Agricultural technologies were majorly developed during the Medieval period to ensure sufficient product yields for growing populations around the world. European farming systems included new methods and techniques to improve productivity overall (Broedel et al. 2017). The innovative technologies adopted by Medieval Europeans and West Africans reflected the critical elements of their natural environment and inevitably influenced agricultural practices worldwide.
Medieval Europeans established key systems of farming that would only improve with time. An example of such systems is the alteration of cultivating and non-cultivating land procedures that ultimately allowed for higher soil practicality (Tserendorj et al. 2021). European farmers also learned to prevent bad weather from affecting their crop growth by using oats and rye, more fit for the conditions (Broedel et al. 2017). A novel three field rotation technique included growing different crops at various times to preserve them (Broedel et al. 2017). In this way, the main methods of European agriculture were centered on efficiency and productivity.
The West African influence on modern agricultural trends is evident through their contribution to rice cultivation. The local technologies included planting rice along a landscape continuum while regulating water sources and the surrounding environment (Carney 1996). Moreover, precipitation led to a new system being developed, using cattle for fertilizers while planting seeds over 100 feet above sea level (Carney 1996). In a similar way to the Europeans, West African farmers tried to minimize the influence of weather conditions on the growth of crops.
The technological responses to differing soil types could be explained by the different environments of the respective locations. European soil, being dense and difficult to work through, required the use of a plow, often by a group of people (Broedel et al. 2017). On the other hand, the West African response to acidic soil comprised farmers allowing soil access to marine water and generally regulating its pH levels (Carney 1996). In this way, the different responses demonstrate the varying conditions in the locations; still, the methods are similar in the necessity of group work and control of water concentrations in soil.
References
Broedel, Hans Peter, Broedel, Sheryl Dahm, Kim, Bonnie, Arnold, David, and Danielle Mead Skjelver. 2017. History of Applied Science & Technology: An Open Access Textbook. Digital Press: University of North Dakota.
Carney, Judith. 1996. “Landscapes of Technology Transfer: Rice Cultivation and African Continuities”. Technology and Culture 37 (1): 5-35. Tserendorj, Gegeensuvd, Marinova, Elena, Lechterbeck, Jutta, Behling, Hermann,Wick, Lucia, Fischer, Elske, Sillmann, Marion, Märkle, Tanja, and Manfred Rösch. 2021. “Intensification of agriculture in southwestern Germany between the Bronze Age and Medieval period, based on archaeobotanical data from Baden-Württemberg”. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 30, 35–46. Web.