what is maize cultivation apush

It is grown as a food crop mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. Cultivation and Harvesting of Maize: Maize is a summer annual. It thrives best in fertile, well irrigated, medium, heavy loamy soil.

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What is maize cultivation?

Maize Cultivation Def: agricultural practices based primarily on the cultivation of maize, which is Indian corn Sig: - Maize fed large populations, perhaps as many as 20 million in Mexico alone

Is maize a Native American food?

Crawfurd also writes, — “Maize is, beyond all question, a native of America, and before the discovery of the New World was wholly unknown to the old.” Royle says that the Portuguese very probably introduced the richest products of America into India, such as maize, capsicum, guava, custard-apple and pine­apple.

How was the maize brought to China?

According to De Candolle, the Maize was brought to China after the discovery of America (1492). The Portuguese came to Java in 1496, that is to say four years after the discovery of America and to China in 1516, Magellan’s voyage from South America to Philippines took place in 1520.

Where was the first maize crop found in North America?

The earliest direct-dated maize in the northeast is the 399–208 cal BC, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, at the Vinette site.

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Why was maize so important Apush?

-The maize inspired the complex and efficient irrigation system that the Pueblos invented specifically for their cornfields. -The Anasazi were able to sustain large-scale settlements due to corn planting. -Gradually, the maize then spread to further into North America.

How did maize cultivation transform societies?

Significance to U.S. History: Maize cultivation and other cultivation techniques led to use of agriculture by American Indians, which promoted a sedentary life. Provided a stable food supply that promoted population growth and consequently more sophisticated civilizations.

What is maize quizlet?

Term: maize Definition: A type of corn, tall, annual, widely grown in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times.

Where was the starting point of maize cultivation?

Domestication and history Corn was first domesticated by native peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Modern corn is believed to have been derived from the Balsas teosinte (Zea mays parviglumis), a wild grass.

How did maize cultivation affect the American Southwest?

The spread of maize cultivation from present day Mexico northward into the present-day American Southwest and beyond supported economic development, settlement, advanced irrigation, and social diversification among societies.

Why was maize so important?

Maize (American Corn) is most significant in terms of agronomy and world wide economic impact. Maize produces good crops in various climatic zones and it prospers in areas too dry for rice and too wet for wheat; thus fitting into a niche between the two.

What is the maize cultivation?

Globally, maize is known as queen of cereals because it has the highest genetic yield potential among the cereals. It is cultivated on nearly 150 m ha in about 160 countries having wider diversity of soil, climate, biodiversity and management practices that contributes 36 % (782 m t) in the global grain production.

What is a plantation Apush?

plantation system. A system of agricultural production based on large-scale land ownership and the exploitation of labor and the environment. This system focused on the production of cash crops and utilized slave labor.

Why was maize so important to Mesoamerica?

Maize can be stored for lengthy periods of time, it can be ground into flour, and it easily provides surplus for future use. Maize was vital to the survival of the Mesoamerican people. Its cultural significance is reflected in Mesoamerican origin myths, artwork, and rituals.

When was maize first cultivated?

Maize was domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass growing in the lower reaches of the Balsas River Valley of Central Mexico, around 9,000 years ago. There is evidence maize was first cultivated in the Maya lowlands around 6,500 years ago, at about the same time that it appears along the Pacific coast of Mexico.

How was maize incorporated into culture?

Maize was the staple food of most of the pre-Columbian North American, Mesoamerican, South American, and Caribbean cultures. In addition to growing well in these climates, maize was easily stored, could be eaten in a number of ways (e.g. wholes or used as a flour) and had many other uses (e.g. baskets, fuel, etc.)

How did maize affect natives?

Maize had a profound effect on the lifestyles of many tribes. Once nomadic, tribes of the American Southwest transformed into sedentary farming communities with the arrival of corn.

Why was corn so important to the natives?

3.1. Corn was the most important staple food grown by Native Americans, but corn stalks also provided a pole for beans to climb and the shade from the corn benefited squash that grew under the leaves. The beans, as with all legumes, provided nitrogen for the corn and squash.

Why was corn an important crop to early?

