History of agriculture

Ancient times

From its emergence in the era of the primitive communal system and nomadic way of life, the development of agriculture amounted to primitive practice and folk signs. By passing the most important observations and practical experience from generation to generation, knowledge gradually accumulated. Before the emergence of writing, it was transmitted only orally.

With the transition from gathering wild plants to cultivating them in fields, which lasted a very long time and was accompanied by numerous trials and errors, as well as the accumulation of knowledge about growing plants and soil cultivation, new forms of farming appeared with profound changes to primary landscapes. The process of large-scale deforestation began and, consequently, the initial stage of soil degradation.

Vavilov, Nikolai Ivanovich

It is fair to consider that agriculture began with the beginning of soil cultivation. In 1926-1935, N. I. Vavilov developed the concept of the origin of world agriculture, in which he identified 8 main geographical regions in the history of agricultural development:

• West Asian;
• Indian;
• Central Asian;
• Chinese;
• Mediterranean;
• African;
• Mexican;
• South American.

In these regions, the first cultivated plants also appeared, most of which have survived to our day. According to archaeological research, the cultivation of cultivated plants began approximately 10-12 thousand years ago, which caused a change in the way humans existed and determined the transition from natural sources of subsistence to food production.

The emergence of primary centers of agriculture in different regions independently of one another dates from 5-3 thousand to 8-6 thousand years BCE.

In forest regions, people practiced slash-and-burn farming systems, which required knowledge of a system of technological techniques, such as: identifying a forest plot, cutting and burning, mixing ash with the soil, loosening and cultivating the soil. For many centuries, soil cultivation tools were extremely primitive: the sokha, wooden harrow, hoe; among harvesting tools, the sickle and flail. Ash was regarded as a source of soil fertility and plant nutrition.

The development of ancient centers of agriculture proceeded independently of one another, as evidenced by differences in methods, tools and ways of growing plants.

Irrigated agriculture also appeared in ancient times. In the giant river valleys of the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus, several thousand years ago there already existed managed irrigation of lands, which determined the possibility of the existence of state formations. The ancient Egyptians understood that flooding fields during Nile floods performed three tasks at once: moistening the field, fertilizing it with river silt, and removing salts that had accumulated on the soil surface during the dry period. Legends were composed about fertility.

In parallel with Egypt and Mesopotamia, that is, before the 2nd millennium BCE, ancient irrigation also developed in Central Asia. The soils of the Amu Darya delta are heavy with low fertility, so Khorezm farmers learned to fertilize them with various wastes and to add sand.

The emergence of writing gave humanity the opportunity to record its knowledge first in cave drawings and writings, and then in chronicles. During the period of the first Egyptian pharaohs, a cadastre of lands by fertility and profitability appeared.

Mesopotamia — the state of the Sumerians, one of the most ancient countries with agriculture highly developed for that time. Already at the beginning of the fourth millennium BCE, they recorded on clay tablets, called the "farmer's calendar," the results of their activities, accumulated experience, and various advice on performing field work. They gave advice on soil cultivation, preparation for sowing and growing plants, and combating weeds. Archaeologists have discovered tablets containing a dispute about the transition from hoe agriculture to plow cultivation.

Archaeological monuments in northern India indicate that Indian agriculture appeared in the 3rd-2nd millennium BCE, first in northern Hindustan, and then on the more fertile alluvial plains to the south. Here a fallow system of agriculture was used, and later artificial irrigation as well.

In Eastern China, as early as 4000 BCE, much knowledge about agriculture had been accumulated, and the government managed annual field work: it determined the time of plowing, fertilization, methods of sowing, etc.

Antiquity

The first surviving special agronomic, biological and geographical works, which tell about land-soil, its properties and fertility, belong to the ancient Greeks. They distinguished soil types and methods of their cultivation within dryland Mediterranean-type agriculture.

In Ancient Greece, much attention was paid to the role of agronomic knowledge and advice on agriculture. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) devoted several treatises to agriculture — "Natural History," "On the Generation of Animals," etc. In them he made the first attempts to classify plants and animals, and gave methods of their cultivation and maintenance. He distinguished stages of nature: the inorganic world, plant, animal and human. He supposed that plants needed four elements: air, water, earth and fire.

