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119-593: Farming in this sense has nothing to do with agriculture , other than in a metaphorical sense. There are two possible origins for farm . Some sources derive "farm" with its French version ferme , most notably used in the context of the Fermiers Generaux , from the mediaeval Latin firma , meaning "a fixed agreement, contract", ultimately from the classical Latin adjective firmus , firma , firmum , meaning "firm, strong, stout, steadfast, immoveable, sure, to be relied upon". The modern agricultural sense of

238-810: A lord of the manor with a Roman Catholic church and priest. Thanks to the exchange with the Al-Andalus where the Arab Agricultural Revolution was underway, European agriculture transformed, with improved techniques and the diffusion of crop plants, including the introduction of sugar, rice, cotton and fruit trees (such as the orange). After 1492, the Columbian exchange brought New World crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes , and manioc to Europe, and Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips , and livestock (including horses, cattle, sheep and goats) to

357-404: A "rousing style of public speaking that made him the greatest [Roman orator] between Cato the censor and Cicero ". Gaius also changed how speeches were delivered from the rostra . Formerly, when a speaker delivered a speech in the forum, he turned his face to the right in the direction of the curia , the senate house, and the comitium . Instead, Gaius would turn his face to the left, toward

476-443: A bounty, promising Gaius' head's weight in gold. Flaccus and his sons were killed, Gracchus was either killed or committed suicide after fleeing across the river Tiber. The claimant of the bounty removed the brain and substituted it with molten lead to increase the weight before claiming the reward. In the aftermath of Gaius' death, a judicial inquiry was established to try Gracchan supporters. Apparently, "many were executed after

595-403: A brief investigation without the formalities of trial", with an extensive purge reportedly of thousands. Plutarch also reports that Gaius, Flaccus, and others' estates were confiscated, along with the dowry of his widow, Licinia; Plutarch, however, is likely wrong in this matter; it is more likely that only their houses were demolished, with their estates passing thence to their heirs. Opimius

714-470: A combination of labor supply and labor demand trends have driven down the share of population employed in agriculture. During the 16th century in Europe, between 55 and 75% of the population was engaged in agriculture; by the 19th century, this had dropped to between 35 and 65%. In the same countries today, the figure is less than 10%. At the start of the 21st century, some one billion people, or over 1/3 of

833-423: A favorable rent by overstating the riskiness of the cash flow stream and effectively managing the assigned debts as a skilled debt-collector and manager. They must ensure their ability to enforce debt payments, including resorting to legal action and paying standard fees for bringing a lawsuit under the government authority that is the farm's lessor. The tenant acts as a principal, not the lessor's agent. Tax farming

952-416: A fertilizer for crops. Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( c.  154 BC – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish colonies outside of Italy, engage in further land reform, reform

1071-500: A few years later, a bill was carried in defiance of the senate establishing a colony at Narbonne. Only in 111 BC, some ten years later, was the Gracchan land commission disestablished by another lex agraria (sometimes called the lex Thoria but attribution is disputed ), not because of plutocratic influence, but because the job of distributing public lands was complete. All public land distributed or otherwise confirmed under

1190-664: A hazardous industry, and farmers worldwide remain at high risk of work-related injuries, lung disease, noise-induced hearing loss , skin diseases, as well as certain cancers related to chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. On industrialized farms , injuries frequently involve the use of agricultural machinery , and a common cause of fatal agricultural injuries in developed countries is tractor rollovers . Pesticides and other chemicals used in farming can be hazardous to worker health , and workers exposed to pesticides may experience illness or have children with birth defects. As an industry in which families commonly share in work and live on

1309-444: A high use of inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticide and automation). It is practiced mainly in developed countries. From the twentieth century onwards, intensive agriculture increased crop productivity. It substituted synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for labor, but caused increased water pollution, and often involved farm subsidies. Soil degradation and diseases such as stem rust are major concerns globally; approximately 40% of

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1428-565: A pious hope for a return to a renewed sense of political harmony within the civic community... Care, thought, and expense were not spared in Opimius' efforts to bring acceptable closure to political strife and civil conflict. Many in Rome, however, did not share his religious pretensions: according to Plutarch, one night an inscription was carved that read "A work of mad discord produces a temple of Concord." The events of this year also spilled into

1547-447: A positive note, the gender gap in access to mobile internet in low- and middle-income countries fell from 25 percent to 16 percent between 2017 and 2021, and the gender gap in access to bank accounts narrowed from 9 to 6 percentage points. Women are as likely as men to adopt new technologies when the necessary enabling factors are put in place and they have equal access to complementary resources. Agriculture, specifically farming, remains

1666-589: A proposed tribunician law to prohibit non-citizens from settling in Roman towns and evict those who had done so. He then was elected as quaestor and assigned to the Roman province of Sardinia to fight the rebels there under consul Lucius Aurelius Orestes . During a harsh winter, Gracchus was successful in procuring supplies from the Sardinians for the hard-pressed Roman troops. Orestes' command in Sardinia

1785-404: A significant decrease in genetic diversity and resources among livestock breeds, leading to a corresponding decrease in disease resistance and local adaptations previously found among traditional breeds. Grassland based livestock production relies upon plant material such as shrubland , rangeland , and pastures for feeding ruminant animals. Outside nutrient inputs may be used, however manure

