The upheavals of the Time of Troubles were remembered by the Russian people for a long time. Ruined, plundered cities and villages. their depopulation (the death of some, the flight to the outskirts of others), the desolation of arable land, the decline of the craft of trade - these were the sad results of the "Great Lithuanian ruin" for the economy of the country, especially its central and southern counties. Sources of that time, documentary and literary (chronicles, novels, legends) are filled with descriptions of the plight of the Russians. The government, greatly concerned about all this, sends "watchmen" around the country, and they reveal the extent of ruin, identify "empty" and "lived", thereby determining the solvency of the remaining residents, the prospects for restoring the viability of all sectors of the economy.
As was always the case in Russia, after the invasions of foreigners or natural disasters, Russian people began with the construction of burnt houses, the cultivation of abandoned arable land, which "overgrown with forest." Gradually, life improved, entered the former course.
Agriculture. From the end of the 10s - the beginning of the 20s, after the Stolbovsky peace and the Deulinsky truce, the expulsion of the gangs of marauder-interventionists, the end of the actions of the insurgent detachments, the Russian people began to restore normal economic life. The Zamoskovny Krai, the center of European Russia, comes to life, counties around the Russian capital, in the west and northwest, northeast and east. The Russian peasant is advancing to the outskirts - south of the Oka River, in the Volga and Ural regions, in Western Siberia. New settlements are emerging here. Peasants who fled here from the center from their owners - landlords and estates, monasteries and palace departments or transferred to these places, develop new land masses, enter into economic, marriage, household contacts with the local population. A mutual exchange of management experience is being established: local residents adopt the steam farming system, haymaking, apiary beekeeping, plows and other devices from the Russians; Russians, in turn, will learn from local residents about the method of long-term storage of unthreshed bread, and much more.
Agriculture did not recover quickly, the reasons for this were the low capacity of small peasant farms, low productivity, natural disasters, and crop shortages. The development of this sector of the economy was strongly and for a long time hampered by the consequences of the “Lithuanian ruin”. This is evidenced by scribe books - land inventories of that time. So, in 1622, in three counties south of the Oka - Belevsky, Mtsensk and Yelets - the local nobles had 1187 peasants and 2563 horses sitting on the lands, i.e. there were twice as many landless or very weak peasants as peasants themselves. Agriculture, which experienced extreme decline at the beginning of the century, returned to its former state very slowly.
This was reflected in the economic situation of the nobles, their serviceability. In a number of southern counties, many of them did not have land and peasants (odnodvortsy), and even estates. Some, due to poverty, became Cossacks, serfs for rich boyars, or monastic servants. according to the documents of that time, they were lying around the taverns.
By the middle of the century, about half of the lands in the Zamoskovskiy Territory, in some places more than half, were classified by scribes as “living”, and not empty arable land.
The main way of development of agriculture of this time is extensive: farmers include an increasing number of new territories in the economic circulation. The people's colonization of the outskirts is proceeding at a rapid pace.
Since the end of the 1950s and 1960s, settlers have been moving in large numbers to the Volga region, Bashkiria, and Siberia. With their arrival, they begin to engage in agriculture in those places where it did not exist before, for example, in Siberia.
In European Russia, the dominant system of agriculture was the three-field system. But in the forest regions of the Zamoskovskiy Territory, Pomorye, and even in the northern regions of the southern outskirts, undercutting, fallow, two-leaf, and motley were used. In Siberia, in the second half of the century, fallow land was gradually replaced by three-field land.
Rye and oats were sown most of all. Next came barley and wheat, spring rye (yaritsa) and millet, buckwheat and spelt, peas and hemp. The same is in Siberia. More wheat was sown in the south than in the north. Turnips and cucumbers, cabbages and carrots, radishes and beets, onions and garlic, even watermelons and pumpkins were grown in vegetable gardens. In the gardens - cherries, red currants, gooseberries (kryzh-bersen), raspberries, strawberries, apple trees, pears, plums. The yield was low. Crop failures, shortages, famine were often repeated.
The basis for the development of animal husbandry was the peasant economy. From it, the feudal lords received draft horses to work in their fields and table supplies: meat, live and dead poultry, eggs, butter, and so on. Among the peasants there were, on the one hand, many horses, many cows; on the other - deprived of any livestock. Cattle breeding especially developed in Pomorye, in the Yaroslavl region, in the southern counties.
Fish were caught everywhere, but especially in Pomorie. In the northern regions, the White and Barents Seas, cod and halibut, herring and salmon were caught; hunted seals, walruses, whales. On the Volga and Yaik, red fish and caviar were of particular value.
Subsistence agriculture was dominated by small-scale production. Hence the poor provision of the peasant with food, chronic hunger strikes. But even then, the growth of the social division of labor, the economic specialization of individual regions of the country, contributed to an increase in commodity circulation. The surplus of grain supplied to the market was provided by the southern and Volga districts.
In a number of cases, the king, boyars, nobles, monasteries expanded their own plowing, along with this, they were engaged in entrepreneurial activities and trade.