Aristotle's student and an outstanding researcher of the plant world of Ancient Greece, Theophrastus (c. 372-287 BCE), in his work "Enquiry into Plants" recommended which crops were better to sow on which soils, how to maintain soil fertility, and discussed the role of manure. This work of Theophrastus is considered the main one among the earliest botanical and agronomic works.

Greek agronomy was based on that of the ancient East, whereas the agricultural knowledge of the Romans developed under the influence of the culture and science of Ancient Greece. Until the 2nd century BCE, no works on agronomic topics have been discovered among the Romans.

The first ancient Roman works belong to Mago, Varro, Cato, Virgil, Columella, and Pliny. All of them were engaged in agriculture, since this occupation was considered the most worthy of a free citizen.

Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE) — ancient Roman statesman and writer. His book "On Rural Affairs" and treatise "Agriculture" have survived, in which he collected practical advice on various branches of the economy, for example, on soil cultivation, cultivating vineyards, olive orchards, meadow farming and animal husbandry. Cato attempted to classify soils by their suitability for growing cultivated plants, gave practical advice on storing and timing the removal of manure to fields, and gave recommendations on cultivating lupine, vetch, and beans for green manure, and on timing the mowing of grasses for hay (before seeds begin to ripen).

Cato wrote that good cultivation of a field means good plowing and manuring. If a farm had insufficient manure, he recommended using stalks, chaff, oak leaves, and tall grass for bedding for sheep, that is, he proposed increasing the amount of organic fertilizers by composting.

Agriculture, in Cato's opinion, was the foundation of the Roman state, and the farmer's labor was the purest, most reliable and least envy-provoking. He treated farmers with respect, writing about them as the most courageous people and wonderful warriors.

Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 BCE) — ancient Roman writer and encyclopedic scholar. He successfully summarized the material accumulated over the century after Cato. His work "Agriculture" has survived entirely to our day. Varro attached great importance to a scientific approach in solving agricultural questions, proposed studying soils by individual districts, and advised sowing wheat on richer soils and beans on leaner ones. Ancient authors had a concept of the "fats" of soil, on which its fertility depends.

Varro also wrote about green manure and recommended growing and plowing in lupine for this purpose. Varro created his work using literary sources and the knowledge of informed persons. It was he who first asserted the independence of agriculture as a science, noting its necessity and greatness. Varro used Theophrastus's works to characterize and classify the soils of Italy. He was a supporter of applying manure to the soil and was the first to propose the idea of considering agriculture and animal husbandry together. Concern for soil fertility, according to Varro, is the most important task of agriculture, for which, among other things, he proposed using crop rotation.

Gaius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) — Roman scholar and writer, one of the last authors writing about agriculture. His work "Natural History," including 37 books, was an encyclopedia serving as a reference on a whole range of fields of knowledge, including agriculture.

Pliny believed that soil fertility was falling, and that this could not be compensated by any of the most expensive methods of cultivating it. In essence, he proposed a version of the law of diminishing soil fertility. Pliny died tragically during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, when he tried to observe this natural phenomenon more closely.

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (1st century CE) — an outstanding Roman writer and agronomist. He opposed the views of Pliny and some other authors. His work "On Agriculture," including 12 books, is a true agricultural encyclopedia.

In discussions with supporters of the doctrine of diminishing soil fertility, he asserted that a reasonable person would not allow land to become tired and exhausted, so that it would not provide people with food as generously as before. The land cannot grow old if it is helped with manure as food to restore the strength it has lost.

Columella called for a scientific approach in agriculture, to set up experiments and disseminate agricultural knowledge, and to introduce public courses in these branches of science.

Whoever devotes himself to agriculture must above all possess the following qualities: knowledge of the business, the ability to spend resources, and the desire to act.

Columella

In his works, Columella paid great attention to the description and use of various fertilizers: manure, preparation of composts, use of ash, and growing lupine for green manure. He classified fertilizers into manure, mineral fertilizers, green fertilizers, composts, and "earth by earth" fertilizers. Green manure, in Columella's opinion, "has the strength of the best manure." An example of "earth by earth" fertilizer is improving sandy soils with clay, and clayey soils with sand.

