A History of Agriculture in India v1.c20.s2.18

v1.c20.s2.18

The storage of grain and the conservation of live meat in the form of domesticated birds and animals is the major achievement of man in the Neolithic agricultural revolution. ‘Plants capture the radiant energy of the sun and reorganize and store it in the production of seeds and vegetable matter. Animals can utilize the stored energy of plants by eating them and their seeds. By domesticating plants, man gains control over the primary food source for animals. By domesticating animals, he gains control over living organisms that eat plants and greatly concentrate the energy they derive in the form of animal protein. Thus man taps the primary source of food energy by controlling plants, and he assures himself high-protein food by controlling animals.’¹⁷ This led to security in food requirements of man and hence to an increase in his population. Thus, domestication of plants and animals is the foundation of civilization. Only when man is freed from worry of getting food that he starts thinking, and this leads to higher things in life, and the development of science and art and of culture.