Post by Islamic Revival on Aug 14, 2004 8:38:32 GMT -5
History books in schools usually convey the notion that the agricultural revolution took place in recent times in the form of rotation of crops, advanced irrigation techniques, plant improvements, etc. Some such changes only taking place in the last couple of centuries in Europe, and some even taking place nowadays.
As early as the ninth century, a modern agricultural system became central to economic life and organization in the Muslim land. The great Islamic cities of the Near East, North Africa and Spain, were supported by an elaborate agricultural system that included extensive irrigation and an expert knowledge of the most advanced agricultural methods in the world.
The Muslims reared the finest horses and sheep and cultivated the best orchards and vegetable gardens. They knew how to fight insect pests, how to use fertilizers, and they were experts at grafting trees and crossing plants to produce new varieties. The Muslim agricultural revolution in the introduction of new crops, which, combined with extension and intensification of irrigation, created a complex and varied agricultural system, whereby a greater variety of soil types were put to efficient use; where fields that had been yielding one crop yearly at most prior to the Muslims were now capable of yielding three or more crops, in rotation; and where agricultural production responded to the demands of an increasingly sophisticated and cosmopolitan urban population by providing the towns with a variety of products unknown in Northern Europe. Fertilizers, in their variety, were used according to a well-advanced methodology; whilst a maximum amount of moisture in the soil was preserved.
Water, so precious a commodity during that age, was managed according to stringent rules, any waste of the resource banned, and the most sever economy enforced. There was a network of underground galleries, conducting water from one place to the other over very long distances so as to avoid evaporation.
The Muslims achieved ecological balance, a successful average economy of operation, based not on theory but on the acquired knowledge of many civilized traditions. Muslims are credited with important developments of irrigation in the Western Mediterranean. Damming of rivers to properly store and utilize water for households, mills and irrigation was also widespread. As the Muslims advanced, they introduced methods and machinery of the Ancient Near East, and also certain crops which could not have been grown with the typically classical agricultural methods.
Reproduced from 2004 calendar by PharmEvo (Pvt.) Ltd.
pharmevo@cyber.net.pk
As early as the ninth century, a modern agricultural system became central to economic life and organization in the Muslim land. The great Islamic cities of the Near East, North Africa and Spain, were supported by an elaborate agricultural system that included extensive irrigation and an expert knowledge of the most advanced agricultural methods in the world.
The Muslims reared the finest horses and sheep and cultivated the best orchards and vegetable gardens. They knew how to fight insect pests, how to use fertilizers, and they were experts at grafting trees and crossing plants to produce new varieties. The Muslim agricultural revolution in the introduction of new crops, which, combined with extension and intensification of irrigation, created a complex and varied agricultural system, whereby a greater variety of soil types were put to efficient use; where fields that had been yielding one crop yearly at most prior to the Muslims were now capable of yielding three or more crops, in rotation; and where agricultural production responded to the demands of an increasingly sophisticated and cosmopolitan urban population by providing the towns with a variety of products unknown in Northern Europe. Fertilizers, in their variety, were used according to a well-advanced methodology; whilst a maximum amount of moisture in the soil was preserved.
Water, so precious a commodity during that age, was managed according to stringent rules, any waste of the resource banned, and the most sever economy enforced. There was a network of underground galleries, conducting water from one place to the other over very long distances so as to avoid evaporation.
The Muslims achieved ecological balance, a successful average economy of operation, based not on theory but on the acquired knowledge of many civilized traditions. Muslims are credited with important developments of irrigation in the Western Mediterranean. Damming of rivers to properly store and utilize water for households, mills and irrigation was also widespread. As the Muslims advanced, they introduced methods and machinery of the Ancient Near East, and also certain crops which could not have been grown with the typically classical agricultural methods.
Reproduced from 2004 calendar by PharmEvo (Pvt.) Ltd.
pharmevo@cyber.net.pk