Agriculture didn't spur growth of human population

New York: Global climate change and biological factors such as diseases, and not the advent of agriculture, controlled long-term growth of human population for most of the past 12,000 years, says a new study.

The researchers found that prehistoric human populations of hunter-gatherers in a region of North America grew at the same rate as farming societies in Europe.

The findings challenge the commonly held view that the advent of agriculture 10,000-12,000 years ago accelerated human population growth.

"Our analysis shows that transitioning farming societies experienced the same rate of growth as contemporaneous foraging societies," said study co-author Robert Kelly, professor of anthropology at University of Wyoming in the US.