maize

Examples of maize in the following topics:

• Agricultural Settlements and Chiefdoms

  • Maize was first grown in the eastern United States around 200 BCE, and highly productive adapted strains became widely used around 900 CE.
  • It seems that maize was adopted first as a supplement to existing agricultural plants, but gradually came to dominate as its yields increased.
  • Ultimately, the Eastern Agricultural Complex was thoroughly replaced by maize-based agriculture .
  • The earliest maize known to have been grown in the Southwest was a popcorn variety with a cob only about one or two inches long.
  • Maize was a major crop for most all of the early agricultural societies in North America.

• Study of Photosynthesis

  • Grasses in hot, arid environments, specifically maize, but also millet, sorghum, sugar cane, and crabgrass, follow a C4 photosynthetic pathway that produces higher ratios of 13C to 12C.
  • Case studies show that millet and maize eaters can easily be distinguished from rice and wheat eaters.

• Plant DNA Viruses

  • Maize streak virus is an insect-transmitted ssDNA maize virus in the genus Mastrevirus of the family Geminiviridae, endemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • It contains a wide range of plant viruses including bean golden mosaic virus, beet curly top virus, maize streak virus , and tomato pseudo-curly top virus, which together are responsible for a significant amount of crop damage worldwide.
  • The black-faced leafhopper (Graminella nigrifrons) transmits both maize fine streak virus and maize chlorotic dwarf virus.

• CAM and C4 Photosynthesis

  • Many important crop plants are C4 plants, including maize, sorghum, sugarcane, and millet.
  • Cross section of a C4 plant, specifically of a maize leaf.

• Productivity Gains in Agriculture

  • Also, feeding chopped hay and ground grains, particularly corn (maize), was found to improve digestibility.

• Native Americans in the 1490's

  • Socially and economically, the development of Mississippian culture coincided with the adoption of comparatively large-scale, intensive maize agriculture, which supported larger populations and craft specialization.
  • Scholars have theorized that drought and the collapse of maize agriculture, together with possible deforestation and overhunting by the concentrated populations, forced them to move away from major sites.

• Innovation and Limitation

  • They grew maize and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network, and had a complex stratified society.
  • Early inhabitants of the Americas developed agriculture, developing and breeding maize (corn) from ears 2–5 cm in length to the current size we are familiar with today.

• The Nazca

  • Evidence also suggests that the Nazca people may have exacerbated the effects of these floods by gradually cutting down Prosopis pallida trees to make room for maize and cotton agriculture.

• The Inca People

  • They also fermented maize, or corn, to create the alcoholic beverage chicha.

• Mississippian Culture

  • Maize-based agriculture.
  • In most places, the development of Mississippian culture coincided with adoption of comparatively large-scale, intensive maize agriculture, which supported larger populations and craft specialization.