How did the Second Agricultural Revolution contribute to the green revolution?

The increase in agricultural production and technological advancements during the Agricultural Revolution contributed to unprecedented population growth and new agricultural practices, triggering such phenomena as rural-to-urban migration, development of a coherent and loosely regulated agricultural market, and emergence of capitalist farmers.

Learning Objective

Infer some major social and economic outcomes of the Agricultural Revolution

Key Points

• The Agricultural Revolution in Britain proved to be a major turning point, allowing population to far exceed earlier peaks and sustain the country’s rise to industrial preeminence. It is estimated that total agricultural output grew 2.7-fold between 1700 and 1870 and output per worker at a similar rate. The Agricultural Revolution gave Britain the most productive agriculture in Europe, with 19th-century yields as much as 80% higher than the Continental average.
• The increase in the food supply contributed to the rapid growth of population in England and Wales, from 5.5 million in 1700 to over 9 million by 1801, although domestic production gave way increasingly to food imports in the 19th century as population more than tripled to over 32 million.
• The rise in productivity accelerated the decline of the agricultural share of the labor force, adding to the urban workforce on which industrialization depended. The Agricultural Revolution has therefore been cited as a cause of the Industrial Revolution. As enclosure deprived many of access to land or left farmers with plots too small and of poor quality, increasing numbers of workers had no choice but migrate to the city. However, mass rural flight did not take place until the Industrial Revolution was already underway.
• The most important development between the 16th century and the mid-19th century was the development of private marketing. By the 19th century, marketing was nationwide and the vast majority of agricultural production was for market rather than for the farmer and his family.
• The next stage of development was trading between markets, requiring merchants, credit and forward sales, and knowledge of markets and pricing as well as of supply and demand in different markets. Eventually the market evolved into a national one driven by London and other growing cities. Commerce was aided by the expansion of roads and inland waterways.
• With the development of regional markets and eventually a national market aided by improved transportation infrastructures, farmers were no longer dependent on their local markets and were less subject to having to sell at low prices into an oversupplied local market and not being able to sell their surpluses to distant localities that were experiencing shortages. They also became less subject to price fixing regulations. Farming became a business rather than solely a means of subsistence. Under free market capitalism, farmers had to remain competitive. To be successful, they had to become effective managers who incorporated the latest farming innovations in order to be low-cost producers.
  There were three agricultural revolutions that changed history. The First Agricultural Revolution was the transition from hunting and gathering to planting and sustaining. The Second Agricultural Revolution increased the productivity of farming through mechanization and access to market areas due to better transportation. The Third Agricultural Revolution involved hybridization and genetic engineering of products and the increased use of pesticides and fertilizers.
• There are two primary methods of farming in the world. Subsistence farming involves producing agricultural products for use by the farm family. Commercial farming involves the sale of agricultural products off the farm.
• Von Thunen’s model of agricultural land use focuses on transportation. The distance and the weight of crops as well as their distance to market affect which ones are grown.
• Modern agriculture is becoming more industrialized and more specialized than ever. The loss of the family farm is a direct result of the rise of feedlots and mega-farms used to produce enormous quantities of agricultural commodities.
• To compete with agribusiness in the United States, many family farms are turning to sustainable methods of production, organic agriculture, and catering to the local-food movement.
• Many of the settlement patterns in the United States have been based on the agricultural possibilities of specific areas.
• Many of the world’s crop products are dictated by the climate of the regions where they are grown.



Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use Key Terms




A Historical Perspective

• Farming: The methodical cultivation of plants and/or animals.
• Hunting and gathering: The first way humans obtained food. Nomadic groups around the world depended on migratory animals, wild fruit, berries, and roots for sustenance.
• Agriculture: The raising of animals or the growing of crops on tended land to obtain food for primary consumption by a farmer’s family or for sale off the farm.
• First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution: The slow change from hunter and gather societies to more agriculturally based ones through the gradual understanding of seeds, watering, and plant care.
• Growing season: The period of the year when temperature and rainfall allow for successful farming.
• Plant domestication: The process by which wild plants are cultivated into productive crops, often with more desirable traits.
• Animal domestication: The process by which wild animals are cultivated into a resource supply for humans, often resulting in physical and behavioral changes (e.g., modern-day dogs having descended from domesticated wolves).
• Second Agricultural Revolution: Coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, the Second Agricultural Revolution used the increased technology from the Industrial Revolution as a means to increase farm productivity through mechanization. This caused exponential population increase.
• Third Agricultural (Green) Revolution: This transformation began in the latter half of the twentieth century and corresponded with exponential population growth around the world. Hybridization, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers were key aspects.
• Environmental modification: The introduction of man-made chemicals and practices that, at times, have drastic effects on native soil and vegetation.
• Pesticides: Any substance that kills pests, especially insects. Can be natural or artificial in origin. Used on farms to protect the crop yield.
• Globalized agriculture: A system of agriculture built on economic and regulatory practices that are global in scope and organization.
• Agribusiness: The mass production of agricultural products; a form of large-scale commercial agriculture.
• Biotechnology: A precise science that involves altering the DNA of agricultural products to increase productivity, which has been extremely successful for the most part. Biotech is developed mainly in laboratories and is then tested on farm fields worldwide.
• Genetic engineering: The modification of organisms by directly altering their genetic material.
• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Plants and animals that have been genetically engineered in some way.
• Double-cropping: The growing of two crops per growing season to double the harvest. The Green Revolution popularized fast- growing, high-yield rice strains that made double-cropping more viable.
• Triple-cropping: The growing of three crops per growing season to triple the harvest.
• Organic farming: Farming that uses natural processes and seeds that are not genetically altered. To be certified as organic in the United States, farmers must demonstrate organic methods on a number of different measures.
• Fourth Agricultural Revolution: A movement in which food is both grown and sold locally, and fertilizers and pesticides are minimized or eliminated in favor of pure organic farming.

  Is the green revolution the Second Agricultural Revolution?

  The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution (after the Neolithic Revolution and the British Agricultural Revolution), was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw a dramatic increase in crop yields and agricultural production.

  What was the impact of the Second Agricultural Revolution?

  IMPACT OF THE 2ND AGRICULTURAL REV. Advances in food production led to better diets, longer life spans, and an increase in population. As population increased, so did the pool for workers in industry. Since most of these jobs existed in cities and new factory towns, mass migration to urban areas began to unfold.

  What is the agricultural impact of the green revolution?

  After the green revolution, the production of cereal crops tripled with only a 30% increase in the land area cultivated. This came true all over the world, with a few exceptions. In addition, there were significant impacts on poverty reduction and lower food prices.

  What main steps has the Second Green Revolution involved?

  The Second Green Revolution is an effort to invest in increasing food production in poor countries via crop breeding (using genetic engineering), irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides.