Evolution Of Agricultural Production Research Articles

Agricultural Dynamics in Southwestern Mediterranean France from the End of the Iron Age to the Early Middle Ages

ABSTRACT The north-western Mediterranean rural world underwent major socioeconomic and cultural changes between the Late Iron Age and the beginning of the Middle Ages, with a decisive impact on the evolution of agricultural production, practices and landscapes. Roman expansion led to the spread of villae (2nd–1st c. BC), leading to a new structuration of rural areas and the development of a speculative agriculture that favoured wine production. By the end of the Roman period, new changes are observed: while certain Roman villae are still occupied, the appearance of a new network of rural settlements reveals the emergence of a new form of rural economy. Although these changes are increasingly well documented by archaeology, their impact on the agrarian production and practices remains little explored. The multiplication of archaeobotanical investigations in southwestern Mediterranean France allows us to present a first review of farming practices and their evolution during this key period. The study of 30 rural sites provides new data concerning local agriculture between the 2nd c. BC and the 8th c. AD (cultivated plants, prevalence of certain species, farming practices, exploited landscapes) and attempts to detect potential evolutions over time such as changes in staple crops, diversification, exploitation of new ‘terroirs’.

Evolution of Agricultural Production in Portugal during 1850–2018: A Geographical and Historical Perspective

Agricultural statistical data enable the detection and interpretation of the development of agriculture and the food supply situation over time, which is essential for food security evaluation in any country. Based on the historical agricultural statistics, this study produces a long spatial time-series with annual production values of three cereals relevant to global food security—wheat, maize, and rice, aiming to provide geographical and historical perspectives. Therefore, we reconstructed past and current production patterns and trends at the district level over 169 years, which supported a space–time cross-reading of the general characteristics of the regional agricultural production value distributions and relative densities in Portugal. Particularly, the production trends of wheat, maize, and rice showed three different situations: growth (maize), stability (rice), and decline (wheat). For decades, maize and wheat production alternated, depending on agricultural years and political aspects, such as the Wheat Campaign (1929–1938). The changes over time presented a pattern that, in the case of these three cereals, enabled a clear division of the country into major regions according to cereal production. Overall, maize and rice, both grown on irrigated croplands, presented a similar pattern in some regions of Portugal, mainly the central region. In this study, a preliminary analysis was presented and related to successive public policies; however, notably, there are more lessons to be learned from this long spatial time-series.

The Modern Food Industry in the United States: A Case Study of Industrial Sabotage

The U.S. food industry displays the ugly side of capitalism, manifesting numerous examples of what Thorstein Veblen termed “industrial sabotage.” The evolution of agricultural production from small family farms to huge industrial agribusinesses has been accompanied by toxic pesticide and herbicide use, unsafe industrial meat, and unsustainable farming practices. Meanwhile, industrial food production shifted diets from primarily whole foods to mostly ultra-processed food-like substances. Ultra-processed food is designed to be addictive by incorporating copious amounts of sugar, salt, fat, and flavorings, fueling the obesity crisis in the process. The solutions to our food problems lie along the lines suggested by Veblen, and involve putting the productive people of society, especially farmers, back in charge of production, while empowering the common people and their communities. Furthermore, government agencies with teeth and a series of targeted regulations can deliver on the promise of countervailing power suggested by John Kenneth Galbraith.

The expulsion of the Moriscos from the Catalan Countries: ideology and history

The expulsion of the Moriscos from the Catalan Countries, particularly from the Valencian Country, has been interpreted in various ways. Historians who have dealt with the subject have tended towards one or two main positions that can be termed Moriscophile and Moriscophobic. The former considered that the expulsion of a very active Islamic minority brought about a serious check to the process of capitalist development. The latter, taking for granted that the Morisco minority was not so economically important, believed their expulsion did not have such an influence, and even that if they did have an influence, it was in the opposite direction. Both interpretations were heavily charged with ideological presuppositions. The present article attempts to settle the question more objectively by analysing the changes that took place in the population structure in the wake of the expulsion, the evolution of agricultural production during the entire Modern Age, and the changes in the structure of land ownership. The results seem to endorse what we have called Moriscophobic interpretation. This is because the population structure, the evolution of agricultural production, and changes in the structure of ownership seem to point to an acceleration in growth of the capitalistic economy after the expulsion.

Production and Productivity in Post-Second World War Bulgarian Agriculture - Major Trends and Factors of Changes

This study is a first attempt to clarify major trends and factors of changes in production and productivity in Post-Second World War Bulgarian agriculture. It incorporates an interdisciplinary approach and specifies crucial institutional, economic, organizational, technological etc. factors affecting development of agricultural production and productivity. Firstly, evolution of agricultural production and productivity is analyzed, and effect of labor, land and livestock productivity on different productions assessed. Secondly, evolution and impact of main technological factors (application of chemicals, mechanization, irrigation, introduction of new varieties etc.) are examined. Third, stages in property rights development and restructuring of farms are presented, and their effects on production and productivity evaluated. Forth, paces in modernization of public policy, its key elements (central planning, price and trade regulations, support programs etc.) and implications on agriculture are identified. Fifth, evolution and role of the demands for farm products is assessed. Next, changes in labor quantity and composition, and their impact on agricultural production and productivity are scrutinized. Finally, effects of climate changes and weather extremes on agriculture are underlined.

Mortality, interest rates, investment, and agricultural production in 18th century England

This paper shows that the exogenous decline of adult mortality at the end of the 17th century can be one of the causes driving both the decline of interest rate and the increase in agricultural production per acre in pre-industrial England. Following the intuition of the life-cycle hypothesis, I claim that the increase in adult life expectancy must have implied less farmer impatience and it could have caused more investment in nitrogen stock and land fertility, the increase in agricultural land, and higher production per acre. I analyze this dynamic interaction using an overlapping generations model and show that the evolution of agricultural production and capital rates of return predicted by the model coincide fairly well with their empirical pattern.

The development of agricultural production in Finland 1975—85

Forecasts of the production of main agricultural products until 1985 are based on an assumption that slightly lower targets for self-sufficiency of each product will be maintained in the future. Internal factors are also taken into account in estimating the evolution of agricultural production in the 1980's. Milk production is predicted to drop to 2910 mill. litres, beef production to 105 mill. kg. and egg production to 70 mill. kg. by 1985. Comsumption of pork is increasing and, therefore, the pork production is estimated to rise to 180 mill. kg. Similarly, the prospects for poultry meat are good as the production is forecasted to increase to 25 mill. kg. by 1985. There forecasts imply that the volume of agricultural production will remain quite stable. Since the yields in crop production are expected to increase by 1.5 per cent per year, overproduction would likewise seem to rise. However, the cultivated area has decreased and evidently will decrease further in the future due to policy measures aimed at curtailing the growth of production. Consequently the overproduction situation will not deteriorate very much from what it is at present.