Middle Ages

Beginning with the first century CE, the development of science practically stopped; the works of ancient thinkers on agronomy and natural science were forgotten. Only 1000 years later did people begin returning to ancient authors, primarily Aristotle and Columella.

The Middle Ages, or the era of feudalism, is characterized by stagnation in the development of natural sciences until the 18th century, when large-scale economic transformations began.

Modern era

In the Modern era, in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, scientific agriculture developed largely thanks to the research of such scholars as A. D. Thaer, J. von Liebig, T. Young and others.

Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1752-1828) — German scholar, laid the foundations of agriculture in Germany. One of his main works is the theory of humus nutrition of plants.

Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) — German scholar, one of the founders of agrochemistry. He developed the theory of mineral plant nutrition and formulated one of the laws of agriculture — the law of restitution.

In the Modern era, agricultural tools noticeably improved. The main soil cultivation tool — the plow — began to be made of cast iron and steel instead of traditional wood. The plow developed by Rudolf Sack had the most perfect design. He was the first, in 1870, to begin factory production of plows with skimmers. This plow quickly spread in many countries and has remained practically unchanged in design to the present.

The first seed drill, whose principle is still used today, was constructed in 1830 in England. In 1781, a reaping machine was developed in Tula. In America, threshing machines were developed for threshing grain, and their modernization led to the appearance of the first combine harvesters.

In the second half of the 19th century, with the appearance of steam and then diesel and electric engines, the use of live draft power decreased.

History of agriculture in Russia

18th century

As in other countries, the formation of agriculture as a science in Russia depended entirely on the development of natural and exact sciences. The need for scientific research was determined by the formation of industry, military affairs, agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

The 18th century can be characterized as the period of the formation of agronomic science in Russia. Reforms carried out by Peter I and Catherine II gave significance to this direction, relying on the thesis agriculture is the first and main labor.

M. V. Lomonosov

A great role was played by the outstanding Russian scholar, distinguished by the breadth of his knowledge, M. V. Lomonosov (1711-1765). He conducted research in geography, economics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and other fields. He formulated the main tasks for Russia's development for years ahead, many of which remain relevant today:

• on the multiplication and preservation of the Russian people;
• on the eradication of idleness;
• on the correction of morals and the great public enlightenment;
• on the improvement of agriculture;
• on the preservation of military art.

The task of improving agriculture came down to a broad study of agriculture in all regions of Russia and the search for means of improving it. He considered the development and rise of agriculture possible only with the help of science.

In 1765, on the initiative of M. V. Lomonosov, the Free Economic Society was founded. Its scientific works were published for 105 years; they published the first scientific research and accumulated experience in agriculture. The society played an important role in Russian agronomy.

The merit for the formation and development of agricultural science in Russia largely belongs to the well-known scholars A. T. Bolotov, I. M. Komov, M. G. Pavlov, V. A. Levshin, I. I. Samarin and many others.

A. T. Bolotov

Bolotov, Andrei Timofeevich

Bolotov, Andrei Timofeevich (1738-1833) — one of the founders of agronomy in Russia. Thanks to his innovative qualities, he came forward with a program of priority research on agriculture in the following directions:

• study of the properties and qualities of lands;
• cultivation and preparation of lands for sowing;
• improvement and fertilization of lands;
• preparation of seeds;
• sowing;
• care of crops;
• harvesting.

He identified the main obstacles hindering successful agriculture: the extreme ignorance of our farmers and the peasant's lack of property. A. T. Bolotov is credited with the works On Fertilizing Fields (1770) and On the Division of Fields (1771), in which ideas are expressed on increasing soil fertility, ways to improve the combination of field farming and livestock raising, and on soil and air nutrition of plants. Long before the founders of the mineral nutrition of plants, Thaer and Liebig, he suggested the role of mineral substances in plant nutrition.

I. M. Komov

Komov, Ivan Mikhailovich (1750-1792) — an outstanding Russian agronomist. In his opinion, agriculture is the fertile soil on which all sciences and arts flourish. In his work "On Agriculture," he was one of the first to substantiate crop rotation, proposed using a crop-rotation system of agriculture, considered the development of livestock breeding the main path to increasing fertility, and an abundance of manure as organic fertilizer and changes in the structure of sown areas the main condition for achieving high yields.