1904-492: A small area of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the trees. The cleared land is used for growing crops for a few years until the soil becomes too infertile, and the area is abandoned. Another patch of land is selected and the process is repeated. This type of farming is practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. This practice is used in Northeast India, Southeast Asia, and

2023-436: A tradition of service or accountability at law"; these consequences did not become clear for a generation. Further legislation included some laws establishing new customs duties. At the elections of 123 BC, according to Plutarch, Gaius did not stand for election at all; rather, the tribes elected him spontaneously, with the election ratified by the presiding magistrate. Re-election might not have suited his plans – Gaius

2142-552: A year, or requiring irrigation. In all of these environments perennial crops are grown (coffee, chocolate) and systems are practiced such as agroforestry . In temperate environments, where ecosystems were predominantly grassland or prairie , highly productive annual farming is the dominant agricultural system. Important categories of food crops include cereals, legumes, forage, fruits and vegetables. Natural fibers include cotton, wool , hemp , silk and flax . Specific crops are cultivated in distinct growing regions throughout

2261-473: A yearly summit to discuss safety. Overall production varies by country as listed. The twenty largest countries by agricultural output (in nominal terms) at peak level as of 2018, according to the IMF and CIA World Factbook . Cropping systems vary among farms depending on the available resources and constraints; geography and climate of the farm; government policy; economic, social and political pressures; and

2380-584: Is a hybrid of a Chilean and a North American species, developed by breeding in Europe and North America. The indigenous people of the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest practiced forest gardening and fire-stick farming . The natives controlled fire on a regional scale to create a low-intensity fire ecology that sustained a low-density agriculture in loose rotation; a sort of "wild" permaculture . A system of companion planting called

2499-571: Is a non-heritable tax-farming system and was established under Sultan Mehmet II ; however this changed by the 18th century and holders of grants-for-life ( malikâne ) developed their own landowning class. It was officially terminated in 1856 during the Tanzimat reforms. Besides the Romans, historical examples include the tax collection methods of the Ptolemies , Seljuks , Mamluks , Ottomans ,

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2618-626: Is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation , such as biodiversity loss , desertification , soil degradation , and climate change , all of which can cause decreases in crop yield. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some countries ban them . The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra , from ager 'field' and cultūra ' cultivation ' or 'growing'. While agriculture usually refers to human activities, certain species of ant , termite and beetle have been cultivating crops for up to 60 million years. Agriculture

2737-444: Is defined with varying scopes, in its broadest sense using natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services". Thus defined, it includes arable farming , horticulture, animal husbandry and forestry , but horticulture and forestry are in practice often excluded. It may also be broadly decomposed into plant agriculture , which concerns

2856-544: Is related to other Old English words such as feormehām ("farm"), feormere ("purveyor, grocer"), feormian ("to provision, sustain"), and feorh ("life, spirit"). The Old English word is stated by these sources as having unusually been borrowed by Medieval Latin as firma or ferma and to have provided the Old French ferme "farm", Occitan ferma "farm". This is refuted by those sources which state firma to derive from classical Latin firmus . The word continued

2975-406: Is related to the possibility of some debts forming the revenue stream being defaulted on or paid late, leading to variability in the revenue. The resulting figure becomes the maximum rent the tenant offers to the farm's lessor. The tenant's profit is the excess of revenues extracted from the farm, less the rents, administration, levying, and collection expenses. The tenant's skills lie in negotiating

3094-438: Is returned directly to the grassland as a major nutrient source. This system is particularly important in areas where crop production is not feasible because of climate or soil, representing 30–40 million pastoralists. Mixed production systems use grassland, fodder crops and grain feed crops as feed for ruminant and monogastric (one stomach; mainly chickens and pigs) livestock. Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as

3213-639: The French State prior to Louis XVI (see ferme générale ), and Russia prior to 1862 and the Dutch East Indies (see pacht ) prior to the twentieth century. In many cases, such as the Abbasid practice of Iqta , these rights were granted by an authority, in this example the caliph, for services rendered or promised. In the Byzantine pronoia system, similar rights were often purchased from

3332-494: The Hundred of Normancross to the abbot and monks of Thorney to be held in fee-farm for an annual rent of 100 shillings which I order them to pay to my sheriff at Huntingdon. And I forbid any of my officers to do them injury or insult in respect of this. The Chief Rabbi of Egypt , Sar Shalom ben Moses was accused of tax farming, which led to his excommunication by Maimonides . The iltizam ( Ottoman Turkish : التزام )

3451-500: The Indus Valley civilization . In China, from the 5th century BC, there was a nationwide granary system and widespread silk farming . Water-powered grain mills were in use by the 1st century BC, followed by irrigation. By the late 2nd century, heavy ploughs had been developed with iron ploughshares and mouldboards . These spread westwards across Eurasia. Asian rice was domesticated 8,200–13,500 years ago – depending on

3570-583: The Paleolithic , after 10,000 BC. Staple food crops were grains such as wheat and barley, alongside industrial crops such as flax and papyrus . In India , wheat, barley and jujube were domesticated by 9,000 BC, soon followed by sheep and goats. Cattle, sheep and goats were domesticated in Mehrgarh culture by 8,000–6,000 BC. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th–4th millennium BC. Archeological evidence indicates an animal-drawn plough from 2,500 BC in