Socio-economic development of Russia in the XVII century

1.1 Agriculture

Since the end of the 10s - the beginning of the 20s, after the Stolbovsky peace and the Deulinsky truce, the expulsion of the gangs of looters-interventionists, the end of the actions of the insurgent detachments, the Russian people begin to restore normal economic life. Zamoskovny Krai comes to life - the center of European Russia, counties around the Russian capital, in the west and north-west, north-east and east. The Russian peasant is advancing to the outskirts - south of the Oka River, in the Volga and Ural regions, in Western Siberia. New settlements are emerging here. Peasants who fled here from the center from their owners - landowners and estates, monasteries and palace departments or transferred to these places, develop new land masses, enter into economic, marriage, household contacts with the local population. A mutual exchange of management experience is being established: local residents adopt the steam farming system, haymaking, apiary beekeeping, plows and other devices from the Russians; Russians, in turn, will learn from local residents about the method of long-term storage of unthreshed bread, and much more.

Agriculture did not recover quickly, the reasons for this were the low capacity of small peasant farms, low productivity, natural disasters, and crop shortages. The development of this sector of the economy was strongly and for a long time hampered by the consequences of the “Lithuanian ruin”. This is evidenced by scribe books - land inventories of that time. So, in 1622, in three counties south of the Oka - Belevsky, Mtsensk and Yelets - 1187 peasants and 2563 horses sat on the lands of local noblemen, i.e. there were twice as many landless or very weak peasants as peasants themselves. Agriculture, which experienced extreme decline at the beginning of the century, returned to its former state very slowly. Novoseltsev A.P., Sakharov A.N., Buganov V.I., Nazarov V.D. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century. - M.: LLC "Publishing house AST-LTD", 1997. - p.518

This was reflected in the economic situation of the nobles, their serviceability. In a number of southern counties, many of them did not have land and peasants (odnodvortsy), and even estates. Some, due to poverty, became Cossacks, serfs for rich boyars, monastic servants, or, according to the documents of that time, wallowed in taverns.

By the middle of the century, about half of the lands in the Zamoskovskiy Territory, in some places more than half, were classified by scribes as “living”, and not empty arable land.

The main way of development of agriculture of this time is extensive: farmers include an increasing number of new territories in the economic circulation. The people's colonization of the outskirts is proceeding at a rapid pace.

Since the end of the 50s - 60s, immigrants in many numbers go to the Volga region, Bashkiria, Siberia. With their arrival, they begin to engage in agriculture in those places where it did not exist before, for example, in Siberia.

In European Russia, the dominant system of agriculture was the three-field system. But in the forest regions of the Zamoskovskiy Krai, Pomorye, and even in the northern regions of the southern outskirts, undercutting, fallow, two-field, and motley fields were used. In Siberia, in the second half of the century, fallow land was gradually replaced by three-field land.

Rye and oats were sown most of all. Next came barley and wheat, spring rye (yaritsa) and millet, buckwheat and spelt, peas and hemp. The same is in Siberia. More wheat was sown in the south than in the north. Turnips and cucumbers, cabbages and carrots, radishes and beets, onions and garlic, even watermelons and pumpkins were grown in vegetable gardens. In the gardens - cherries, red currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, apple trees, pears, plums. The yield was low. Crop failures, shortages, famine were often repeated.

The basis for the development of animal husbandry was the peasant economy. From it, the feudal lords received draft horses to work in their fields and table supplies: meat, live and dead poultry, eggs, butter, and so on. Among the peasants there were, on the one hand, many horses, many cows; on the other - deprived of any livestock. Cattle breeding especially developed in Pomorye, in the Yaroslavl region, in the southern counties.

Fish were caught everywhere, but especially in Pomorie. In the northern regions, White and Barents Seas caught cod and halibut, herring and salmon; hunted seals, walruses, whales. On the Volga and Yaik, red fish and caviar were of particular value.

Subsistence agriculture was dominated by small-scale production. Hence the poor provision of the peasant with food, chronic hunger strikes. But even then, the growth of the social division of labor, the economic specialization of individual regions of the country, contributed to an increase in commodity circulation. The surplus of grain supplied to the market was provided by the southern and Volga districts.

In a number of cases, the king, boyars, nobles, monasteries expanded their own plowing, along with this, they were engaged in entrepreneurial activities and trade.

1.2 Craft

In the process of restoring the country's economy, an important place was occupied by handicrafts. Its share in the country's economy increased, the number of handicraft specialties increased, and the skill level of workers increased noticeably. Craftsmen began to work more and more for the market, and not for the order, i.e. production became small-scale. The feudal lords preferred to buy handicrafts in the city markets, rather than use the poor quality products of their rural artisans. Increasingly, peasants also bought urban products, which led to an increase in domestic demand and supply.

In some cities, 30 - 40% of the inhabitants were engaged in crafts. The growth of handicraft production and the expansion of sales markets led to the specialization of individual regions and the territorial division of labor:

Metalworking was done in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Veliky Ustyug; leather was processed in Vologda and Yaroslavl, in Kazan and Kaluga; pottery production was concentrated in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Veliky Ustyug; wood processing was widespread in the Dvina district, Solvychegodsk, Veliky Ustyug and Vyatka lands. Jewelery flourished in Veliky Ustyug, Moscow, Novgorod, Tikhvin, Nizhny Novgorod. Novgorod-Pskov land, Moscow, Yaroslavl became significant centers for the production of textiles; flax - Yaroslavl and Kostroma; salt - Solvychegorsk, Soligalich, Prikamye with Solikamsk, and from the second half of the 17th century. - salt lakes of the Caspian Sea. Not only cities, but also a number of quitrent villages (Pavlovo on the Oka, Ivanovo, Lyskovo, Murashkino, and others) became centers of handicraft production. Osmanov A.I. Russian history. IX-XX centuries: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University im. Herzen; Publishing house "SOYUZ", 2001 - p.78

Among the artisans, the most numerous group was made up of draft workers - artisans of urban settlements and black-moss volosts. They carried out private orders or worked for the market. Palace artisans served the needs of the royal court; state and notebook worked on orders from the treasury ( construction works, procurement of materials, etc.); privately owned - from peasants, beavers and serfs - produced everything necessary for the landlords and estate owners. The handicraft on a rather large scale developed, primarily among the taxpayers, into commodity production. But in different industries it proceeded differently.

