Key Concepts and Impacts of Agricultural Revolutions

Unit 5 Agricultural & Rural Land Use Patterns & Processes

Learning Target

  • Understand and describe the Second and Third Agricultural Revolutions and their impacts.

Learning Objectives

  1. Explain the advances and impact of the Second Agricultural Revolution.

  2. Examine the consequences of the Green Revolution on food supply and the environment in the developing world.

Second Agricultural Revolution (Late 1700s - 1900s)

  • One field in which you olnt diffrent crops season to season or year to year.

  • Marked by significant improvements in farming practices and mechanization.

  • Overall effects:

    • Increased production of agricultural products.

    • Enhanced distribution of agricultural goods.

Key Components of the Second Agricultural Revolution
Soil Management

  • Crop Rotation:

    • Involves rotating different crops in the same field to maintain soil health.

    • Notable for incorporating nitrogen-fixing crops followed by those that deplete nitrogen.

  • Water Management/Irrigation:

    • Innovations in irrigation techniques.

  • Natural Fertilizers:

    • Use of organic materials to enrich soil fertility.

    • Dou

Machinery Innovations

  • Introduction of new machinery:

    • Steel Plow: Allowed deeper tillage of soil.

    • Cotton Gin: Revolutionized cotton processing.

    • Seed Drill: Improved planting efficiency.

    • Barbed Wire: Facilitated fencing and property demarcation.

  • Impacts of Machinery:

    • Reduced manual labor requirements leading to decreased number of farmers.

    • Influenced property rights structures.

Enclosure Movement

  • Laws enabling landowners to purchase and enclose communal land previously used by peasant farmers.

  • Effects:

    • Promoted rural to urban migration.

    • Resulted in fewer but larger farms.

    • Decreased agricultural labor forces.

Transportation Innovations

  • Developments included:

    • Steam Ships and Trains (Iron Horse era)

    • In the 1920s, Refrigerated Transportation became prevalent.

  • Impacts:

    • Enabled greater shipping distances at reduced costs.

    • Led to the establishment of new global trade routes.

Impacts of the Second Agricultural Revolution

  • Significant rural to urban migration.

  • Increased population growth.

  • Rise of larger, commercial farms.

  • Economic growth linked to agricultural productivity.

  • Growth in food production using intensive farming practices.

  • Environmental degradation as a consequence of intensive practices.

Third Agricultural Revolution / Green Revolution

  • Key Figure: Norman Borlaug

  • Focus on developing:

    • Higher-yield, disease-resistant, and faster-growing varieties of crops (rice, corn, wheat).

  • Adaptations in Farming Practices:

    • Double cropping, hybrid seeds through selective breeding.

    • Increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and machinery.

Positive Effects of the Green Revolution

  • Achieved higher yields from the same land area, allowing for:

    • Surplus production for export and increased wealth.

    • Enhanced self-sufficiency in developing regions (Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia).

  • Lowered food prices, leading to better diets and longer life expectancies.

  • Contributed to population growth due to improved food access.

Negative Effects of the Green Revolution

  • Environmental Consequences:

    • Runoff from chemical fertilizers and pesticides causing water pollution.

    • Intensive farming methods leading to resource depletion.

    • Increased machinery resulting in environmental pollution.

    • Soil erosion

    • Soil Salinization- deposit of salt into the soil which affects plant growth and reduces agricultural productivity.

  • Loss of Biodiversity:

    • Reduction in crop diversity threatens ecological balance.

Gender Consequences of the Green Revolution

  • Women play crucial roles in agriculture in many developing nations.

  • Often excluded from advancements of the Green Revolution:

    • Men were primarily educated on new advancements and received government and private subsidies.

Green Revolution in Africa

  • Encountered poor results due to:

    • Diverse and harsh environmental conditions (e.g., droughts, soil fertility issues).

    • Insufficient infrastructure and unreliable transportation networks.

    • Crops not adequately researched for local conditions.

    • Lack of government investment to initiate improvements.