3689-514: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a canal system for irrigation. Ploughs appear in pictographs around 3,000 BC; seed-ploughs around 2,300 BC. Farmers grew wheat, barley, vegetables such as lentils and onions, and fruits including dates, grapes, and figs. Ancient Egyptian agriculture relied on the Nile River and its seasonal flooding. Farming started in the predynastic period at the end of

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3808-630: The molecular clock estimate that is used – on the Pearl River in southern China with a single genetic origin from the wild rice Oryza rufipogon . In Greece and Rome , the major cereals were wheat, emmer, and barley, alongside vegetables including peas, beans, and olives. Sheep and goats were kept mainly for dairy products. In the Americas, crops domesticated in Mesoamerica (apart from teosinte) include squash, beans, and cacao . Cocoa

3927-548: The organic movement . Unsustainable farming practices in North America led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Pastoralism involves managing domesticated animals. In nomadic pastoralism , herds of livestock are moved from place to place in search of pasture, fodder, and water. This type of farming is practiced in arid and semi-arid regions of Sahara , Central Asia and some parts of India. In shifting cultivation ,

4046-540: The Amazon Basin. Subsistence farming is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone, with little left over for transport elsewhere. It is intensively practiced in Monsoon Asia and South-East Asia. An estimated 2.5 billion subsistence farmers worked in 2018, cultivating about 60% of the earth's arable land . Intensive farming is cultivation to maximize productivity, with a low fallow ratio and

4165-560: The Americas. Irrigation , crop rotation , and fertilizers advanced from the 17th century with the British Agricultural Revolution , allowing global population to rise significantly. Since 1900, agriculture in developed nations, and to a lesser extent in the developing world, has seen large rises in productivity as mechanization replaces human labor, and assisted by synthetic fertilizers , pesticides, and selective breeding . The Haber-Bosch method allowed

4284-420: The Gracchan land reform laws was confirmed and fully privatised. By this point, practically the only remaining ager publicus was common pastureland or land under long-term leases, land which could not be distributed. Gaius Gracchus' subsidised grain law also survived past this death. It was repealed only in the last decade of the century, by a Marcus Octavius who was tribune some time between 122 and 104, but

4403-668: The Italian allies was politically impossible as it would have "wrought serious damage to their interests" – led Gaius and his allies to pursue both Italian and foreign colonisation programmes. An ally of Gaius Gracchus, Gaius Rubrius, as part of the Gracchan programme, successfully carried a law to establish a colony at Carthage. One of the other tribunes in this year, Marcus Livius Drusus , countered Gaius and Rubrius' programme by proposing twelve colonies of three thousand needy families each, with allotments of land free from rent. Drusus' proposals passed also, but "came to nothing"; regardless,

4522-599: The Italians may have also given them full citizenship rights; but, although Fannius was an ally of Gracchus, he opposed the second bill. Drusus countered Gaius' Italian citizenship bill with a much less extensive bill to exempt them from scourging , which passed. Fannius, for his part, was able to mobilise opposition to extending citizenship by convincing the people that extending citizenship would require them to share their privileges. A fragment of Fannius' speech survives: I suppose you imagine that, if you give citizenship to

4641-507: The Latins, you will still have a place in the assembly in which you are standing, and will participate in the games and festivals. Don't you realise that they will swamp everything? The issue persisted through the end of the year to the consular elections, when Fannius promulgated an edict expelling Italians from Rome, which was opposed by an edict of Gaius' which allegedly promised tribunician protection for any Italians who remained (but was, in

4760-586: The Paleolithic Levant, 23,000 years ago, cereals cultivation of emmer , barley , and oats has been observed near the sea of Galilee. Rice was domesticated in China between 11,500 and 6,200 BC with the earliest known cultivation from 5,700 BC, followed by mung , soy and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated from

4879-526: The Roman army under Scipio Aemilianus during the final campaign in the Numantine War in 133 BC. He may have held the military tribunate during his service there. During his elder brother Tiberius' tribunate, he started his political career with election as a commissioner in the Gracchan land commission to distribute public land to poor families. In 126 BC, he supported Marcus Fulvius Flaccus ' political programme. While in Rome, he opposed

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4998-572: The Roman model were used in Ptolemaic Egypt , various medieval Western European countries, the Ottoman and Mughal empires, and in Qing dynasty China. As states become stronger, buoyed up by revenues brought in by tax farming, the practice was discontinued in favour of centralized tax collection systems. In part this was because tax farming systems tended to rely on wealthy individuals outside

5117-486: The Three Sisters was developed in North America. The three crops were winter squash , maize, and climbing beans. Indigenous Australians , long supposed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers , practiced systematic burning, possibly to enhance natural productivity in fire-stick farming. Scholars have pointed out that hunter-gatherers need a productive environment to support gathering without cultivation. Because

5236-793: The United Nations (FAO) posits that the roles and responsibilities of women in agriculture may be changing – for example, from subsistence farming to wage employment, and from contributing household members to primary producers in the context of male-out-migration. In general, women account for a greater share of agricultural employment at lower levels of economic development, as inadequate education, limited access to basic infrastructure and markets, high unpaid work burden and poor rural employment opportunities outside agriculture severely limit women's opportunities for off-farm work. Women who work in agricultural production tend to do so under highly unfavorable conditions. They tend to be concentrated in

