Development of Intensive Agriculture

Anthropologists and scientists in other fields have long been concerned with the origins of intensive farming and early civilization,with the social and economic structure of rural society, and with the strategies that have enabled diverse populations to adapt to environmental and other problems. Agricultural intensification involves increasing the yield from labor or land. This implies that due to the complex ways in which land and labor are interrelated, there is more than one route to intensification. Generally, the perspective of most American or European economists is to concentrate on labor. Agricultural history is usually described in terms of progress in labor-saving technology- -the plow, seed drills, cultivators, and the like- -because the economies of the Western world experienced labor shortages over much of their histories. Technology, of course, not only may increase food production by allowing the same labor force to cultivate more land but also may free up labor for other endeavors. Thus Australia, Canada, and the United States produce massive amounts of food with a relatively small rural labor force.

Production can also be intensified by increasing the productivity of land without reducing the labor requirements; that is, expanding production by using an existing labor force or even a larger one. This can be important, for example, where there are few alternative sources for employment, as is often the case in densely populated developing countries. Irrigation and the introduction of new crop strains are well-known examples of this form of intensification. Water control may allow for multiple harvests of a particular crop; new plant strains may also increase productivity without new capital input needed to reduce labor requirements.

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