Semi‐Domestication

The notion of semi‐domestication originated to refer to a kind of plant that is in between wild plants and domesticated crops and has been extended to refer to a particular mode of interaction between humans and animals. Botanists and archeologists have been very interested in semi‐cultivated plants for their potential to reveal origins. Anthropologists, in contrast, have begun to accumulate field data that show the usefulness of such plants to local communities. For example, research in a village in the foothills of the Himalayas has analyzed the use of a particular kind of grass root called Namitoa which grows in semi‐cultivated areas. Although there are wild roots growing in the same area, these semi‐domesticated roots grow larger in size and produce more seed roots. According to the anthropologist, the semi‐cultivated roots are “gathered” rather than “harvested,” but in contrast to the cultivated roots that are planted in prepared fields, these semi‐domesticated roots do not grow as well under human control. It is also well known that in various regions of Asia, numerous semi‐cultivated plants are relied upon in times of pending famine

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Biology · Botany · Cultivated plant taxonomy · Domestication · Foothills · Geography · Ginger and Zingiberaceae research · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Ecology