What was the Agricultural Revolution?

The first Agricultural Revolution happened in period Neolithic, also in Prehistory, when man became sedentary and stopped walking in search of food. With this, there was the development of agriculture, a phenomenon related to the emergence of the first civilizations originating from primitive communities.

Subsequently, already in Low Middle Ages, population growth demanded more production of agricultural products, so peasants adopted the use of the plow, facilitating the management of the ground.

In this article, we will deal with the Second Agricultural Revolution. Check out!

Second Agricultural Revolution

A Second Agricultural Revolution, or English Agricultural Revolution, dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, due to the increase of new technologies to agriculture. The aim was to increase production to meet demand.

One of the main incentives was the approval of a law in

England which allowed the purchase of fields by the high-bourgeoisie, forcing the migration of small producers to the big cities (Land Fencing Law).

Workers, these, who would fill the factories with manpower, favoring the Industrial Revolution.

Origin of the Agricultural Revolution

As mentioned earlier, the English Agricultural Revolution was a movement that occurred in the 18th century as a result of several changes and advances that led to increased production in the countryside.

Obviously, it was not a sudden phenomenon, but rather the result of a process that had been underway in agriculture since the late Middle Ages. In addition to England, advances were registered in the English colonies located in Asia It is America.

During this period, the use of horses began to be adopted, in addition to a greater concentration of land and investment in research to reduce the soil impoverishment.

Causes of the Agricultural Revolution

Check out a summary of the causes of the English Agricultural Revolution:

• strengthening of capitalism as a production system, whose bases were not limited to the Industrial Revolution, but also encompassed the search for more profits in the production and trade of agricultural inputs;
• Increased demand for production as a result of population growth in England;
• Law of Land Enclosures, which removed land belonging to small producers, passing it on to the aristocracy. Thus, subsistence agriculture gave way to large-scale agricultural production;
• Greater demand for the main raw material for the textile industry: cotton. The greater the production of industries, the more cotton was needed for production to be sufficient. The product was, for the most part, originated from the English colonies, such as the U.S;
• Equalization of space for agriculture and diversification of seeds.

Consequences of the Agricultural Revolution

The advances recorded by the Agricultural Revolution were:

• Adoption of the crop rotation system, keeping the soil always fertile by interspersing different products, preventing soil erosion;
• Extensive agricultural production replaced by the intensive system, enabling large-scale production and, thus, greater productivity;
• Agricultural mechanization, with the use of equipment such as a mechanical seeder. Invented in the 18th century, the machine facilitated and made seed distribution more efficient.

Read too:

• Causes and Preconditions for the Industrial Revolution
• The Third Industrial Revolution
• What was the Green Revolution?
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Environmental impacts caused by man in agriculture