No they didn't. Genetic modification is not the same thing as crossbreeding. And what they did always happened with regards and love for the environment. They produced crops that brought balance and harmony in nature so they always had fresh and healthy food. They didn't use artificial fertilizers or pesticides nor they messed with the DNA sequence manually for shady purposes.

Have you seen a goat or sheep eating its way through a field of weed? They eat and poop at the same time as they move around. That's an example of a natural fertilizer, cleansing and ploughing tool.

It's the obsession of first-world countries wanting meat every day on the table. That is unnatural. That is disturbing harmony and that is why we need chemical pesticides and genetic modifications and that is why these countries have an excess rate of cancer in comparison to those that still grow food in their yards naturally.

So stop calling natural agriculture genetic modification. That's an argument Monsanto and the likes brought to the table to mess with your mind and justify their cause and is completely invalid.