5355-524: The United States is roughly 1.7 times more productive than it was in 1948. Agriculture employed 873 million people in 2021, or 27% of the global workforce, compared with 1 027 million (or 40%) in 2000. The share of agriculture in global GDP was stable at around 4% since 2000–2023. Despite increases in agricultural production and productivity, between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021. Food insecurity and malnutrition can be

5474-582: The agrarian activities of Gaius". Mommsen asserted that he revitalised the commission by transferring to it jurisdiction over land disputes from the consuls, but of this there is no explicit evidence. The new law did clarify which land could be redistributed, however, and after his first year as tribune there are boundary stones ( cippi ) showing that he was successful in redistributing land around Apulia. He also probably carried laws authorising new Roman colonies at Scolacium and Tarentum. His novel policy of establishing colonies outside of Italy made him "apparently

5593-544: The annual work-related death toll among agricultural employees is at least 170,000, twice the average rate of other jobs. In addition, incidences of death, injury and illness related to agricultural activities often go unreported. The organization has developed the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 , which covers the range of risks in the agriculture occupation, the prevention of these risks and

5712-553: The available work force, were employed in agriculture. This constitutes approximately 70% of the global employment of children, and in many countries constitutes the largest percentage of women of any industry. The service sector overtook the agricultural sector as the largest global employer in 2007. In many developed countries, immigrants help fill labor shortages in high-value agriculture activities that are difficult to mechanize. Foreign farm workers from mostly Eastern Europe, North Africa and South Asia constituted around one-third of

5831-597: The central west coast and eastern central, early farmers cultivated yams, native millet, and bush onions, possibly in permanent settlements. In the Middle Ages , compared to the Roman period , agriculture in Western Europe became more focused on self-sufficiency . The agricultural population under feudalism was typically organized into manors consisting of several hundred or more acres of land presided over by

5950-429: The city of Chicago needed money and a deal was made to sell all 36,000 of the parking meter spots in the city for 75 years for 1.15 billion dollars to a firm called Chicago Parking Meters . Tax farming is not synonymous with modern privatized tax collection , where private individuals or companies collect taxes and pass them to the state in return for a commission or fee, without bearing any risk consequent of default by

6069-402: The city – perhaps sanctioned by the senate – to supervise the foundation of the colony at Carthage, which supposedly was plagued with bad omens. The citizenship bills' failure, however, revealed his waning popularity, and he was defeated when he stood for re-election to a third consecutive tribunate. In the new year, some of Gaius' and his allies' legislative programme came under attack. One of

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6188-404: The crown. Though such arrangements in some respects seem similar to the feudal system, there are significant disparities, including continuance of state power and, at least in the case of pronoia , theoretical time limits on the grant. In many cases, including those mentioned, tax rights were not transferable or divisible, unlike feudal fiefdoms. Sometimes, as in the case of Miguel de Cervantes ,

6307-468: The cultivation of useful plants, and animal agriculture , the production of agricultural animals. The development of agriculture enabled the human population to grow many times larger than could be sustained by hunting and gathering . Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa , in at least 11 separate centers of origin . Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. In

6426-511: The direction of the Forum proper, effectively turning his back on the Senate. In his first year, as one of the tribunes for 123 BC, he proposed two initial measures: (1) a bill to prohibit any magistrate deposed by the people from standing again for office and (2) a law to reaffirm appeal to the people in capital cases which made transgressing magistrates liable for prosecution. The first bill

6545-668: The domestication of squash (Cucurbita) and other plants. Coca was domesticated in the Andes, as were the peanut, tomato, tobacco, and pineapple . Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 3,600 BC. Animals including llamas , alpacas , and guinea pigs were domesticated there. In North America , the indigenous people of the East domesticated crops such as sunflower , tobacco, squash and Chenopodium . Wild foods including wild rice and maple sugar were harvested. The domesticated strawberry

6664-656: The efficiency of tax collection within Rome itself but the system quickly spread to the Provinces . Within the Roman Empire, these private individuals and groups which collected taxes in lieu of the bid (i.e. rent) they had paid to the state were known as publicani , of whom the best known is the disciple of Jesus Matthew the Apostle , a publicanus in the village of Capernaum in the province of Galilee . The system

6783-471: The electoral comitia to influence provincial assignments improperly. In general, his reforms were addressing major issues in administration. At the same time, he was a "proud aristocrat" and left the senate in charge of directing policy and its execution by magistrates, under more stringent checks by the people and anti-corruption laws. The ultimate result of his laws, however, was to set up the equestrian publicani as "a new exploiting class, not restrained by

6902-542: The equestrians. This law, however, "merely reallocated influence from one section of the elite to another" and "did not 'democratise' [the repetundae court], merely hand[ing] control to non-senatorial members of the elite". This law also substantially changed Roman criminal procedure by allowing the allies to prosecute (both directly and through an intermediary) ex-magistrates for corruption. The difficulty of finding enough land in Italy for resettlement – as taking land from

7021-493: The event unfulfilled). He also proposed a bill to have the centuries (the Roman voting blocs) vote in a random order rather than in traditional order in which the richest centuries voted first. This would not have changed the overweighting of the rich in the Roman comitia , but would have ensured "the chances of those who drew their support from the poorer citizens would not be prejudiced". There is, however, no evidence that this bill passed. During his second tribunate, he left

