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