I. M. Komov proved that restoration of soil fertility is achieved through plowing and manure:

Plowing is the main thing in agriculture. From it the land becomes softer and juicier, and is freed from weeds and pests.

I. M. Komov

He maintained that repeated plowing does not replace fertilizer, was against simplification and the use of template methods in agronomy, and proposed testing the effectiveness of crop cultivation techniques experimentally.

M. G. Pavlov

Pavlov, Mikhail Grigorievich

Pavlov, Mikhail Grigorievich (1793-1840). He was the first to reveal the significance of soil processes in plant nutrition, developed a theory of fertilizer application, and proposed replacing grain three-field rotation — the dominant farming system at that time — with intensive crop rotation. Like I. M. Komov, he was a supporter of practice, considering it the embodiment of theory in action.

Practice is unthinkable without theory, and theory without practice is barren.

M. G. Pavlov

Course of Agriculture by M. G. Pavlov in five volumes served for a long time as a fundamental guide for teaching many generations of Russian agronomists.

19th century

In the 19th century, agronomic science received its further development thanks to the works of outstanding Russian scholars: A. V. Sovetov, P. A. Kostychev, D. I. Mendeleev, V. V. Dokuchaev, A. N. Engelgardt, K. A. Timiryazev, I. A. Stebut and many others.

A. V. Sovetov

Sovetov, Alexander Vasilyevich

Sovetov, Alexander Vasilyevich (1826-1901) determined the level of agricultural culture and introduced field grass sowing, which activated the use of scientific knowledge in agricultural production. He proved that sowing perennial grasses not only helps develop animal husbandry but also restores and increases soil fertility. Grass sowing in Russia, primarily clover, brome grass, timothy and their mixtures, thanks to A. V. Sovetov, began to be used long before Western Europe.

A. N. Engelgardt

Engelgardt, Alexander Nikolaevich

Engelgardt, Alexander Nikolaevich (1832-1893) became the founder of agrochemistry in Russia and played a great role during the period of agrarian-economic reforms. He believed that Russian agriculture could develop through raising the literacy and culture of peasants, understood the need to reorganize the countryside, and therefore spoke in favor of the appearance of artels, the conduct of artel farming, and attached great importance to the person, the owner. The entire system of farming depends on the latter: if the system is bad, no machines will help.

There is no Russian, English or German chemistry; there is only chemistry common to the whole world, but agronomy can be Russian, or English, or German...

A. N. Engelgardt, letters "From the Village," 1882

The ideas of A. N. Engelgardt were further developed: conducting agriculture in modern conditions without applying scientific knowledge is impossible, the importance of highly qualified specialists is a key factor, and the principles of labor organization and integration of agriculture with the processing industry are the guarantee of sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex of the country's economy.

V. V. Dokuchaev

Dokuchaev, Vasily Vasilyevich

Dokuchaev, Vasily Vasilyevich (1846-1903), founder of soil science. He was the first to determine that soil is an independent natural body formed as a result of processes of interaction between relief, climate, plant and animal life, soil-forming rocks and the age of the country. He proposed a scientific classification of soils by their origin and paid attention to restoring and increasing soil fertility through organizing field-protective forest plantations, regulating the water regime and other techniques.

The views of V. V. Dokuchaev were criticized, including by K. A. Timiryazev and P. A. Kostychev, for the insufficient connection of genetic soil science with agronomic soil science.

P. A. Kostychev

Kostychev, Pavel Andreevich

Kostychev, Pavel Andreevich (1845-1895) developed the direction of agronomic soil science, established the interrelationships of soil and plants, and showed the significance of anthropogenic influence on these connections. He pointed to the great importance of agrophysical properties of soil: structure and composition, developed measures and determined the role of plants and soil cultivation in improving them. One of P. A. Kostychev's merits is the creation of the most perfect soil tillage system, combining weed control and regulation of the water regime.