7140-432: The farm itself, entire families can be at risk for injuries, illness, and death. Ages 0–6 may be an especially vulnerable population in agriculture; common causes of fatal injuries among young farm workers include drowning, machinery and motor accidents, including with all-terrain vehicles. The International Labor Organization considers agriculture "one of the most hazardous of all economic sectors". It estimates that

7259-480: The first to realise that the amount of land in Italy was insufficient to provide for all inhabitants of the peninsula". The legislative programme also included a law, the lex militaris , to provide soldiers' clothing from the public treasury and prohibit conscription of men below the age of seventeen. While the conscription age limit had already previously been law, "it is commonly said that Gracchus [included] this provision because [of] recent cases of persons below

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7378-430: The forests of New Guinea have few food plants, early humans may have used "selective burning" to increase the productivity of the wild karuka fruit trees to support the hunter-gatherer way of life. The Gunditjmara and other groups developed eel farming and fish trapping systems from some 5,000 years ago. There is evidence of 'intensification' across the whole continent over that period. In two regions of Australia,

7497-404: The goods to create a second profit source. Such abuses stifle economic growth by restricting the ability of the tradesman to reinvest in his business, limiting the quantity of taxes generated over the long-term. In Bangladesh and India tolls on bridges and roads and dues from public properties such as lakes and forests are often leased to private persons or firms. After the 2008 financial crisis,

7616-422: The greater use of pesticides and fertilizers. Multiple cropping , in which several crops are grown sequentially in one year, and intercropping , when several crops are grown at the same time, are other kinds of annual cropping systems known as polycultures . In subtropical and arid environments, the timing and extent of agriculture may be limited by rainfall, either not allowing multiple annual crops in

7735-540: The income stream itself. In 1999 the National Board of Revenue in Bangladesh (NBR) negotiated with cigarette producing firms a minimum amount of value added tax (VAT) that should be paid per month even though VAT is an ad valorem tax, that is to say of variable yield. The NBR took this step because under the self-clearance system monitoring of production and sales of cigarettes proved to be difficult. It

7854-441: The input of nutrients (fertilizer or manure ) and some manual pest control . Annual cultivation is the next phase of intensity in which there is no fallow period. This requires even greater nutrient and pest control inputs. Further industrialization led to the use of monocultures , when one cultivar is planted on a large acreage. Because of the low biodiversity , nutrient use is uniform and pests tend to build up, necessitating

7973-420: The judicial system and system for provincial assignments, and create a subsidised grain supply for Rome. The year after his tribunate, his political enemies used political unrest – which he and his political allies had caused – as an excuse to declare martial law and march on his supporters, leading to his death. After his death, his political allies were purged in a series of trials, but most of his legislation

8092-417: The land reform measures: It may be that Gaius Gracchus, aware in hindsight of the problems which had arisen when the commission had wanted to take ager publicus away from the allies, tried to represent Tiberius' intentions as designed to benefit Italy in general, instead of the Roman citizens only. The first bill, to give citizenship to the Latins, was vetoed by Drusus, and the second bill on Latin rights for

8211-476: The lower yield associated with organic farming and its impact on global food security . Recent mainstream technological developments include genetically modified food . By 2015, the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world, followed by the European Union, India and the United States. Economists measure the total factor productivity of agriculture, according to which agriculture in

8330-476: The minimum age being conscripted"; but this is rejected as implausible. The law more likely simply restated the conditions of military service. This was followed by a law to establish farming tithes in Asia, "which in effect handed [the people of the province] over to the large corporations of tax farmers", to shore up support among the equestrians . A further bill to incorporate either 300 or 600 equestrians into

8449-469: The most brutal reprisals". The use of force itself, furthermore, set a precedent "suggest[ing] violence as the logical and more effective alternative to political engagement, negotiation, and compromise". Gaius' legislation, however, mostly survived, revealing again that "it was no longer a specific issue that mattered so much as the urgent necessity to triumph over rivals". While the African colonies law

8568-568: The next year. When Opimius gave up his consulship, he was prosecuted by Publius Decius – one of the plebeian tribunes for 120 BC – on charges of violating the lex Sempronia which Gaius had passed that prohibited the execution of Roman citizens without appeal to the people. Opimius, however, was able to successfully defend himself by pointing to the senatus consultum ultimum and claiming that his opponents did not deserve treatment akin to that of Roman citizens; his successful defence enabled such senatorial decrees to be used as "carte blanche for

8687-440: The passage led to establishment of a series of three-man boards to manage the various colonisation programmes. Supposedly, these proposals from Livius Drusus were brought at the prompting of the senate, which sought to find someone else to rival Gracchus' popularity. Gaius also proposed, in probably two citizenship bills, giving citizenship to the Latins and Latin rights to Italian allies. Gaius' rationale may have been related to

8806-418: The past would have understood them well, whether done mentally or by making marks in the sand. To determine the maximum rent they are willing to pay, the tenant estimates the long-term average yearly gross value of the revenue stream, based on past records and accounts, adjusting for any new circumstances affecting the future. They then deduct a risk element and a discount for the time value of money. The risk