The master, as an independent craftsman, had apprentices. According to the "everyday record", the latter dressed up to study and work with the master for five to eight years. The student lived with the owner, ate and drank from him, received clothes, did all kinds of work. At the end of the training, the student worked for some time with the master, sometimes “out of hire”. Apprentices who have acquired the necessary and significant experience or have been tested by specialists become masters themselves.

Replenishment of the corps of artisans was also carried out by exporting townspeople from other cities to Moscow for permanent or temporary work. For the needs of the treasury, the palace from other cities were sent to the capital of gunsmiths and icon painters, silversmiths, masons and carpenters.

Russian history

Settled tribes of the Kuban and Trans-Kuban regions in the early Iron Age

The basis of the economy of the settled tribes of the Kuban region was agriculture and cattle breeding. Agriculture, most likely, was plow. The main crops that were cultivated in ancient times in the Kuban were wheat, barley, millet ...

The main socio-economic directions of development of the Saratov region in the XVIII century

By the middle of the 18th century, the lands of the northern and northwestern parts of the region were being plowed more intensively - the future Volsky, Kuznetsk, Khvalynsky, Serdobsky and Petrovsky counties, which were then part of the Simbirsk and Penza provinces ...

Features of the development of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century

Peasant reform The year 1861 kept a significant part of their land for the landowners - as a rule, the best - and thereby doomed the mass of peasants to land shortages ...

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution in Europe

V late XIX v. capitalism actively invaded agriculture. Different socio-economic conditions also determined different ways of establishing capitalist relations in agricultural production: Prussian or American ...

Pridnestrovie on the eve of the Great Patriotic War

During the years of socialist construction in the MASSR, the main forms of management were formed, characterized by social production relations - collective farms and state farms ...

The industrial revolution in Russia in the nineteenth century

The need for money forced the nobles to pay more attention to the management of their estates. During the first half of the 19th century, the size of the lord's plowing per peasant soul increased by more than 1.6 times, the size of dues increased by 2.5-3.5 times ...

Development Mordovian region in the 19th century

The agrarian economy served as the basis of the regional economy. The development of the industry in the first half of the XIX century. retained an extensive character, production expanded mainly due to plowing and cultivation of new land ...

Russia in the second half of the XVIII century. Catherine II

During the second half of the XVIII century. The main branch of the Russian economy was agriculture. The territories annexed during this period of time were actively included in the economy of the state ...

Russia in the first quarter of the 17th century. Peter's transformations

Changes in the field of agriculture were insignificant. Agricultural development of new lands continued in the south of the country, in the Volga region and Siberia. The sowing of industrial crops (flax, hemp, tobacco, grapes, etc.) expanded ...

Saratov in the 18th century. Population, occupations and major events

The earliest statistical information about sowing and harvesting in the Saratov region dates back to 1763-1770. In Saratov and its district, there were 2050 acres of sowing in 1764. 4142 quarters of grain were collected from them. During the period from 1764 to 1770...

Siberian rear - front

The victory of the collective farm system changed the face of the Siberian village. The main producers of agricultural products were large cooperative farms and state farms armed with powerful machinery. In 1937...

Socio-economic development of Russia in the XVII century

Since the end of the 10s - the beginning of the 20s, after the Stolbovsky peace and the Deulinsky truce, the expulsion of the gangs of marauding interventionists, the end of the actions of the insurgent detachments, the Russian people begin to restore a normal economic life ...

Socio-economic development of Russia in the second half of the XVIII century.

Agriculture during this period, as before, remained the basis of the country's economy, and rural residents dominated the population (by the end of the century, about 4% lived in cities). The development of agricultural production had mainly ...

USSR after World War II (1946-1953)

The war dealt particularly heavy damage to agriculture. Its gross output in 1945 did not exceed 60% of the pre-war level. Cultivation areas were greatly reduced, the number of cattle was extremely low ...

The development of agriculture as a science

Among the sciences, agriculture occupies a special position. Its uniqueness lies in its extraordinary diversity and, at the same time, integrity, due to the systemic nature of interaction in many parameters. As a science, it originated in the process of understanding practical experience. Its contours are already visible in the writings of ancient thinkers, and as a basic agricultural science, it was formed during the period of initial experimentation in the 19th century.

A powerful impetus to the development of agriculture was provided by the rapidly developing natural sciences of the second half of the 19th century. Around the same time, soil science, agrochemistry, and others, which originated in its depths, began to sprout from agricultural science itself.

The state of agriculture as a branch of agricultural production and as a science largely depends on the state agrarian policy and socio-economic conditions.

Ideas about agriculture as a science are often ambiguous, sometimes they are simplified. Its integrating beginning is underestimated. Sometimes contradictory assessments of the place and role of related sciences, their relationship with each other, agricultural science itself is presented as something collective.