I. A. Stebut

Stebut, Ivan Alexandrovich

Stebut, Ivan Alexandrovich (1833-1923) made a substantial contribution to the theory and practice of agriculture. His monograph Foundations of Field Culture and Measures for Its Improvement in Russia (1873-1879) summarizes world and domestic experience and lays down the economic, organizational and technological foundations of agricultural production, taking into account the biological characteristics of crops and environmental conditions.

I. A. Stebut, thanks to his pedagogical talent, became the teacher of many well-known Russian agronomists. He was called the patriarch of agronomy.

Study the nature around you, study the soil from which you expect harvests... Do not ask me for recipes. It is not recipes that I give you, nor would I like to see copyists in you, but above all consciously thinking people, masters of their craft, ardently loving their profession.

I. A. Stebut

D. I. Mendeleev

Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich (1834-1907), the great Russian chemist, devoted many of his works to research in agriculture, animal husbandry, land reclamation, forestry, and processing of agricultural products. He defined four conditions of modern agriculture:

1. the presence of advantageous breeds of animals and varieties of plants;
2. sale of products as a commodity;
3. development of specializations;
4. reduction of physical labor costs by replacing it with machines.

D. I. Mendeleev attached great importance to the intensification of agriculture, the use of deep plowing to utilize nutrients from subsoil layers, and the use of fertilizers. He believed that achieving high efficiency in agriculture was possible only with developed industry producing a sufficient number of modern machines, tools, and mineral fertilizers. Agriculture needs much larger capitals than other sectors of the economy.

K. A. Timiryazev

Timiryazev, Kliment Arkadyevich

Timiryazev, Kliment Arkadyevich (1843-1920) received worldwide recognition thanks to his work on photosynthesis and plant physiology, which showed the potential possibility of increasing the productivity of agricultural plants. He considered the main task of agriculture to be studying the requirements of plants and, with the help of various techniques, satisfying them in order to develop plants in the direction required by the farmer. In his opinion, the connection between science and practice would make it possible to grow two ears where previously one grew.

K. A. Timiryazev noted that nowhere, perhaps, in any other activity is it required to weigh so many diverse pieces of information, nowhere can enthusiasm lead to such a major failure as in agriculture.

20th century

Thanks to the efforts of N. I. Vavilov, D. I. Mendeleev, V. R. Williams, K. A. Timiryazev, D. N. Pryanishnikov, A. G. Doyarenko, N. M. Tulaykov and many others, a network of experimental agricultural institutions was organized in Russia, which became an important stage in the development of domestic agronomy.

Doyarenko A. G. (1874-1958) studied factors of plant life and their interrelationships, the influence of agronomic practices on them, and the use of solar energy by plants. The results of these studies remain relevant today. The study of the water-air and nutrient regimes of soil made it possible to conclude that the structure of the arable layer of soil plays a decisive role, primarily the ratio of capillary and non-capillary porosity. A. G. Doyarenko revised the problems of experimental work in agriculture by studying the nature of field heterogeneity. It was he who determined the content of the academic course in agriculture, the organizational methods and forms of the educational process, and developed programs aimed at awakening interest in the discipline being studied, the content and structure of which have remained practically unchanged to this day.

Pryanishnikov, Dmitry Nikolaevich

Pryanishnikov, Dmitry Nikolaevich (1865-1948) developed a theory of plant nutrition and methods of increasing soil fertility through the widespread use of mineral fertilizers. Many of his works are devoted to the physiological foundations of modern agriculture and crop production. The main direction of D. N. Pryanishnikov's research is nitrogen metabolism in plants, thanks to which the production of nitrogen fertilizers and their use began to develop in our country. He actively advocated the intensification of agriculture.

Williams, Vasily Robertovich (1863-1939) paid great attention to soil-forming processes and the essence of soil fertility as a factor in plant life. He noted the importance of all factors of plant life in order to maximally satisfy their needs and formulated the law of equal significance of plant life factors. V. R. Williams was engaged in the theoretical and practical development of the grass-field system of agriculture, whose universal use as a universal method of increasing fertility and yields became a great mistake.

Tulaykov, Nikolai Maksimovich (1875-1938) made a great contribution to research on farming systems in the arid regions of the country. He developed theories of shallow tillage, which promotes the accumulation and preservation of moisture in the soil. He was the first to express the idea of using crop rotations with short rotation in arid regions and laid the foundations of soil-protective agriculture.