8925-437: The philosophy and culture of the farmer. Shifting cultivation (or slash and burn ) is a system in which forests are burnt, releasing nutrients to support cultivation of annual and then perennial crops for a period of several years. Then the plot is left fallow to regrow forest, and the farmer moves to a new plot, returning after many more years (10–20). This fallow period is shortened if population density grows, requiring

9044-414: The poorest countries, where alternative livelihoods are not available, and they maintain the intensity of their work in conditions of climate-induced weather shocks and in situations of conflict. Women are less likely to participate as entrepreneurs and independent farmers and are engaged in the production of less lucrative crops. The gender gap in land productivity between female- and male managed farms of

9163-475: The price itself was "probably a little below the price fetched by wheat immediately after the harvest". His elder brother's lex agraria had been successful: Gracchan boundary stones are found all over southern Italy, and suggest distribution of some 1.3 million jugera (or 3,268 square kilometres) of land, accommodating somewhere between 70 and 130 thousand settlers. The contents of Gaius' further land reform are less clear: "the sources are rather vague about

9282-440: The production of fish for human consumption in confined operations, is one of the fastest growing sectors of food production, growing at an average of 9% a year between 1975 and 2007. During the second half of the 20th century, producers using selective breeding focused on creating livestock breeds and crossbreeds that increased production, while mostly disregarding the need to preserve genetic diversity . This trend has led to

9401-477: The result of conflict, climate extremes and variability and economic swings. It can also be caused by a country's structural characteristics such as income status and natural resource endowments as well as its political economy. Pesticide use in agriculture went up 62% between 2000 and 2021, with the Americas accounting for half the use in 2021. The International Fund for Agricultural Development posits that an increase in smallholder agriculture may be part of

9520-874: The role that individuals and organizations engaged in agriculture should play. In the United States, agriculture has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda to identify and provide intervention strategies for occupational health and safety issues. In the European Union, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has issued guidelines on implementing health and safety directives in agriculture, livestock farming, horticulture, and forestry. The Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America (ASHCA) also holds

9639-478: The salaried agricultural workforce in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal in 2013. In the United States of America, more than half of all hired farmworkers (roughly 450,000 workers) were immigrants in 2019, although the number of new immigrants arriving in the country to work in agriculture has fallen by 75 percent in recent years and rising wages indicate this has led to a major labor shortage on U.S. farms. Around

9758-577: The same senses of "rent, farmed office, source of revenue, feast". The meaning "rent, fixed payment", which was already present in the Old English word, was further strengthened due to the word's resemblance to the unrelated (so say these sources) Latin firmus ("firm, solid"), and firmitas ("security, firmness"). The tenant of a farm can only make a profit after carefully assessing its value. While modern financial management theory employs scientific formulae for such calculations, astute financiers of

9877-439: The same size is 24 percent. On average, women earn 18.4 percent less than men in wage employment in agriculture; this means that women receive 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. Progress has been slow in closing gaps in women's access to irrigation and in ownership of livestock, too. Women in agriculture still have significantly less access than men to inputs, including improved seeds, fertilizers and mechanized equipment. On

9996-482: The senate moved the senatus consultum ultimum and urged Opimius to attack Gracchus and his allies. In response, Gracchus and Flaccus armed their followers and seized the temple of Diana on the Aventine hill. Opimius called out the militia, along with some Cretan mercenary archers, and ordered the two to submit themselves to the judgement of the senate. Then, Opimius marched into the Aventine with his forces, offering

10115-456: The senate was probably ineffectual. He also proposed a law, the lex Sempronia de provinciis consularibus , for the senate to assign consular provinces before elections to the consulship. He also made such senatorial assignments immune from tribunician veto; Ernst Badian notes "this law shows how far he was from being a 'democrat ' ". The purpose of the lex de provinciis consularibus was to prevent sitting consuls from using their positions in

10234-488: The solution to concerns about food prices and overall food security , given the favorable experience of Vietnam. Agriculture provides about one-quarter of all global employment, more than half in sub-Saharan Africa and almost 60 percent in low-income countries. As countries develop, other jobs have historically pulled workers away from agriculture, and labor-saving innovations increase agricultural productivity by reducing labor requirements per unit of output. Over time,

10353-542: The state machinery, gangs , and secret societies . The key flaw in the tax farming system is the tension between the state, which seeks a long-term source of taxation revenue, and the tax farmers, who seek to make a profit on their investment in as short a time as possible. As a result, tax-farmers often abuse the taxpayers in various ways, tending them to switch their economic activity from strategic long-term projects to short-term revenue generation. In barter systems, tax farmers commonly undervalue taxes in kind , reselling

10472-400: The synthesis of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on an industrial scale, greatly increasing crop yields and sustaining a further increase in global population. Modern agriculture has raised or encountered ecological, political, and economic issues including water pollution , biofuels , genetically modified organisms , tariffs and farm subsidies , leading to alternative approaches such as

10591-414: The tax farmer was a government employee, paid a salary, and all money collected went to the government. Tax farming was an important step in the history of economic development by providing a method for collecting taxes across a large area without the need for a tax-collecting bureaucracy , or during periods when such a bureaucracy is unworkable or impossible to maintain. Systems of tax farming similar to