Science is a special type of human activity aimed at developing and systematizing objective knowledge, patterns of development of nature and society and their forecasting.

According to their orientation, according to their direct relation to practice, it is customary to subdivide individual sciences into fundamental and applied sciences. The task of the fundamental ones is the knowledge of the laws that govern the behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature and society. They are studied regardless of possible use. The immediate goal of applied sciences is to apply the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive, but also practical problems. Therefore, here the criterion of success is not only the achievement of truth, but also the measure of satisfaction of the social order. At the intersection of applied sciences and practice, a special area of ​​research is developing - developments that translate the results of applied sciences into the form of technological processes and structures. A scheme arises: fundamental research - applied research - development - practical development.

Now let's try to consider the existing concepts and definitions of agriculture.

GOST 16265-89 defines practical farming as "the branches of agricultural production based on the rational use of land for the purpose of growing crops."

A rather vague definition of agriculture is also in the academic reference dictionary by V. V. Snakin (2000): “Agriculture is the production of food (mainly grain), technical, fodder crops, potatoes, etc. One of the most important branches of agriculture; often identified with field cultivation and plant growing (the latter includes vegetable growing, fruit growing, and viticulture). As a science, agriculture is defined as the branch of agronomy that studies general tricks cultivation of agricultural plants.

Adaptive agriculture is defined here as: “agriculture adapted to the soil and other conditions of the territory under consideration”.

Do not reveal the scientific essence of agriculture and its more advanced definitions proposed in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1972) and in the latest Great Russian Encyclopedia (2008).

Agriculture is considered as a section of agronomy, which cannot be considered correct, since agronomy is not a science, but a set of agronomic sciences. Some authors (S.A. Vorobyov, 1979) understand agronomy as a complex of agronomic sciences and practices for the cultivation of crops. In this set of sciences, agriculture appears as a basic science. The effectiveness of all agronomic sciences depends on its integrating role. By the way, in the existing classification of sciences (B. M. Kedrov, 1974), agronomic sciences are singled out in the group of agricultural sciences. Along with the term "agronomy" the term "agrotechnics" is used. It is often used in the sense of "crop technology", but sometimes in a broader sense.

The term "agricultural technology" was often substituted for the concept of "agriculture" in the years of the formation of the collective farm and state farm system. For example, in the "Agricultural dictionary-reference book" edited by A. I. Gaister (1934), there are no definitions of agriculture and farming systems. There is the concept of "agrotechnics", which is formulated as "the application of methods and methods of scientific farming in order to achieve high and sustainable yields and the highest labor productivity." The main requirements of agricultural technology were set forth in the agro-regulations, which were specified for individual regions, and were binding on state farms and collective farms.

More complete and adequate definitions of agriculture as a science are given in the textbooks of agriculture. The textbook "Agriculture" edited by S. A. Vorobyov (1991) was very popular, reprinted for a long time. In it, agriculture is interpreted as the science of the most rational, economically, ecologically and technologically justified use of land, the formation of highly fertile soils with optimal parameters for the cultivation of cultivated plants. It is indicated that “agriculture as a science is based on the latest theoretical achievements of such important fundamental scientific disciplines as soil science, land management and land use, agrochemistry, crop production, biotechnology, microbiology, agrometeorology, integrated reclamation, progressive crop cultivation technology, ecology, economics, crop programming. At the same time, the role of agriculture as an experimental-applied, strictly zonal science, with extensive use of the farmer's experience, is growing significantly. unity deep scientific knowledge and many years of practical experience, a systematic approach is an indispensable condition for the development of agriculture.

This textbook and subsequent ones declare the need for a systematic approach, but its essence is not adequately disclosed. As for the interpretation of agriculture as a "strictly zonal science", it is unfortunate, because any science, if it is such, cannot be local. The term "zonal" refers to a practical category - the farming system.

The subsequent basic textbooks on agriculture differed little in their essence from the cited one. One of them pays special attention to the identification of the object of agriculture. It is emphasized, in particular, that “under used lands is understood not only arable land, but also all lands that can be suitable for agricultural purposes, meadow and pasture lands, swampy and overgrown with shrubs and disturbed lands, if they can be brought into a suitable condition” ( Agriculture, 2000).

This emphasis is not accidental, since some authors believe that agriculture covers only field crops. Such a position is extremely detrimental, because the production of products in field crop rotations is closely connected with the use of meadows and pastures, the production of vegetables is associated with field and vegetable crop rotations. All lands, including gardens, are connected by the anti-erosion and reclamation organization of the territory. Therefore, meadow growing, vegetable growing, and horticulture cannot but be considered in a single model of farming for an agricultural enterprise. This does not mean any depersonalization or belittling of the role of the listed sciences, as well as plant growing. It is important, however, to identify the place, tasks, their methodology, direct and feedback links with agriculture. Such connections are determined by the logic of the development of the sciences themselves. At the same time, the appropriate organization of scientific institutions and the research process with priority support for the basic science - agriculture is important.

Based on the above positions, the definition of agriculture as a science is as follows. Agriculture is the basic agricultural science of the rational use of land, the purpose of which is to identify systemic relationships between the elements of agriculture, environmental and economic conditions and optimize agrolandscapes and agrocenoses based on them for the production of economically and environmentally conditioned products that are safe for the environment (V.I. Kiryushin , 2011).

