Explain how improvement in agriculture lead to advance in lifestyle
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Improvements in farming efficiency began slowly and then accelerated. Every step was traumatic for millions of families, and the process still continues worldwide. A look at how progress in farming has affected people can help you to understand the world today.
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How Modern Farming Has Changed the World
HOW do you obtain food? Do you buy it or grow it for yourself? Not long ago most of mankind were subsistence farmers—that is, they lived on food they grew for themselves. But now in some industrialized nations, only 1 person out of 50 works in farming. How did such a transformation occur?
Improvements in farming efficiency began slowly and then accelerated. Every step was traumatic for millions of families, and the process still continues worldwide. A look at how progress in farming has affected people can help you to understand the world today.
A Revolution Begins
Surprisingly, one of the biggest steps leading away from subsistence farming in Europe occurred during the 12th century when the horse collar was introduced. It enabled a horse to work without choking itself. Horses thus harnessed could pull harder, faster, and longer than the oxen that were formerly used. With horsepower, farmers could increase their production. They could use iron plows on land that was previously impossible to cultivate. Another early step forward was the introduction of soil-improvement crops—such as beans, peas, clover, and alfalfa—which enrich the earth with nitrogen. Richer soil produced crops that were more abundant.
Those early advances were enough to permit some farmers to grow a surplus of food to sell. This led to the growth of towns, where people could purchase their food and work as manufacturers and tradesmen. From among these rich manufacturers, tradesmen, and farmers came the inventors of the first farming machines.
About 1700, Jethro Tull, an English farmer, invented a horse-drawn seed drill that replaced hand sowing, a practice that wasted seed. In 1831, in the United States, Cyrus McCormick invented a horse-drawn mechanical reaper that could harvest grain five times faster than could a man with a handheld scythe. Also about that time, traders began bringing fertilizers into Europe from the Andean coast of South America. The use of machines and fertilizer produced a dramatic increase in farm production. But how did it affect people?
Progress in farming made the industrial revolution possible by providing plenty of cheap food for the towns. This revolution occurred first in Britain about 1750-1850. Thousands of families had to move to industrial towns to work in coal mines, iron foundries, shipyards, and textile mills. They had little choice. The small farmers who could not afford the new farming methods received less cash for their produce and so could not pay their rent. They had to leave their farms to live in overcrowded, disease-ridden slums. Instead of families farming together, men now had to work away from home. Even children worked long hours in factories. Other nations soon experienced similar changes.
Scientific Farming Brings More Changes
By 1850, some nations were prosperous enough to finance agricultural research. The scientific study of agriculture has led to continued change down to our day. For example, plant breeders studied genetics and developed plants with greater yields or disease resistance. Researchers also discovered the exact mixture of nitrates and phosphates needed for specific crops and soils. Weeds had kept farm laborers busy hoeing throughout the growing season. But many such workers lost their jobs when scientists developed sophisticated herbicides that slowed the growth of weeds. Insects, worms, and weevils are also old enemies of the cultivator. However, farmers can now select from an armory of chemicals to deal with almost any pest.*
The livestock farmer’s life has also changed. Robotic milkers and computerized feeders allow one herdsman and his helper to care for up to 200 cows. Farmers can also get calves and pigs to put on weight faster than ever before by raising them in sheds instead of in open fields, thus controlling their temperature and diet.
The returns from scientific farming were often spectacular. Some farmers increased their yield per worker to a hundred or even a thousand times preindustrial levels. But how did those developments affect people’s lives?
The Farmer’s Lifestyle Changed
Machines have transformed the farmer’s way of life in many places. Most farmers and farm laborers now have to be skilled in operating and maintaining sophisticated machinery. And increasingly, they are lone workers. Gone is the camaraderie of sowing, hoeing, and harvesting in teams.
00:00
How Modern Farming Has Changed the World
HOW do you obtain food? Do you buy it or grow it for yourself? Not long ago most of mankind were subsistence farmers—that is, they lived on food they grew for themselves. But now in some industrialized nations, only 1 person out of 50 works in farming. How did such a transformation occur?
Improvements in farming efficiency began slowly and then accelerated. Every step was traumatic for millions of families, and the process still continues worldwide. A look at how progress in farming has affected people can help you to understand the world today.
A Revolution Begins
Surprisingly, one of the biggest steps leading away from subsistence farming in Europe occurred during the 12th century when the horse collar was introduced. It enabled a horse to work without choking itself. Horses thus harnessed could pull harder, faster, and longer than the oxen that were formerly used. With horsepower, farmers could increase their production. They could use iron plows on land that was previously impossible to cultivate. Another early step forward was the introduction of soil-improvement crops—such as beans, peas, clover, and alfalfa—which enrich the earth with nitrogen. Richer soil produced crops that were more abundant.
Those early advances were enough to permit some farmers to grow a surplus of food to sell. This led to the growth of towns, where people could purchase their food and work as manufacturers and tradesmen. From among these rich manufacturers, tradesmen, and farmers came the inventors of the first farming machines.
About 1700, Jethro Tull, an English farmer, invented a horse-drawn seed drill that replaced hand sowing, a practice that wasted seed. In 1831, in the United States, Cyrus McCormick invented a horse-drawn mechanical reaper that could harvest grain five times faster than could a man with a handheld scythe. Also about that time, traders began bringing fertilizers into Europe from the Andean coast of South America. The use of machines and fertilizer produced a dramatic increase in farm production. But how did it affect people?
Progress in farming made the industrial revolution possible by providing plenty of cheap food for the towns. This revolution occurred first in Britain about 1750-1850. Thousands of families had to move to industrial towns to work in coal mines, iron foundries, shipyards, and textile mills. They had little choice. The small farmers who could not afford the new farming methods received less cash for their produce and so could not pay their rent. They had to leave their farms to live in overcrowded, disease-ridden slums. Instead of families farming together, men now had to work away from home. Even children worked long hours in factories. Other nations soon experienced similar changes.
Scientific Farming Brings More Changes
By 1850, some nations were prosperous enough to finance agricultural research. The scientific study of agriculture has led to continued change down to our day. For example, plant breeders studied genetics and developed plants with greater yields or disease resistance. Researchers also discovered the exact mixture of nitrates and phosphates needed for specific crops and soils. Weeds had kept farm laborers busy hoeing throughout the growing season. But many such workers lost their jobs when scientists developed sophisticated herbicides that slowed the growth of weeds. Insects, worms, and weevils are also old enemies of the cultivator. However, farmers can now select from an armory of chemicals to deal with almost any pest.*
The livestock farmer’s life has also changed. Robotic milkers and computerized feeders allow one herdsman and his helper to care for up to 200 cows. Farmers can also get calves and pigs to put on weight faster than ever before by raising them in sheds instead of in open fields, thus controlling their temperature and diet.
The returns from scientific farming were often spectacular. Some farmers increased their yield per worker to a hundred or even a thousand times preindustrial levels. But how did those developments affect people’s lives?
The Farmer’s Lifestyle Changed
Machines have transformed the farmer’s way of life in many places. Most farmers and farm laborers now have to be skilled in operating and maintaining sophisticated machinery. And increasingly, they are lone workers. Gone is the camaraderie of sowing, hoeing, and harvesting in teams.
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In addition to preserving the earth's natural resources, sustainable agriculture benefits the environment through helping maintain soil quality, reducing erosion, and preserving water. ... Every member of the food system can manage a sustainable lifestyle through remaining consistent within this criterion.
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