Arab Agricultural Revolution

The Arab Agricultural Revolution was the transformation in agriculture in the Old World during the Islamic Golden Age (8th to 13th centuries). The agronomic literature of the time, with major books by Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī, demonstrates the extensive diffusion of useful plants to Medieval Spain (al-Andalus), and the growth in Islamic scientific knowledge of agriculture and horticulture. Medieval Arab historians and geographers described al-Andalus as a fertile and prosperous region with abundant water, full of fruit from trees such as the olive and pomegranate. Archaeological evidence demonstrates improvements in animal husbandry and in irrigation such as with the saqiyah waterwheel. These changes made agriculture far more productive, supporting population growth, urbanisation, and increased stratification of society. The revolution was first described by the historian Antonio Garcia Maceira in 1876. The name was coined by the historian Andrew Watson in an influential but at the time controversial 1974 paper. However, 40 years on, it has proven useful to historians and has been supported by findings in archaeology and archaeobotany. Science in the medieval Islamic world Andalusi agricultural corpus The first Arabic book on agronomy to reach al-Andalus, in the 10th century, was Ibn Wahshiyya's al-Filāḥa al-Nabaṭiyya (Nabatean Agriculture), from Iraq; it was followed by texts written in al-Andalus, such as the Mukhtasar kitab al-filaha (Abridged Book of Agriculture) by Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) from Cordoba, around 1000 AD. The eleventh century agronomist Ibn Bassal of Toledo described 177 species in his Dīwān al-filāha (The Court of Agriculture). Ibn Bassal had travelled widely across the Islamic world, returning with a detailed knowledge of agronomy. His practical and systematic book both gives detailed descriptions of useful plants including leaf and root vegetables, herbs, spices and trees, and explains how to propagate and care for them.

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Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic and cultural flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom, which saw scholars from all over the Muslim world flock to Baghdad, the world's largest city by then, to translate the known world's classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus Saccharum, tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. Sugarcanes belong to the grass family, Poaceae, an economically important flowering plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops.

History of agriculture

Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa. At least eleven separate regions of the Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin. The development of agriculture about 12,000 years ago changed the way humans lived. They switched from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to permanent settlements and farming. Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. However, domestication did not occur until much later.

Multi-objective optimization of rainfed and irrigated agricultural areas considering production and environmental criteria: a case study of wheat production in Spain

Gonzalo Guillen Gosalbez, Pavel Vaskan

Meeting the growing food demand with minimum impact on the environment is a major challenge to face for ensuring a more sustainable food production. To tackle this problem, in this article we present a novel systematic method for agriculture planning that ...

Elsevier2017

Allometric equations for non-destructive biomass estimation of early stage sugarcane plants – Case study in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil

Hadrien Baecher

Brazil recently became the 5th world power, and with a tremendous growing of its population and the resulting needs, this country is facing challenges in providing energy to every sector of its socio-economical activity. The actual global warming concern a ...

2013

Life cycle assessment of processes for the treatment of wastewater urban sludge: energy and global warming analysis

This study compares six wastewater sludge treatment scenarios applied to a 300,000 equivalent-inhabitant (eq. inh) wastewater treatment plant: agricultural spreading, fluidised bed incineration, wet oxidation, pyrolysis, incineration in cement kilns and la ...

Elsevier2005

The Emergence of Agriculture Empires AR-154: Environmental history and theories I

Examines the shift from hunter-gatherer societies to early agricultural empires, exploring the Neolithic revolution, state formation, and environmental impacts.

The Rise of Agriculture Empires

Examines the rise of states and empires in agriculture, the Neolithic revolution, specialized labor, and the impact of Greek city-states.

Agrarian Landscapes Formation in Medieval Europe AR-154: Environmental history and theories I

Delves into the formation of agrarian landscapes in medieval Europe, exploring agricultural revolution, energy regimes, mechanical innovations, and common land use.