Scientific farming is focused on understanding the essence of the functioning of anthropogenic-natural systems for the production of food and agricultural raw materials, their development and forecasting. The integrity of these systems as a subject of science is determined by landscape-ecological, economic, social and other connections and influences regarding the production of agricultural products. Specifically, we are talking about studying the structure and functioning of agricultural landscapes and agrocenoses in various socio-economic environments in order to optimize them according to the conditions of production and preserve biospheric functions.

Characterized by integrity, these categories have all the properties of systems, which are, in particular:

The multiplicity of different aspects of the study, due to the complexity and diversity of relationships between individual subsystems and elements;

Structurality - a network of connections within the system, built in relation to the purpose of research;

Hierarchy - the sequence of allocation of subsystems within the system;

Consistency of knowledge obtained at different hierarchical levels;

Interdependence of the system and environment.

The last property follows from the definition of the system: the relationship with the external environment is a form of manifestation of its integrity.

In the territorial plan, agro-geosystems of the regional level are distinguished, which correspond to zonal-provincial agro-complexes, consisting of sets of adaptive-landscape farming systems (“zonal farming systems”).

The second hierarchical level is agricultural landscapes. These are geosystems determined by the totality of determining agrotechnological factors (agroecological groups of lands) and the adaptive-landscape systems of agriculture corresponding to them, differentiated taking into account various socio-economic conditions.

The third level is land types and corresponding crop rotations and agricultural technologies and their optimization according to ecological, economic and other conditions.

The fourth level is agrocenoses of agricultural crops. They distinguish the subsystems "soil" and "plant" with all the components. Their study is the subject of soil science, physiology and other sciences, but the task of agriculture as a science is to integrate the management of crop production processes and the regulation of soil fertility in agricultural technologies and farming systems, taking into account socio-economic and economic conditions.

A more general, global task of agriculture as a science is the optimization production activities on ecological and energy conditions.

An essential feature of agriculture as a science is the ability to predict the evolution of the industry, taking into account the development of scientific and technological progress, changes in socio-economic and other conditions.

The problem of the interaction of agriculture with other disciplines is extremely relevant, since the first acts in relation to the second as a matrix. Of particular importance is the relationship of agriculture with crop production, soil science and agrochemistry.

Crop production is understood as the science of cultivating field crops. It originated as private farming. At an early stage, crop production was organically associated with general farming, as reflected in the textbook by I. A. Stebut "Field Farming" and his scientific works. This tradition was accepted and developed by D.N. Pryanishnikov, who taught a course on private farming at the Timiryazev Academy, which was to some extent integrated with agrochemistry. At the same time, V. R. Williams taught a course in general agriculture in the same program as soil science. The educational program, built on the unity of these disciplines, played an extremely important role in the training of agronomists.

After D. N. Pryanishnikov, the development of crop production is largely associated with the name of N. I. Vavilov. He also owns the initiative to rename private farming into crop production. In a modern textbook, plant growing is defined mainly as a science that “studies the species and varietal forms of field crops, the characteristics of their biology, environmental requirements and methods for obtaining the highest yields of high quality” (Osnovy tekhnologii agrologicheskogo proizvodstva..., 2000). This definition corresponds to the content of plant growing textbooks, which are by no means of a systemic nature, covering "agricultural techniques." According to V. T. Vasko (2004), “the theory of cultivation of cultivated plants still does not have a clear expression. In textbooks, this section is given negligible space. Therefore, until now, technologies for the cultivation of field crops are compiled by an expert, which in practice often does not justify itself.” Agricultural technologies should be systematized according to the scheme of Federal registers of agricultural technologies, should be based on models for managing production processes and the formation of agrocenoses based on the study of coenotic relationships. This is the theoretical basis of crop production, which correlates with agriculture through agricultural technologies. The latter "penetrate" farming systems with technological requirements coming from the variety.

The connection of agriculture with soil science has an ancient history, since initially they developed as one. With the separation of soil science as an independent natural-historical science, a powerful scientific base was created for the development of agriculture. The emergence of Dokuchaev genetic soil science was actively welcomed by A. V. Sovetov and A. N. Engelgardt, emphasizing the importance of this achievement for the convergence of natural science and agriculture. VV Dokuchaev paid special attention to the comprehensive study of the conditions that determine the differentiation of agriculture. P. A. Kostychev actively contributed to the development of agricultural soil science. V. R. Williams considered soil science as the basis for the formation of farming systems. In his lecture courses, soil science and agriculture were inseparable, and his main textbook was called "Agriculture with the basics of soil science."

We must pay tribute to domestic soil science and its Dokuchaev traditions in the formation systems approach to the study and use of soils and landscapes. In Russia, soil science has developed ahead of the agricultural sciences and agricultural production. Among the many achievements of Russian soil science, one should especially note the creation of many general and thematic soil maps of various scales and detailed monographs on soils covering all regions of the country.

Despite the undoubted achievements of soil science and the obvious importance of soil science for meeting the needs of mankind in food and clothing, maintaining optimal socio-ecological conditions for people's lives, the demand for soil science and the attitude towards it in society as a whole leaves much to be desired. This circumstance, which is characteristic of both Russia and other countries, has been noted in recent years at various international forums on soil science and in the literature.

