The Agricultural Revolution; a series of developments in agricultural practice that massively improved crop and livestock yields. This slow green revolution started in the late seventeenth century, gradually accelerated into the mid-19th century, and underpinned both modern urbanisation and the associated Industrial Revolution [10]. Arguably the most critical agricultural development was a more complex system of crop rotation, which greatly improved both arable output and animal husbandry. In the 1730’s a new breed of innovative land-owner (epitomised by Marquis ‘Turnip’ Townshend) introduced new systems of crop rotation from Sweden and The Netherlands, and new crops like the swede (Brassica napus napobrassica). The new crop rotation systems avoided the need to let land lie fallow one year in three, and instead used a four or five year cycle in which turnips and clover were used as two of the crops because of their ability to replenish the soil. These new systems created immense gains in food productivity. Between 1705 and 1765 English wheat exports increased ten-fold, while the increased availability of animal feed meant that most livestock no longer had to be slaughtered at the onset of winter so that fresh (instead of salted) meat became cheaper and more widely available throughout the year.
Significance:
The population density. Roman term civilis, which meaning "city," is the root of the word "civilization." With farming, a considerably higher number of people can be sustained on a much less amount of land. The agricultural revolution simply refers to the domestication and cultivation of sufficient grains or rice to feed a sizable population that was no longer entirely reliant on a lifestyle of hunting and gathering. Okay, you need a place to keep the food when there is a regular harvest. As a result, the farming community now has a need for scribes to preserve records, judges to resolve land-rights conflicts, pottery, the potter's wheel, chariots, warriors, and experts. hence, cities.
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- Eddie