scholarly journals Agricultural Expansion, Soil Degradation, and Fertilization in Portugal, 1873–1960: From History to Soil and Back Again

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Miguel Carmo ◽  
Tiago Domingos
Keyword(s):  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Agricultural Soil ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Cultivation System ◽  
History Of Agriculture ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Southern Half

Abstract This research explains what happened to agricultural soil fertility during the “Campanha do Trigo” (Wheat Campaign) in Portugal, which began in 1929. It is commonly understood that the excessive expansion of wheat crops during the fascist “Estado Novo” (New State) regime led to the degradation of soils in the southern half of Portugal. This relationship, however, has never been questioned before. This article extends the narrative back into the last half of the nineteenth century in search of the origin of processes that gradually intensified throughout the country. In short, expansion of the cultivated area in association with the inadequate intensification of crop rotations over about 80 years, from the 1870s onward, including in non-wheat areas, strongly accentuated soil erosion and made organic fertilization progressively less effective. These transformations were only partially offset by chemical fertilization. Nitrogen and phosphorus were the key factors in this historical process. Focusing on the cultivation system and soil dynamics allows the successive integration of various kinds of historical evidence and sources. From an environmental question—why did agricultural soil degrade?—this article explores soil degradation over time and space, and assesses its social and biophysical impacts. At the same time, it addresses the history of agriculture in Portugal and its disciplinary foundations.

ACTION ON MATTER: THE HISTORY OF THE UNIQUELY AFRICAN TAMPER AND CONCAVE ANVIL POT-FORMING TECHNIQUE

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Sterner ◽  
Nicholas David
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Weight Ratio ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Culture History ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Diffusion

The publication, largely by ethnoarchaeologists, of new data on the tamper and concave anvil technique of pot-forming (TCA) permits a reassessment of this uniquely African technique, its toolkit, and its culture history. A survey, inspired by the technologie culturelle school, of its varied expressions in the southern Saharan, Sahelian and northern Sudan zones from Mali to Sudan and extending north into Egypt emphasises the potential of the technique for the efficient production of spherical water jars of high volume to weight ratio, much appreciated in arid environments. The technique is demanding and therefore practised for the most part by specialists. The origins and diffusion of the technique are assessed in the light of the ethnological, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence, and a four stage historical development is sketched.

Update on the Boundaries of the Curly Birch Range

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
L.V. Vetchinnikova ◽  
◽  
A.F. Titov ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Population Approach ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Karelian Birch

The article reports on the application of the best known principles for mapping natural populations of curly (Karelian) birch Betula pendula Roth var. carelica (Mercklin) Hämet-Ahti – one of the most appealing representatives of the forest tree flora. Relying on the synthesis and analysis of the published data amassed over nearly 100 years and the data from own full-scale studies done in the past few decades almost throughout the area where curly birch has grown naturally, it is concluded that its range outlined in the middle of the 20th century and since then hardly revised is outdated. The key factors and reasons necessitating its revision are specified. Herewith it is suggested that the range is delineated using the population approach, and the key element will be the critical population size below which the population is no longer viable in the long term. This approach implies that the boundaries of the taxon range depend on the boundaries of local populations (rather than the locations of individual trees or small clumps of trees), the size of which should not be lower than the critical value, which is supposed to be around 100–500 trees for curly birch. A schematic map of the curly birch range delineated using this approach is provided. We specially address the problem of determining the minimum population size to secure genetic diversity maintenance. The advantages of the population approach to delineating the distribution range of curly birch with regard to its biological features are highlighted. The authors argue that it enables a more accurate delineation of the range; shows the natural evolutionary history of the taxon (although it is not yet officially recognized as a species) and its range; can be relatively easily updated (e.g. depending on the scope of reintroduction); should be taken into account when working on the strategy of conservation and other actions designed to maintain and regenerate this unique representative of the forest tree flora.

The Oxford Handbook of American Women's and Gender History

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Women Of Color ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Gender History ◽  
Artistic Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Power ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Free Women

The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History boldly interprets the history of diverse women and how ideas about gender shaped their access to political and cultural power in North America over six centuries. In twenty-nine chapters, the Handbook showcases women’s and gender history as an integrated field with its own interpretation of the past, focused on how gender influenced people’s lives as they participated in migration, colonialism, trade, warfare, artistic production, and community building. Organized chronologically and thematically, the Handbook’s six sections allow readers to consider historical continuities of gendered power as well as individual innovations and ruptures in gender systems. Theoretically cutting edge, each chapter bursts with fascinating historical characters, from young Chicanas transforming urban culture, to free women of color forging abolitionist doctrines, to Asian migrant women defending the legitimacy of their marriages, to working-class activists mobilizing international movements, to transwomen fleeing incarceration. Together, their lives constitute the history of a continent. Leading scholars from multiple generations demonstrate the power of innovative research to excavate a history hidden in plain sight. Scrutinizing silences in the historical record, from the inattention to enslaved women’s opinions to the suppression of Indian women’s involvement in border diplomacy, the authors challenge the nature of historical evidence and remap what counts in our interpretation of the past. They demonstrate a way to extend this more capacious vision of history forward, setting an intellectual agenda informed by intersectionality and transnationalism, and new understandings of sexuality.

History of Agriculture and Prices in England.

1888 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 526 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Osgood ◽  
James E. Thorold Rogers
Keyword(s):  
History Of Agriculture ◽  
History Of

A History of Agriculture

1926 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 276
Author(s):  
J. I. Falconer ◽  
N. S. B. Gras
Keyword(s):  
History Of Agriculture ◽  
History Of

New-style Banks and The Agent Governance Strategies of the Beiyang Government: A Study on the History of the Development of China's Documentary Railway Billing Business in Modern Times

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-519
Keyword(s):  
Modern China ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Railway Freight ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Regime ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Modernization Process ◽  
Reform Model

Under the "weak state" regime of modern China, it was difficult for the country’s modernization process to develop without the effective intervention of a centralized state. In the process of government governance, absorbing social organizations and civil forces as agents had proved to be an effective method. Beiyang government’s governance strategy of ‘using agents to regulate agents’ in the documentary railway billing business could be regarded as typical of the diversity of government management. Qing Dynasty, government departments were not directly responsible for railway freight for various reasons, instead, they allowed railway transshipment companies to act as agents for freight management. Then transshipment companies gradually became an obstacle to Beiyang government’s reform on freight transport. However, under the Republic of China, the new-style bank discovered a benign opportunity to develop documentary railway billing service and created a bottom-up institutional reform model. Through the service, the bank became the new agent for the supervision of the transshipment company, which not only regulated the operation, but also forced railroad bureaus in the Yangzi Delta to be primarily responsible for railway freight. The Central Ministry of Transportation of Beiyang Government decided to promote this agency governance model and billing service nationwide. Received 11th January 2021; Revised 2nd June 2021; Accepted 20th July 2021

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