71
© The Author(s) 2021
H. Campos (ed.), The Innovation Revolution in Agriculture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50991-0_3
Chapter 3
Open Innovation and Value Creation
in Crop Genetics
Mathias L. Müller and Hugo Campos
3.1 Origins of Agriculture
The evolution of human society is closely associated with, and has been dependent
on, the progress man has made in agriculture. Therefore, it is no surprise that the
field of agriculture has been a particularly fertile ground for innovation. The
Neolithic Revolution, at the start of the Holocene calendar, about 12,000 years ago,
marks a transition period during which our ancestors’ lifestyles changed from hunting and gathering to cultivating crops and growing livestock (Bocquet-Appel 2011).
The fertile crescent in the Middle-East, from upper Egypt to the Persian Gulf,
including the southeastern regions of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran, are
often called the “cradle of civilization” for the fact that sedentism and farming
emerged there first (Maisels, 1993), fundamentally transforming the way of life of
previously nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers. The dawn of agriculture (from
Latin ager = “field” and cultura = “growing, cultivation”) was made possible by a
warming of the earth’s temperatures by approximately 20 °C following the last ice
age, as could be inferred from ice cores collected in Greenland (Platt et al. 2017).
The increasingly stable climate made the cultivation of crops and the raising of
animals feasible and more reliable. Over the next two millennia, similar developments to those in the fertile crescent occurred and gave rise to the eight centers of
origin of agriculture and their derived crops (Vavilov 1951). While the transformation of lifestyles had a profound effect on the environment through the practice of
Mathias Müller is a Corteva Agriscience employee. Corteva Agriscience is a for profit agricultural
company.
M. L. Müller (*)
Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, USA
e-mail: mathias.muller@corteva.com
H. Campos
International Potato Center, Lima, Peru
© The Author(s) 2021
H. Campos (ed.), The Innovation Revolution in Agriculture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50991-0_3
Chapter 3
Open Innovation and Value Creation
in Crop Genetics
Mathias L. Müller and Hugo Campos
3.1 Origins of Agriculture
The evolution of human society is closely associated with, and has been dependent
on, the progress man has made in agriculture. Therefore, it is no surprise that the
field of agriculture has been a particularly fertile ground for innovation. The
Neolithic Revolution, at the start of the Holocene calendar, about 12,000 years ago,
marks a transition period during which our ancestors’ lifestyles changed from hunting and gathering to cultivating crops and growing livestock (Bocquet-Appel 2011).
The fertile crescent in the Middle-East, from upper Egypt to the Persian Gulf,
including the southeastern regions of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran, are
often called the “cradle of civilization” for the fact that sedentism and farming
emerged there first (Maisels, 1993), fundamentally transforming the way of life of
previously nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers. The dawn of agriculture (from
Latin ager = “field” and cultura = “growing, cultivation”) was made possible by a
warming of the earth’s temperatures by approximately 20 °C following the last ice
age, as could be inferred from ice cores collected in Greenland (Platt et al. 2017).
The increasingly stable climate made the cultivation of crops and the raising of
animals feasible and more reliable. Over the next two millennia, similar developments to those in the fertile crescent occurred and gave rise to the eight centers of
origin of agriculture and their derived crops (Vavilov 1951). While the transformation of lifestyles had a profound effect on the environment through the practice of
Mathias Müller is a Corteva Agriscience employee. Corteva Agriscience is a for profit agricultural
company.
M. L. Müller (*)
Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, USA
e-mail: mathias.muller@corteva.com
H. Campos
International Potato Center, Lima, Peru