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Crop rotation
(896 words)

Crop rotation, i.e. the rotation of various crops and the observation of fallow years as part of the cultivation process, was employed in the modern era to avoid stressing the soil through monoculture and to prevent plant diseases. Already in the Early Middle Ages, various systems had been developed to counteract the exhaustion of the soil on the one hand, but to guarantee the food and fodder supply for man and beast on the other.

In the early historical period, and to some extent in the early medieval exchange-based economy, land was sometimes planted in crops an…

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Mahlerwein, Gunter, “Crop rotation”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_019530>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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