According to the famous French soil scientist Professor A. Ruellan (1997), “soil science today is not sufficiently noticeable in society, it does not clearly declare itself as an independent science. Soil, the soil environment is the least known environment for the general public. People's view of the soil is very narrow, superficial, far from being as interested as their views of the stars, plants, animals, seas and mountains, rocks and minerals. Even among people who are professionally involved in the use of soil resources, the need for soil science is not so strong, not so deep. In particular, agronomists pay more attention to the technical or socio-economic aspects of production than to environmental conditions, especially soil.”

In our country, which played an important role in the development of world soil science, the gap between the achievements of soil science and the results of agricultural use of soils is the largest. The most common reason for this gap is the weak demand for the achievements of scientific and technological progress due to permanent socio-economic contradictions. Among the specific reasons is the unsatisfactory organization of scientific support for the agro-industrial complex. A limited perception of soil science is inherent in the educational programs of agricultural universities, where a very modest role is assigned to the soil training of agronomists, and the subject itself is often more familiar than professional.

Soil scientists were not too keen on complex solutions to the problems of agricultural production and nature management, although the systemic basis for the development of nature management on soil landscape basis was founded by V. V. Dokuchaev simultaneously with the creation of genetic soil science. The significance of Dokuchaev's approach was rethought and reassessed only a century later. Soon after the death of VV Dokuchaev, soil science moved away from the landscape to a large extent, and interest in the study of soil-landscape relationships and their agronomic interpretation was lost.

In connection with the transition to the biospheric ideology of nature management, the importance of soil science goes beyond the traditional agronomic tasks, and the importance of its fundamental aspects related to the preservation of the ecological functions of soils and agricultural landscapes is increasing.

Agrochemistry from a direct affiliation of agriculture has grown into an independent science. In Russia, this manifested itself as nowhere else. D. N. Pryanishnikov defined the main task of agrochemistry as the regulation of the circulation of substances in agrocenoses. In the last 20-30 years, this approach has been enriched by the knowledge of the systemic interaction of fertilizers with elements of agriculture and the mechanisms for controlling the production process of agricultural crops, and in the most recent years by the development of ideas about landscape agrochemistry.

Violation of the balance of nutrients in agriculture leads not only to a decrease in production and deterioration of its quality, but also to a decrease in the sustainability of agricultural landscapes. In this regard, the compensation of nutrient deficiency by the use of organic and mineral fertilizers should be considered as an environmentally conditioned task, and the object of regulation of the biological cycle of substances is no longer a separate agrocenosis, but the agrolandscape as a whole, taking into account horizontal and vertical geochemical flows.

In addition to the direct impact on the production process of agricultural crops, fertilizers largely determine the choice of crop rotations, tillage systems, sowing dates and seeding rates, that is, they influence the formation of farming systems, especially soil protection ones. For example, when ploughing is replaced by flat-cutting, nitrogen fertilizers are required to protect against erosion. When straw is left in order to enhance soil protection from erosion, the nitrogen deficiency increases even more, and therefore an increase in the doses of nitrogen fertilizers is required. The reduction of pure fallows in the erosive landscapes of the forest-steppe is also difficult without fertilizers and pesticides. A certain level of chemicalization is also necessary to maintain the anti-deflationary system of agriculture in steppe zone especially for minimizing tillage.

All this means that the chemicalization of agriculture is a prerequisite for its greening. With an increase in the availability of agrochemical resources, it becomes possible to intensify agricultural technologies on the best lands and transform erosive, solonetz and other unfavorable lands into hayfields, pastures and other lands.

Unfortunately, the history of agrochemistry and the use of fertilizers in Russia is replete with many shortcomings, most of which are associated with the imperfection of agricultural technologies or the lack thereof, since the use of fertilizers was not consistent with the protection of plants from weeds, diseases, pests, and lodging. The systemic connections of fertilizers with crop rotations, the share of pure fallow, and tillage were not taken into account.

Technological lack of system was exacerbated by the replacement of the professional functions of commodity producers by the external service of MTS, Agricultural Chemistry, etc. At the same time, there was no clear variety policy and a specific “binding” of agricultural technologies to varieties.

In scientific support, there was a constant gap between various branches, including plant growing, agriculture, soil science, and agrochemistry. Despite the high theoretical level, the achievements of agricultural chemistry have not been integrated with other disciplines. Therefore, the official standards for the payback of mineral fertilizers in Russia were greatly underestimated. They were obtained mainly in short-term field experiments, in which the control of the production process of crops was not ensured, taking into account the corresponding systemic relationships.

Analyzing the very controversial history of the so-called chemicalization of agriculture, it should be emphasized that any attempt to autonomize the agrochemical support of agriculture, to move away from the farming system leads to adverse economic and environmental consequences. In this regard, it is useful to recall that the first precedent of this kind was created by J. Liebig himself, which will be discussed later. The development of farming systems is somehow connected with land management. The theory of adaptive landscape agriculture serves as an imperative in relation to land management design.

Land management service in Russia was well structured and included powerful soil parties that carried out soil and geobotanical surveys. Unfortunately, the materials of these surveys, which are of good quality in most cases, were poorly used in the development of land use projects and farming systems. Land surveyors designed large-sized rectangular fields, consistent not with the environmental conditions of cultivation of agricultural crops and their requirements, but with the convenience of using large-sized equipment. Thus, exploration efforts were devalued. Collective and state farms were given large-scale soil maps, but agronomists practically did not use them, since they did not have sufficient knowledge of soils and the features of their use. Soil scientists did not bring soil information into integrated projects, and land surveyors, far from understanding agroecological conditions, were not able to make complex ecologically and economically sound decisions.