Why was corn an important crop to early peoples? It was highly nourished, and grew in the tropical climate well. You could grow enough to live on for a long time. What were the main differences between hunter-gatherer societies and those based primarily on agriculture?

What is the history of maize?

Maize (/meɪz/ MAYZ; Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maíz after Taino: mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago.

When was maize grown?

The maize was grown by the Indians in new Mexico as early as 2000 B .C. De Candolle on this subject writes— “No one denies that maize was unknown in Europe at the time of Roman Empire but it has been said that it was brought from the east in the Middle ages”. ADVERTISEMENTS:

What is the purpose of maize?

Uses of Maize: The chief use is as a food for man and livestock. The grain is very nutritious, with a high percentage of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Not only is the grain valuable as a stock feed, but the plant as a whole is an important fodder crop. The immature cobs are largely eaten after roasting.

What is maize starch used for?

Maize starch is used for the production of dextrose and com syrup; also employed as a diluent for pharmaceutical preparations, dusting material to prevent articles like surgeons gloves, from sticking together, ingredient of oil-well drilling muds, and as a depressant in ore-floatation process.

What is the most important food crop in the world?

Maize also known as ‘Indian corn’ or simply as ‘corn’, is a food crop of considerable importance in many parts of the world, especially in the U.S.A., which produces nearly 57 per cent or the total maize grown in the world as compared to about 1.4 per cent produced in India.

When is maize harvested?

Maize is a summer annual. It thrives best in fertile, well irrigated, medium, heavy loamy soil. It is also commonly grown in the coarse gravel soils of hilly tracts. In India the crop is generally sown in June-July and harvested in September-October.

Which countries produce maize?

The other important maize producing countries are—China ( 4.4 per cent), the Russia (3.3 per cent), Manchuria (2.9 per cent), Yugoslavia (2.4 per cent) and Mexico (2.3 per cent). A tall annual cultivated grass; it has been introduced in this country from tropical America about the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Who introduced maize to Europe?

Conclusively this can be said that Maize was first introduced into Europe by Columbus, and into Asia by the earlier Portuguese explorers.

Where was maize first grown?

The earliest direct-dated maize in the northeast is the 399–208 cal BCE, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, at the Vinette site. Other early appearances are Meadowcroft Rockshelter.

What is maize called?

In the Americas, maize is called corn, somewhat confusingly for the rest of the English-speaking world, where 'corn' refers to the seeds of any grain, including barley, wheat or rye. The process of maize domestication radically changed it from its origins. The seeds of wild teosinte are encased in hard shells and arranged on a spike ...

How many races of maize are there in Peru?

DNA studies suggest that purposeful selection for various traits continued throughout this period, leading to the wide variety of species today. For example, 35 different races of maize have been identified in pre-Columbian Peru, including popcorns, flint varieties, and varieties for specific uses, such as chicha beer, textile dyes, and flour.

How did maize spread?

The Spread of Maize. Eventually, maize spread out from Mexico, probably by the diffusion of seeds along trade networks rather than migration of people. It was used in the southwestern United States by about 3,200 years ago, and in the eastern United States beginning about 2,100 years ago.

What are some of the traditions of maize?

As maize was spread outside of its roots in Central America, it became part of already existing agricultural traditions, such as the Eastern Agricultural Complex, which included pumpkin ( Cucurbita sp ), chenopodium and sunflower ( Helianthus ).

Where was starch grain discovered?

Recently starch grain evidence has been discovered in Panama suggesting the use of maize there by 7800-7000 cal BP, and the discovery of wild teosinte growing in the Balsas river region of Mexico has lent support to that model.

Can maize reproduce on its own?

Modern maize has hundreds of exposed kernels attached to a cob which is completely covered by husks and so cannot reproduce on its own . The morphological change is among the most divergent of speciation known on the planet, and it is only recent genetic studies that have proven the connection.

Theories of Maize Domestication

The Spread of Maize

• Eventually, maize spread out from Mexico, probably by the diffusion of seeds along trade networks rather than migration of people. It was used in the southwestern United States by about 3,200 years ago, and in the eastern United States beginning about 2,100 years ago. By 700 CE, maize was well established up into the Canadian shield. DNA studies su...

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Agricultural Traditions

Archaeological Sites Important to Maize

Selected Studies