A Very Brief History of Agriculture

1. A Very Brief History of Agriculture Phase 0: “Pre-modern” Phase 1: Fertilizer and the Plow Liebig’s Law of the Minimum 1840 is a principle developed by Justus von Liebig. It states that growth is controlled not by the total of resources available, but by the scarcest resource. This concept was originally applied to plant or crop growth, where it was found that increasing the amount of plentiful nutrients did not increase plant growth. Only by increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient (the one most scarce in relation to "need") was the growth of a plant or crop improved. He “debunked” then current “humus” theory of plant nutrition.

2. Phase I: The Plow In 1731 Englishman Jethro Tull improved the plow by adding a knife to slice the sod away from the earth below. John Deer: In 1846 Steel Works of Pittsburgh produced the first slab of cast plow steel made in the United States. The Steel Plow was born. The prairie sod could not be conquered.

3. Phase II: Modern Chemistry! (“Cheap N” and pesticides) Haber-Bosch method of directly synthesizing ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen, developed by the German physical chemist Fritz Haber. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918 for this method, which made the manufacture of ammonia economically feasible. The method was translated into a large-scale process using a catalyst and high-pressure methods by Carl Bosch The nitrogen and hydrogen are reacted over an  (A heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood) iron  ((chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected) catalyst under conditions of 200 atmospheres, 450°C:It was first used on an industrial scale by the Germans during  1914 to 1918 World War I to make explosives. The nitrogen is obtained from the air, and the hydrogen is obtained from water and  natural gas

4. Phase II: Modern Chemistry: Pesticides German scientists experimenting with organophosphate nerve gas during World War II synthesized the organophosphorous insecticide parathion, marketed in 1943, and still widely in use today. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, these types of chemicals became major pest control agents.  History of Pesticides Since before 500 BC humans have used pesticides to prevent damage to their crops. The first known use of pesticide was sulfur. By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead were being applied to crops to kill pests. In the 17th century, nicotine sulfate was extracted from tobacco leaves for use as an insecticide. The 19th century saw the introduction of two more natural pesticides, pyrethrum, which came from crysanthemums, and rotenone, from the roots of tropical legumes. In 1939, Paul Müller discovered that DDT was a very effective insecticide. It quickly became the most widely used pesticide in the world.

5. Phase III: Green Revolution: Norman Borlaug: Plant Breeder University of Minnesota where he studied forestry. B.S. 1937 Forestry M.S. 1939 Plant Pathology Ph.D. 1942. Plant Pathology

6. If added fertilizer then the plant got too tall and fell over before harvest (lodged). Borlaug found dwarfing allele that had prevented lodging and increased harvest index.

11. Green Revolution: Scientific Breeding Dwarfing Disease Resistance

12. Phase IV: Genetic Engineered Crops

13. Modern Organics: Sir Albert Howard: British Officer in India 1910 -1940 “The maintenance of the fertility of the soil is the first condition of any permanent system of agriculture. In the ordinary processes of crop production fertility is steadily lost: its continuous restoration by means of manuring and soil management is therefore imperative.” From An Agricultural Testament Indore Composting Process

14. What is Organic Agriculture? The first use of the term "organic" in relation to agriculture, however, has been attributed to Lord Northbourne, a practitioner of biodynamic farming and author of Look to the Land (1940). Concerned with the problems of soil erosion and human health, Northbourne believed that the ideal farm was a "sustainable, ecologically stable, self-contained unit, biologically complete and balanced—a dynamic living organic whole" (Scofield 1986: 1). Thus, the term "organic" refers to the idea of a farm as an organism rather than simply the type of inputs used.

15. Northbourne maintained that there were "infinite" varieties of mixed or organic farming because of the ability of farmers to adapt to local conditions "without abandoning the principle [of] working towards the greatest possible diversification so as to produce as complete an organic whole as possible" (quoted in Scofield 1986: 4).

16. In the US: 1940s: J.I. Rodale: Linked food to human health 1962: Silent Spring 1980: USDA started to support 1990: National Organic Food Production Act 2002: Final Rule created a national standard National Organic Program

17. 1920s: Germany: Rudolf Steiner Biodynamic 1940s: In Japan, Masanobu Fukuoka, quit his job as a research scientist, returned to his family's farm, and devoted the next 30 years to developing a radical no-till organic method for growing grain, now known as Fukuoka farming. “One Straw Revolution”

18. Organic History & Philosophy HEALTHY SOCIETY • Began in the 1920s in Europe as an alternative to a wide array of farm problems • Soil-based system emphasizing soil humus management HEALTHY PEOPLE HEALTHY FOOD HEALTHY SOIL

19. Myth Organic Farming is simply agriculture as it was practiced before the era of commercial agricultural chemicals

20. Reality Organic Farming is a deliberate approach to farming based on regeneration and the promotion of life and health in the soil