In the 80s of the XX century, during the development of zonal farming systems, the quality of farming systems design improved significantly, especially in those areas where Giprozems worked closely with the soil science departments of local universities and agricultural universities. In the early 1990s, when the idea of ​​differentiation of farming on a landscape basis triumphed, it was assumed that the demand for soil science would increase due to a more adequate approach to the design of farming systems, which should have been the most important task of the ongoing land reform. It was natural to assume that this task would be solved by the renewed land service. However, instead of reform, the destruction of agricultural services, including land management, began in these years. The collapse of the land management service in Russia is a natural result of its ecological detachment and scholasticism. Its leaders were not too resistant to the many mistakes of the reform and in the end reduced it to a surveying function - land surveying. These lessons are very important for the construction of a fundamentally new land service. Obviously, the leading role in it should be played at this stage by soil scientists, who determine the strategy for land use, based on their versatile assessment, and above all, environmental. However, in the near future, special specialists in agrolandscape science with deep ecological, economic and soil-agronomic knowledge will be required. The training of such specialists should be organized on the basis of the faculties of soil science of classical and agrarian universities.

Defining new tasks of land management science, it is necessary to largely reorganize the functions of land management under the tasks of designing adaptive-landscape systems of agriculture.

Ecological sciences are called upon to play a special role in the development of agriculture. – ecology, agroecology, biocenology, especially since modern agriculture is based on a landscape-ecological approach in accordance with the biospheric paradigm of nature management. The biospheric outlook of agriculture will be determined by the development of environmental achievements, and environmental and technological tasks, environmental standards and regulations for agriculture are being developed by agroecology. This science has appeared recently. In Russia, despite its popularity, it has not yet developed from the point of view of its main purpose - the study of the mechanisms of functioning of agroecosystems and, on its basis, the greening of agrotechnological processes. So far, agroecological activities are not aimed at solving these problems; the functions of other sciences and disciplines are often replaced. The current focus on conservation and control functions should have an adequate theoretical basis.

The list of interdisciplinary interactions can be continued. We will touch on them later. It is important to understand the essence of forward and reverse links. For example, when V. R. Williams singled out grassland farming from agriculture, he designated these connections by the formula for the circulation of substances in the “meadow-farm-field” system.

The final result depends on the degree of integration of agriculture with related sciences - the production of food and raw materials, its quality, cost, environmental safety. There are natural-science mechanisms of integration, determined by the logic of science itself. With their help, in particular, mathematical models of various levels, hypotheses and theories are created. But in the applied sciences, the role of subjective factors is increasing up to the ambitions of scientists, the initiatives of officials, etc. Therefore, the priority of agriculture as a basic science, its integrating significance, must be fully recognized by the scientific and agronomic community. In the subsequent presentation of this book, we tried in every possible way to justify this need.

Control questions

1. The special position of agriculture among the sciences

2. Fundamental and applied sciences

3. Agriculture as a basic agricultural science

4. The relationship of agriculture with crop production

5. The relationship of agriculture with soil science

6. The relationship of agriculture with agrochemistry

7. The relationship of agriculture with land management

8. The relationship of agriculture with ecology, agroecology, biocenology

The emergence of agriculture. Agriculture in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries

The genus "Man" (Homo) stood out from the animal kingdom over two million years ago, since the end of the ancient stone age - forty thousand years - there has been a species of "reasonable man" (Homo sapiens sapiens).

The situation changed when, 10-12 thousand years ago, in ecologically favorable regions, some of the human communities learned to sow the bread that provided them with food. all year round, and raise livestock, which allowed them to regularly eat meat, as well as milk and cheese (cottage cheese); cattle provided them with skins and skins better than hunting prey, and, in addition, also provided wool, which people learned to spin and weave. Shortly thereafter, people were able to change their cave dwellings, huts made of branches and dugouts to permanent houses made of clay or clay-coated stone, and then mud brick. Settled life is believed to have contributed to the increase in the birth rate. The life of the community became more prosperous, mortality decreased somewhat, population growth from generation to generation became noticeable, and the first pastoralists began to spread more and more widely over the surface of the Earth.

The first cereal that people first began to harvest in the wild (using wooden or bone sickles with inserted flint teeth), and then sow, was barley, which grew in the highlands of Asia Minor, Palestine, Iran and South Turkmenistan, as well as in North Africa . Later, other cereals were also cultivated. It is difficult to say where this happened first of all, at least in Palestine, Asia Minor and on the western slopes of the Iranian Highlands, bread was sown already between the 10th and 8th millennia BC, and in Egypt, on the Danube and the Balkans and in southern Turkmenistan it began to sow no later than the VI millennium BC. Around the same era and in the same places, a goat, a sheep, a donkey were tamed (the dog was tamed much earlier by hunters of the ancient stone age); later cattle were domesticated and in some places -. From the 8th - 6th millennium BC, when people learned to make more perfect polished stone tools, wicker baskets, fabrics and fire-fired pottery, which made it possible to better cook and store food, the living standards of people increased somewhat.

