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.

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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.

One of the most ancient (and still important) ways land productivity can be increased is through water management. So diverse are the ways in which moisture can be controlled that it is somewhat misleading to refer to them all as irrigation.” Simply adding small stones to fields, as did some ancient peoples of North America, can enhance the field’s ability to retain moisture. In this sense, irrigation, or, at least, “moisture control,” is as early as agriculture itself. Archaeological evidence in the Middle East indicates that simple systems of water control predate the rise of large agrarian states with their concomitantly dense populations. Populations near rivers or marshes would simply capture or divert annual floodwaters or runoff from rains. The term “irrigation” refers to actually transporting water to the field and then managing its direct application and subsequent drainage, since drainage is important in order to maintain a salt-free soil base.

The earliest known large-scale system of irrigation in Egypt appears with the emergence of one government throughout that land in 5100 B.C. We know that even fairly complicated irrigation systems can be managed by local farmers, although the potential for interfamilial or intercommunity conflict is substantial. People who share a common water resource may have very different interests in its use. As a consequence, we see a widespread pattern of large-scale irrigation systems that come to be run by special managers, with a corresponding lessening of control by households or even by local communities. Centralized decision making facilitates the mobilization of large workforces, allocation of water, conflict resolution, and storage of surpluses.

In the emerging prehistoric states of Mesopotamia, this managerial role was first assumed by religious leaders and only later by secular rulers. It is interesting to note a similar pattern in large-scale irrigation systems in the southwest United States that were managed by the Mormon Church (a religious organization) in the nineteenth century. Making water control feasible required centralized control by a committed bureaucracy willing to use resources to sustain building and rebuilding dams and canals beyond the ability of local communities.

The main impetus for irrigation, in most places, is simply the need to have water available in areas where rainfall is unpredictable-not necessarily a wish to increase the average yield of a unit of land. But with the advent of irrigation, slight differences in the productivity of different pieces of land become greatly magnified. Fields that lend themselves to irrigation -fields close to the water source or that drain well- -produce far more than those less suited to irrigation.

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►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 toadaptto 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.

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