How Did The 18th Century Lead To An Agricultural Revolution

Did the improvements in agricultural practices and methods in the eighteenth-century lead to an agriculture revolution? This topic is very much debated, some historians have noted the beginning of agrarian changes already in the seventeenth century, especial y in the low countries. [3] Other, however, have questioned the use of the term, arguing that significant changes occurred only in England and that even there the upward trend in agricultural production was not maintained after 1750.[1] Eighteenth-century agricultural was characterized by increases in food production that can be attributed to four interrelated factors: more farmland, increased crops per acre, healthier and more abundant livestock, and an improved climate.[2] The amount of land under cultivation was increased by abandoning the old open field system, in which part of the land was allowed to lie fallow to renew it. The formerly empty fields were now plated with new crops, such as alfalfa, turnips, and lastly clover. They also provided winter shield for livestock, enabling landlords to maintain an ever-larger number of animals.[3]
The eighteen-century witness greater yields of vegetables, including two important American crops, the potato, and maize (Indian corn). Although they were not grown in the quantity until after 1700, both had been brought to Europe from American in the sixteenth century.[1] The potato became a staple in Germany, the low countries, and especially Ireland, where repression by English landlords forced large numbers of poor peasants to survive on small plots of marginal land.