Abstract:

Based on studies on the three major places of worldwide origin of agricultural crops, we propose in this paper that China’s most significant contribution to the development of world civilization is domesticating foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and rice. We pay special attention on environmental settings of agriculture’s places of origins and point out that physical environment at those places was not the best. Imperfect environment forces people to give up hunting and gathering and to obtain food through agricultural practices. The excellent natural environment of European plains once provided abundant fauna and flora resources, but it led to a long period of barbarism and impeded the development of civilization. With a geographical perspective, we can see that originations of human civilization were areas with fragile environmental settings.

Key words: origination of agriculture, geographical fundamentals, environmental attributes, contribution to civilization