10710-791: The taxpayer. Tax farming is speculative , meaning that the tenant of the farm bears the full risk of defaulted debts. In addition, a tenant is often required as a term of the lease to make an early rent payment, which must be financed from his own resources until the revenue stream subject to the farm has started to be collected. In the United Kingdom , some tax collection of "lower value debts" by HMRC has been outsourced to debt collection agencies from July 2010. However, debt collection agencies, like invoice factors, are not truly farmers of revenue streams, as they do not bear any risk of default. Rather they make loans in expectation of future receipts, such loans being always recoverable and secured on

10829-679: The transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies indicate an initial period of intensification and increasing sedentism ; examples are the Natufian culture in the Levant , and the Early Chinese Neolithic in China. Then, wild stands that had previously been harvested started to be planted, and gradually came to be domesticated. In Eurasia, the Sumerians started to live in villages from about 8,000 BC, relying on

10948-410: The tribunes for 121 BC, Minucius Rufus, wished to repeal the lex Rubria authorising the construction of the colony at Carthage. When an attendant jeered at Gracchus and his entourage during a sacrifice and was stabbed to death with styluses, the consul Lucius Opimius summoned a meeting of the senate, which Gracchus and his ally – Marcus Fulvius Flaccus – did not attend. At the senate meeting,

11067-592: The upbringing of her sons. Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius' elder brother, had through his marriage aligned the family with the Claudii Pulchri, despite his maternal connections to the Cornelii Scipiones, as the two families had a historic rivalry. It can be supposed, however, that both the Gracchi brothers would have come into contact with powerful members of both families. Gaius Gracchus served in

11186-671: The wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan some 10,500 years ago. Pig production emerged in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, coca , llamas , alpacas , and guinea pigs . Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum

11305-468: The word farm comes from Middle English ferme ("farm, rent, revenue; revenue collected from a farmer; factor, stewardship, meal, feast"), from Old English feorm, farm ("provision, stores of food, supplies, possessions; provisions supplied to the king or a lord by a tenant or vassal; rent, feast, benefit, assylum"), from Proto-Germanic * firmō, *firχumō ("means of living, subsistence"), from Proto-Indo-European * perku- ("life, strength, force"). It

11424-399: The word stems from the same origin, in that a medieval land-"holder" (none "owned" land but the king himself under his allodial title) under feudal land tenure might let it (i.e. lease it out) under a contract as a going concern (not as a sub-infeudated fee ), that is to say as a unit producing a revenue stream, together with its workers and livestock, for exploitation by a tenant who

11543-744: The world consist of fewer than 2 hectares (4.9 acres), and take up only around 12% of all agricultural land. Farms and farming greatly influence rural economics and greatly shape rural society , affecting both the direct agricultural workforce and broader businesses that support the farms and farming populations. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods , fibers , fuels , and raw materials (such as rubber ). Food classes include cereals ( grains ), vegetables , fruits , cooking oils , meat , milk , eggs , and fungi . Global agricultural production amounts to approximately 11 billion tonnes of food, 32 million tonnes of natural fibers and 4 billion m of wood. However, around 14% of

11662-781: The world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In recent years there has been a backlash against the environmental effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic , regenerative , and sustainable agriculture movements. One of the major forces behind this movement has been the European Union , which first certified organic food in 1991 and began reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2005 to phase out commodity-linked farm subsidies, also known as decoupling . The growth of organic farming has renewed research in alternative technologies such as integrated pest management , selective breeding, and controlled-environment agriculture . There are concerns about

11781-664: The world's food is lost from production before reaching the retail level. Modern agronomy , plant breeding , agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers , and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields , but also contributed to ecological and environmental damage . Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include contributions to climate change , depletion of aquifers , deforestation , antibiotic resistance , and other agricultural pollution . Agriculture

11900-485: The world, women make up a large share of the population employed in agriculture. This share is growing in all developing regions except East and Southeast Asia where women already make up about 50 percent of the agricultural workforce. Women make up 47 percent of the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, a rate that has not changed significantly in the past few decades. However, the Food and Agriculture Organization of

12019-495: The world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. As of 2021 , small farms produce about one-third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than 50 hectares (120 acres) and operate more than 70% of the world's farmland. Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres). However, five of every six farms in

12138-621: The world. Production is listed in millions of metric tons, based on FAO estimates. Animal husbandry is the breeding and raising of animals for meat, milk, eggs , or wool , and for work and transport. Working animals , including horses, mules , oxen , water buffalo , camels, llamas, alpacas, donkeys, and dogs, have for centuries been used to help cultivate fields, harvest crops, wrangle other animals, and transport farm products to buyers. Livestock production systems can be defined based on feed source, as grassland-based, mixed, and landless. As of 2010 , 30% of Earth's ice- and water-free area

12257-444: Was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization , whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of

12376-486: Was agreed that if the cigarette producing firms paid the minimum revenue fixed by the NBR, physical monitoring would be withdrawn. The NBR resorted to this technique of financial management to avoid the large costs of monitoring while gaining more in revenue with certainty. Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture , and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture

12495-640: Was domesticated by the Mayo Chinchipe of the upper Amazon around 3,000 BC. The turkey was probably domesticated in Mexico or the American Southwest. The Aztecs developed irrigation systems, formed terraced hillsides, fertilized their soil, and developed chinampas or artificial islands. The Mayas used extensive canal and raised field systems to farm swampland from 400 BC. In South America agriculture may have begun about 9000 BC with

