Plants and the person. A flashback and a prospection

you are: Plants and the person

The Primitive person was the hunter and the collector, and its livelihood entirely depended from shchedrot the nature. Small wandering human populations could live, travelling on enough extensive territory and collecting from it ' a crop ' fruits, nuts, cereals and the wild animals which level was supported by balance of an ecosystem. by available estimations to provide with food within a year of one wandering hunter-collector, the territory the area approximately 25 км2 was necessary. At such state of affairs influence of the person on its ecological environment was, possibly, insignificant; he ate that wanted, extending thus seeds of plants, and its garbage did not pollute an ecosystem and did not cause essential changes in specific structure of organisms surrounding it.

Wild plants gave the chance to the person to satisfy and many other requirements. For cultivation of fire it collected the wood formed as a result of growth of walls of vegetative cages. For protection against a bad weather it used leaves, straw, branches and trunks of trees. As a result of casual and chaotic supervision he has found out that some wild plants possess medical properties, and others have a specific smell or pleasant taste. He has learnt also that some plants develop such curious substances, as rubber, pitch and fibres which can be allocated and used for the different purposes. most part of cultural plants cultivated now was, is probable, casual ' is opened ' those whom we name now ' primitive people '; the modern person has made very few additions to the basic set of the plants having economic value.

When and as people have started to grow up plants for satisfaction of the requirements, it is precisely not known, however the first person who has guessed that seeds can be collected, stored and sowed in considerable quantities to provide itself with a constant source of food, has made revolution not less important, than what have been caused by taming of fire, industrial revolution or atomic energy opening. The most important consequence of cultivation and cultivation of plants and animals, i.e. Agriculture origin, there was a transition from a nomadic way of life to settled. as a result territorial requirements have decreased to less than 0,25 км2 on one person that on two order of size more low in comparison with requirements of the nomad. Cultivation of plants has begun process of their continuous improvement. The person selected and grew up the copies of plants possessing the greatest productivity, and their seeds kept for sowing the next years. Such selection and cultivation of the organisms possessing valuable signs, conducted to reception more and more big crops and more and more productive animals. However realisation of genetically caused ability of new agricultural plants to give big crops was possible only at entering into soil of fertilizers: the manure, the decaying rests of plants and substances of an animal origin (for example, a bone flour or guano) - any accessible sources of organic substances were used. In the beginning people brought these substances in soil, operating, it is probable, purely empirically, i.e. Without putting before itself any certain problems. Hardly east tribes of the American Indians which put a herring or some the fish goals on each hillock sowed by several grains of corn, had though any representation about agrochemical consequences of the actions, however without this source of organic and mineral substances crops on stony soils which they cultivated, were is insignificant are small. Our modern technology is appreciably based on such empirically developed receptions entered into practice, how they could offer a theoretical explanation if to consider a science condition when they began to be applied for the first time. The similar state of affairs remains and up to now; so, for example, in medicine various substances (including phytogenesis) though the way of their action remains not clear are effectively used.

The Plants possessing valuable genetic qualities, at entering into soil of fertilizers can well grow and give rich crops, however, as we already saw, they can be also an attractive source of food for the diversified potential enemies - from bacteria, mushrooms and insects to birds, rodents and larger mammals. Therefore to the farmer to be assured that fruits of its works will get to it, instead of to all these organisms, eventually it was necessary to create the whole arsenal of the physical and chemical means keeping, frightening off or killing the organisms encroaching for its crop. Usually for these purposes use the diversified means - from a barbed wire, grids, scarecrows and fencings being energised to pesticides. Most important of these means - pesticides which have appeared rather effective almost in all cases and became absolutely necessary for development of modern intensive agriculture. However they are not deprived lacks; as it was already told, the majority of pesticides does not possess sufficient specificity concerning those organisms against which they are applied; biological disintegration of some of them occurs insufficiently quickly, and others contain poisonous impurity; besides, in many cases organisms-targets mutirujut or in their population there is a selection on stability to the given pesticide so pesticide, which was before effective, becomes useless ' Despite creation and working out of some other methods of protection of plants, such as a crop rotation, use of the plants-traps involving in of wreckers, or biological methods of pest control, is impossible now. To refuse application of pesticides, even how many-nibud-essentially to reduce it as it immediately would entail behind itself serious losses of a crop and would cause hunger. *)

