Agricultural Development: the Victory over famine

1.

Agricultural Development: the Victory over famine

2.

Famine
There is a king in the world: this king is merciless,
Hunger is his name.
He leads armies;
at sea by ships
Rules; drives people to the artel,
Walks behind the plow, stands behind the shoulders
Stonecutters, weavers.
A. Nekrasov. Railway
Famine - the Third Horsemen of the Apocalypse

3.

Old hunters and gatherers
Plus:
Man spent 20 hours
a week on hunter
and have a lot of
free time
Minus
It takes about 15
sq. km. per 1 person
(Kaluga region 60
th. people)

4.

Slash-and-burn agriculture
Pluses:
-Good fertility: up 10 centeres
wheat per hectare
-Not required horses
-Less work
Minuses:
-After 2-3 years need
abandon this field
-Repeat all procedure only
after 50 year, when it
would forest again
It takes 1 sq km per 2
person:
(Kaluga region 60 th.
people)

5.

Three-field
Pluses:
It takes less land –
field could be used for
decades
Minuses:
-Wheat productivity:
4 centres per 1 hectares
-It need save 1/4 of
harvest on seeds
-Productivity decrease,
because the soil is
depleted

6.

Wooden plough and Plough

7.

Four-field
Pluses:
-clover returned nitrogen into soil
-turnips and clever – cattle food,
it provide a lot of manure
Wheat productivity:
16 centres of wheat per hectare
(England, 1800)

8.

New animal breeds

9.

Potato
Potatoes were brought from
America, it became
important in Europe from
18th Century
Plus:
Potato Productivity
> 60 centners per hectare
Minus:
Caloric: 4 times less than grain

10.

19th Century - Age of Guano
• Guano - accumulated
excrement of seabirds
• Effective nitrogen-phosphorus
fertilizer