Evolution during Domestication

Domestication is a genetic selection process exerted – consciously or unconsciously – by humans to adapt wild plants andanimals to cultivation andherding, respectively. Because of this process, major crops and domesticated breeds arose,whichwere not only easier to cultivate or herd but also more appealing to consume or process for further uses. During domestication, plants and animals are subjected to natural as well as human selection. Darwin (1868) observed that ‘No doubt man selects varying individuals, sows their seeds, and again selects their varying offspring _ Man therefore may be said to have been trying an experiment on a gigantic scale; and it is an experiment which nature during the long lapse of time has incessantly tried.’