Even cultivation of grades with valuable genetic signs together with application of plentiful fertilizers and protection against wreckers does not guarantee against losses. The rich crop of wheat before the cleaning can be destroyed hurricane or strong hailstones which will beat plants to the earth. Protect plants from such acts of nature the substances changing character of growth, like preparation SSS (hlorholinhlorid, or tsikotsel) under which action more undersized and strong plants with shorter mezhdouzlijami turn out can to help. The Same results can achieve without application of chemical substances, by improvement of genetic signs. Similarly the rich crop of fruits on a tree can be lost as a result of premature subsidence; this trouble quite often manages to be avoided by timely spraying auksinopodobnymi substances, for example NUK. The chemical substances influencing germination, dormant period, flowering, fructification, bookmark of roots, ageing of leaves and subsidence tsvetkov, fruits, etc., play more and more important role in agriculture, and it is necessary to expect the further development of this direction.

There is a number of the dangers threatening to a crop and after it is collected. Many fruits and vegetables, being are removed from a plant, cannot long be stored. It is necessary not only preserve them against parasites and wreckers, but also to create such storage conditions at which destructive influence of their own metabolic processes would be reduced to a minimum. So, for example, the apples belonging to number of fruits, developing etilen, often store at rather low temperatures which are slowing down formation etilena, in premises with the high maintenance of dioxide of carbon which weakens influence formed etilena on fruits. In modern containers for transportation of fruits create low atmospheric pressure at which developed by fabrics etilen is allocated and dissipates, before. He has time to harm ·plodam. Certainly, in the future it is necessary to expect the further perfection of storage conditions of foodstuff and ways of their processing; Many laboratories are occupied, for example, by creation of new methods of drying by sublimation with the subsequent restoration of an initial condition of products, methods of radiating sterilisation of the meat products packed into polyethylene and vegetables and ways of their protection from damage by chemical processing.

The Final stage of long process of manufacture of foodstuff consists in their finishing to the consumer. All of us know that in some parts of globe, for example in the North America and Australia, there is a surplus of foodstuff which are exported, whereas to other places, for example to Africa, Asia and the South America, it is necessary to import significant amounts of products. Why this or that country becomes the exporter of foodstuff? Here, of course, it is a lot of reasons, but the good soil and environmental conditions are necessary for creation of surplus of foodstuff first of all; the effective conducting the agriculture supported with well developed biological, chemical both technical possibilities and methods; the developed economy and low enough growth rate of the population. The countries with a high level of development of technics have possibility to spend the program of the researches directed on reception of improved genetic lines of plants and animals, increase of quantity and quality of fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators, creation of irrigating constructions, and also means and conditions for storage and transportation of foodstuff. Less developed countries not in a condition to provide all these conditions or at least some of them. Unfortunately, the greatest difficulties in consumption of already made foodstuff by all population often arise at such economic and political systems which are inefficient; are unfair, repressive or unstable. Thus, though it is usually not accepted to consider a policy and economy as a plant biology part, they, undoubtedly, influence agriculture, and thereby and on character of manufacture and food consumption. Even in such rich country as the United States of America, both in city, and in rural areas are available the poverty centres where people suffer from an insufficient food, and especially it concerns children and old men. Attempts

To rectify situation by means of any social actions, such as unemployment benefits, grocery coupons and hot breakfasts at schools, however for the present it was not possible to achieve that ' any American did not go to bed hungry '. It is necessary to make still very many, and the further policy in this area will depend appreciably on wisdom and readiness of those who makes present generation of pupils and in which number, I hope, some readers of this book will enter.