Fernando MonteiroThe Crucial Role of Agriculture
August 9th 2009 13:29
Today we come into contact with agriculture when we hear of ponzi schemes such as Timbercorp and Great Southern who went broke and whose only investment value was to reduce taxes payable by their shareholders. Yet, agriculture has since ever in our history played a crucial role in economic evolution. If not, let’ see.
In the Neolitic man learned the trick of sowing, planting and reaping. As a result populations became sedentary, stuck to a particular ground, since the grain from one season could be stored part for consumption and part for another season of sowing.
In fact, since there was abundant grain many mouths could be fed year round. And since between sowing and reaping and between reaping and sowing again not much had to be done, many people working in agriculture could seasonally be released – guess what for – for war. Ironically as it may seem, pacifying agriculture became the cradle of war.
In the Middle Ages, agriculture played again a crucial role ensuring the survival and prosperity of the whole medieval society. Lords fought each other for land – and that meant arable land, land that could bring in fortune. From the Roman Empire to the European Renaissance agriculture was the basis of society and improvements in its techniques, such as the ones brought by the Arabs, were very important.
The Industrial Revolution, starting in Britain in the mid-eighteen century, could not have happened were not for agriculture. The industrial revolution brought in maquinization, division of labour and standardization. It rested in the inventions of the industrial production of steel, in the preparation of coking coal and on the invention of the steam engine. It depended also on natural deposits of coal and iron ore.
But for it to happen two conditions were necessary: (a) that enough capital could be found else were and (b) that enough people could be released from working else were to work in the industry. That else were was agriculture. Agriculture had accumulated the financial gains that industry needed to go ahead and it also had the people that, through the maquinization of it and consequent increase in productivity, could be released to work in industry. Without agriculture in Britain and later on other parts of Europe, the industrial revolution would simply have not happened.
In Australia agriculture was the primary means of creating wealth and founding the new country. Wheat, sugar cane, merino wool and hides and more recently, beef, were the primary means to create a living out of the new colony. In an historical and logical sequence, agriculture came before mining, the education, tourism and the financial sectors of the economy that today dominate it. Yet, still keeps a place in the larger panorama of the economy it does not dominate anymore.
To evaluate the important role of agriculture a look should be had on Asia, more precisely the South-east Asia of the post WWII. Countries such as Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia were poor and undeveloped. What to do? Their leaders come up with the idea that developing agriculture so that it could feed their entire population would be a good start. Many improvements were systematically made to agro-technique such as irrigation, the use of pesticides and fertilisers and better crop seeds.
As a result agricultural production increased manyfold, the population of these countries was better fed and some of the production was even exported bringing in foreign exchange reserves. But, no less importantly, many people found jobs and an enormous financial capital was accumulated which was subsequently used for industrial development. This was called the Green Revolution.
More recently, agriculture goes through a process of finding its north. It is becoming, every where in the developed world, but especially in the US, more of an enterprise, a limited liability company, and less of a farm and farmer business. On the other hand, subsidies from the government ensure its competitiveness internationally at the expense of greater productivity. In France, subsidies from the government are a way of maintaining a traditional and rural way of life.
We have observed also the use of genetically engineered seeds, whose potential is much the same as of a Pandora box when open. In this context we have seen farmers being jailed for keeping some grain to seed the next plantation year. And more recently we have witnessed the used of much agricultural land for the production of bio-fuel type of grains such as corn with subsequent increases of the price of it in the third world. We have also witnessed the destruction of the Amazonian lung for use as arable land as well as we have also witnessed the destruction of forests everywhere in Africa and in Asia.
Agriculture has played a crucial role in the world’s economic evolution and has come a long way since the time of the Neolitic. But today it is at a cross roads and needs definition and clarification of objectives and practices. Truly, where is agriculture heading today?
In the Neolitic man learned the trick of sowing, planting and reaping. As a result populations became sedentary, stuck to a particular ground, since the grain from one season could be stored part for consumption and part for another season of sowing.
In fact, since there was abundant grain many mouths could be fed year round. And since between sowing and reaping and between reaping and sowing again not much had to be done, many people working in agriculture could seasonally be released – guess what for – for war. Ironically as it may seem, pacifying agriculture became the cradle of war.
In the Middle Ages, agriculture played again a crucial role ensuring the survival and prosperity of the whole medieval society. Lords fought each other for land – and that meant arable land, land that could bring in fortune. From the Roman Empire to the European Renaissance agriculture was the basis of society and improvements in its techniques, such as the ones brought by the Arabs, were very important.
The Industrial Revolution, starting in Britain in the mid-eighteen century, could not have happened were not for agriculture. The industrial revolution brought in maquinization, division of labour and standardization. It rested in the inventions of the industrial production of steel, in the preparation of coking coal and on the invention of the steam engine. It depended also on natural deposits of coal and iron ore.
But for it to happen two conditions were necessary: (a) that enough capital could be found else were and (b) that enough people could be released from working else were to work in the industry. That else were was agriculture. Agriculture had accumulated the financial gains that industry needed to go ahead and it also had the people that, through the maquinization of it and consequent increase in productivity, could be released to work in industry. Without agriculture in Britain and later on other parts of Europe, the industrial revolution would simply have not happened.
In Australia agriculture was the primary means of creating wealth and founding the new country. Wheat, sugar cane, merino wool and hides and more recently, beef, were the primary means to create a living out of the new colony. In an historical and logical sequence, agriculture came before mining, the education, tourism and the financial sectors of the economy that today dominate it. Yet, still keeps a place in the larger panorama of the economy it does not dominate anymore.
To evaluate the important role of agriculture a look should be had on Asia, more precisely the South-east Asia of the post WWII. Countries such as Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia were poor and undeveloped. What to do? Their leaders come up with the idea that developing agriculture so that it could feed their entire population would be a good start. Many improvements were systematically made to agro-technique such as irrigation, the use of pesticides and fertilisers and better crop seeds.
As a result agricultural production increased manyfold, the population of these countries was better fed and some of the production was even exported bringing in foreign exchange reserves. But, no less importantly, many people found jobs and an enormous financial capital was accumulated which was subsequently used for industrial development. This was called the Green Revolution.
More recently, agriculture goes through a process of finding its north. It is becoming, every where in the developed world, but especially in the US, more of an enterprise, a limited liability company, and less of a farm and farmer business. On the other hand, subsidies from the government ensure its competitiveness internationally at the expense of greater productivity. In France, subsidies from the government are a way of maintaining a traditional and rural way of life.
We have observed also the use of genetically engineered seeds, whose potential is much the same as of a Pandora box when open. In this context we have seen farmers being jailed for keeping some grain to seed the next plantation year. And more recently we have witnessed the used of much agricultural land for the production of bio-fuel type of grains such as corn with subsequent increases of the price of it in the third world. We have also witnessed the destruction of the Amazonian lung for use as arable land as well as we have also witnessed the destruction of forests everywhere in Africa and in Asia.
Agriculture has played a crucial role in the world’s economic evolution and has come a long way since the time of the Neolitic. But today it is at a cross roads and needs definition and clarification of objectives and practices. Truly, where is agriculture heading today?
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