Final answer:
Agrarians are individuals actively engaged in agriculture, which entails cultivating land and raising animals for human use. The transition to agriculture led to significant social and economic changes, including the rise of civilizations, labor specialization, and the marginalization of farmers in modern societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Agrarians are individuals involved in agriculture, which is the process of cultivating the land and growing crops or raising animals for the utilization of their products. Agriculture involves domestication, or the genetic modification of organisms, to make them better suited for human use. Plant cultivation requires substantial effort including clearing, tilling, sowing, watering, weeding, pest control, and harvesting. This type of labor-intensive activity is often conducted by extended families in agricultural societies where chores are divided by gender and age.
Farming societies faced changes with the development of agriculture, such as the shift from hunting and gathering, which allowed for a more sedentary lifestyle and contributed to the rise of civilizations and specialized labor roles. The advent of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic Revolution, occurred independently in various regions, leading to the domestication of different types of plants and prompting significant transformations in human societies.
Despite the benefits brought about by agriculture, there are contemporary challenges that farmers face. These range from the pressures of urban and state demands to produce higher yields, to the often marginal and disadvantaged status of farmers, now commonly part of a peasant class within national economies.