12614-560: Was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, and was independently domesticated in Eurasia. In Mesoamerica , wild teosinte was bred into maize (corn) from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The horse was domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes around 3500 BC. Scholars have offered multiple hypotheses to explain the historical origins of agriculture. Studies of

12733-425: Was elected censor in 169. He also had celebrated two triumphs during the 170s, one for the victorious establishment of a twenty-year-long peace in Spain. His mother was Cornelia , daughter of Scipio Africanus , a noble woman who was a major influence on the Gracchi. As a widow, after the elder Gracchus' death, she refused the marriage proposal of Ptolemy VIII , the king of Egypt, preferring to devote her life to

12852-416: Was later accused of aiding in an Italian revolt at Fregellae that had occurred in 125 BC, but was successful in rebutting the charges; well known to the people, he stood for election as tribune and won. Gaius was elected as one of the tribunes of the plebs for 123 BC. He embarked on an aggressive legislative programme immediately, aiming very broadly to appeal to many interest groups along with

12971-410: Was licensed by the contract, or firma , to keep all the revenue he could extract from the holding in exchange for fixed rents. Thus the rights to the revenue stream produced by the land had been farmed by the lessor. Because this was the form of the farming transaction most known to popular society, the word "farmer" became synonymous with a tenant of an agricultural holding. According to other sources,

13090-464: Was needed in Africa to supervise construction of a colony at Carthage – but he was returned to the tribunate with friends: Marcus Fulvius Flaccus would be one of this tribunician colleagues and Gaius Fannius would be consul. Either after re-election to a second tribunate or during the second tribunate itself, he passed a law to transfer the jury pool in corruption courts ( quaestio de repetundis ) to

13209-532: Was not complete and Orestes wanted to win his triumph. Gracchus, regardless, quit Sardinia and returned to the city early, without the permission of his commander. After his return, he was also interrogated by the censors on why he had quit his post: in response, he pleaded that he had already served longer than most, that he had a right to return after one year, and that his good character and services were more than sufficient: in effect, he "pleaded his right to be released as justification for releasing himself". He

13328-422: Was not entirely unreflective of his actions. Following the strife, [Opimius] performed a ritual purification of the city ( lustrum ) that acknowledged the pollution caused by the shedding of blood inside the community’s sacred boundary. He then built an imposing new temple of the goddess Concord (Concordia) at the northwest end of the Forum adjacent to the senate house. The honoring of this deity clearly represented

13447-494: Was originally a Roman practice whereby the burden of tax collection was reassigned by the Roman State to private individuals or groups. In essence, these individuals or groups paid the taxes for a certain area and for a certain period of time and then attempted to cover their outlay by collecting money or saleable goods from the people within that area. The system was set up by Gaius Gracchus in 123 BC primarily to increase

13566-401: Was prorogued for a second time, extending it to the point where Gaius wanted to leave to continue his career. Plutarch reports, probably based on Gracchus' own statements, that the reason for his commander's prorogation was because the senate wanted to keep him away from Rome, an allegation which is "patently absurd": the reason for the prorogation was almost certainly because Orestes' campaign

13685-486: Was repealed, a new agrarian law continued distribution of territories around Carthage to the poor, and colonial schemes in Italy survived with minor changes. The matter of citizenship for the Italians, however, was not reintroduced for some thirty years. As a whole, "the aristocracy's reaction resembled that of a general dealing with a mutiny, who accedes to most of the demands but executes the ringleaders to preserve discipline". Overseas colonial projects also did not end: just

13804-543: Was undisturbed. His brother was the reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus . Both, known together as the Gracchi brothers , were the sons of the Gracchus who was consul in 177 and 163 BC. Gaius Gracchus was born into a very well-connected political family. His father, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus , was a very successful politician of the 2nd century BC: he served in the consulships for 177 and 163 BC, and

13923-584: Was used for producing livestock, with the sector employing approximately 1.3 billion people. Between the 1960s and the 2000s, there was a significant increase in livestock production, both by numbers and by carcass weight, especially among beef, pigs and chickens, the latter of which had production increased by almost a factor of 10. Non-meat animals, such as milk cows and egg-producing chickens, also showed significant production increases. Global cattle, sheep and goat populations are expected to continue to increase sharply through 2050. Aquaculture or fish farming,

14042-486: Was widely abused, and reforms were enacted by Augustus and Diocletian . Medieval English kings frequently made grants "in fee -farm", a form of feudal tenure . An example is the following writ of King William II (1087–1100) granting a hundred court to be held in fee-farm by Thorney Abbey : William, king of the English, to all the sheriffs and barons of Huntingdonshire , greeting. Know that I have granted

14161-538: Was withdrawn at the request of his mother, Cornelia. Courts with capital punishment, not set up by the people, were now declared illegal ex post facto , which saw the former consul for 132 BC, Publius Popillius Laenas , driven into exile. He then proposed a grain law establishing a maximum price of six and a third asses for a modius (about 8.7 litres), of grain and re-enacted Tiberius' law on agricultural land redistribution. The subsidised grain would be bought when prices were low and stored in public granaries;

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