Читать книгу Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding - George Acquaah - Страница 66

Archeological and historical records from early civilizations indicate that some of these communities engaged in rudimentary plant manipulations, albeit in the dark, without knowledge of plant heredity. Whereas it would not be farfetched to assume that, just like farmers of the early civilizations who domesticated crops species would have also continued their selection practices to produce farmer‐selected varieties, evidence of deliberate plant manipulation for the purposes of improvement are few. Archeological findings occasionally reveal some ancient practices that indicate plant manipulation beyond phenotypic selection among natural variability occurred. Babylonians are said to have perceived the role of pollen in successful fruit production and applied it to the pistils of female date palms to produce fruit. The Assyrians did likewise in about 870 BCE, artificially pollinating date palms.