The theoretical and practical basis of soil-protective agriculture is the depth of soil cultivation. Shallow non-moldboard tillage replaced deep plowing, which had long been the main type of cultivation.

A supporter of shallow non-moldboard tillage in Russia was I. E. Ovsinsky. He denied the need for deep plow tillage and recognized the need for loosening to a depth of 5-7.5 cm to destroy weeds and incorporate fertilizers. For this, cultivators-flat cutters were first constructed. Practical experiments with the shallow tillage system, conducted at the beginning of the century, did not show its effectiveness; however, agronomic science continues research with the aim of replacing plow tillage, reducing its depth and number.

Followers of the ideas of shallow tillage by N. M. Tulaykov: Jean (France), Faulkner (USA), Krause (Germany), also could not achieve stable positive results. Shallow tillage led to an increase in weed infestation of fields, reducing labor productivity. Even on fields clean of weeds, shallow surface tillage, providing favorable conditions for the growth of cultivated plants, after several years became weed-infested and the farmer had to return to deep plow tillage.

In the field of soil-protective agriculture worked T. S. Maltsev, A. I. Baraev and modern agricultural scientists — I. S. Shatilov, A. N. Kashtanov, M. I. Sidorov, V. D. Pannikov, I. P. Makarov, A. I. Puponin, A. M. Lykov, V. I. Kiryushin, S. A. Vorobyov, S. S. Sdobnikov, D. I. Burov, M. N. Zaslavsky and others.

T. S. Maltsev (1895-1994) proposed replacing plowing with non-moldboard tillage in the regions of Western Siberia and the Trans-Urals. The essence of his approach is the alternation of deep non-moldboard plowing to a depth of 25-27 cm with surface tillage of 10-12 cm by years and fields in grain-fallow-row and grain-fallow crop rotations. Deep non-moldboard plowing is carried out once every 3-5 years.

In the early 1960s, A. I. Baraev (1908-1985) proposed a new soil-protective farming system on lands prone to wind erosion, which showed its effectiveness. In the new system, plowing was replaced by flat-cutter tillage while preserving stubble on the soil surface and introducing grain-fallow crop rotations with short rotation of up to 3-5 years instead of grain-grass-row rotations with long rotation of 8-10 years. To implement the new system, a number of special anti-erosion machines were developed and a new technology for cultivating agricultural crops was introduced.

With the development of technologies and industry in the second half of the 20th century, the need arose in agriculture to lay strategic and practical foundations for the intensification of farming. In the 1970s-1980s, research began in this direction; achievements in the fields of chemicalization, complex mechanization, land reclamation, the introduction of intensive crop cultivation technologies, and the mastery of methods for programming harvests were taken as a basis.

Current state

Modern trends in scientific research in agriculture are aimed at improving soil-protective systems in zonal farming systems, as well as in landscape-ecological agriculture. The latter is an alternative to technogenic agriculture, in which special attention is given to technologies, machinery and chemistry with minimal consideration of ecological and natural factors. Landscape-ecological agriculture sets priorities on the biologization of processes, which in turn leads to a fundamental change in modern agriculture.

Modern agriculture is the science of rational, economically, ecologically and technologically justified use of land and the formation of highly fertile soils, with indicators optimal for cultivating crops. The central concept of modern agriculture is soil fertility, its expanded reproduction and preservation, which is the guarantee of obtaining high and stable yields of good quality.

Agriculture, like most other natural sciences, is not an isolated direction. Its development is closely connected with theoretical and practical achievements in other disciplines such as soil science, land management and land use, plant physiology, agrochemistry, crop production, microbiology, biotechnology, agrometeorology, ecology, land reclamation, economics, etc.

List of sources

1. Bazdyrev G. I., Loshakov V. G., Puponin A. I. et al. Agriculture. Textbook for universities. Moscow: Kolos Publishing House. 2000.
2. Mineev V. G., Sychev V. G., Gamzikov G. P. et al. Agrochemistry. Textbook. / Ed. Mineev V. G. Moscow: Publishing House of VNIIA named after D. N. Pryanishnikov. 2017.