The cultivation of the land with horn and stone hoes, even on the softest soils, was the hardest work, which, although reliable, gave very meager food. Tamed wild goats and sheep still gave very little wool, little milk; dairy products and meat had to be consumed quickly, because they did not know how to store them for a long time. Only in Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine already in the VIII - VI millennia BC. developed and wealthy settlements arose, sometimes even surrounded by a wall (which means there was something to steal and something to protect!), but these were exceptions.

With the growth of the agricultural population in the foothills, part of it began to move further and further into the depths of the steppes. As such tribal groups moved away from areas more or less provided with rain or stream irrigation, grazing became increasingly important in their economy, and the sowing of barley and spelt, as economically less reliable, played an increasingly auxiliary role. However, having not yet domesticated either the horse or the camel, the pastoralists could not make the distant seasonal migrations necessary to restore the grass cover on pastures, and in general they could not yet move too far from the water. And they usually did not completely abandon agriculture.

In the Nile Valley, the flood begins in June and lasts until October. People have learned to fence off flooded fields with earthen ramparts; standing between them, the Nile water deposited fertile silt, then the water was drained, and the silt between the shafts retained such an amount of moisture that it was enough not only for the sowing period, but also for the period of growing cereals; besides, silt was an excellent fertilizer. In the valley of the lower Euphrates, the river flooded rather irregularly in the spring; its waters were diverted to special reservoirs, from where they could be supplied to the fields several times during the growing season.

It should not be thought that a system of irrigation and melioration was created for the entire river: in fact, only local systems arose, which could be done by uniting a few communities, but even this was a huge achievement, to which the inhabitants of the valleys owed their organization and cooperation. The use on a large scale of organized labor of many workers acting according to a single plan is one of the most important achievements that were presented to mankind by the first civilizations.

In Egypt and Sumer, by the end of the 4th millennium BC. crops easily gave, apparently, tenfold, twentyfold and large yields. And this means that each person began to produce much more than was necessary for his own subsistence. The growth of crops was exceptionally favorable for the development of cattle breeding, and developed cattle breeding contributes to an even greater increase in the living standards of people. The community turned out to be able not only to feed the disabled in addition to the workers, i.e. children and the elderly, not only to create a reliable food reserve, but also to free some of their able-bodied people from agricultural labor. This contributed to the rapid growth of specialized crafts: pottery, weaving, braiding, shipbuilding, stone-cutting, coppersmithing, etc. Of particular importance was the development of copper, which was first used simply as one of the types of stone, but soon began to be used for forging, and then for casting. Many tools and weapons could be made from copper, which could not be made from stone, wood or bone, and which, moreover, even if broken, could be melted down and reused. The separation of handicraft from agriculture was the second great division of labor.

Millennia pass, and wandering hunters turn into sedentary cattle breeders, who step by step learn the great secrets of nature, improve agricultural tools, master metal. The efficiency of their labor in the production of food grows several times. The daily life of society no longer depends on the luck and dexterity of the hunter, but on the ability of a person to use the forces of nature and his diligence. With the beginning of agriculture and cattle breeding, a long and difficult path begins from the early agricultural communities to the states of the ancient world.

Based on extensive floristic material collected in many countries of the world, botanist N.I. Vavilov and his students developed the theory of the main foci (centers) of origin of the main field, garden and horticultural plants. Modern paleobotanists and archaeologists were able to clarify the geography of the most ancient centers of agriculture, and they largely coincided with the centers proposed by N.I. Vavilov, namely: Western Asian, Mediterranean, Central Asian, Ethiopian, or Abyssinian, Chinese, Indo-Malayan, Central American and South Mexican, South American

Historians attribute a large role to the observation of women in the emergence of agriculture. Gathering was the original sphere of activity of the female half of humanity, and agriculture arose from gathering: "While the man hunted, the woman invented agriculture." And it is no coincidence that early agriculture in almost all countries for a long time remained a predominantly female branch of labor. A whole gallery of female workers with diggers is given to us, for example, by rock paintings in Africa. Many African peoples still maintain a clear division of spheres of activity: men herd cattle, fish and hunt, and women cultivate tiny plots with crops of African millet with the help of a hoe and cook food.

From the regular collection of wild cereals to their conscious systematic cultivation is one step. But this step in the light of new archaeological and botanical research shows that this is not a one-time act - an “invention” or a “Neolithic revolution”, but rather a long evolutionary process that took two thousand years in the Old World, and three or four in the New millennium.

The earliest agricultural cultures originated in the so-called fertile crescent, located in the mountainous regions of Turkey, Palestine, Iraq and Iran. Somewhat later, they were drawn into agriculture neighboring countries: Balkan Peninsula, south of the Apennine Peninsula, Caucasus, South Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, India. The second oldest primary center of agriculture is in Southeast Asia.

Other conditions, and therefore, agriculture in Russia developed somewhat differently. According to S.M. Solovyov: “Nature for Western Europe, for its peoples was a mother; for the Eastern, for the peoples who were destined to act here, - a stepmother. The peoples of Eastern Europe, especially the Russians, did not have such a favorable climate, fertile soils, which stimulated the division of labor, trade, and the prosperity of large cities.

Our agrarians are usually reproached with the practice of Finland, Sweden and even Canada, located in completely different climatic regions. The mere fact that a Russian person lived in fragile wooden houses and therefore easily parted with them, leaving his home, his native city, village, is clearly not enough to explain the most fundamental phenomenon - the growth of the territory of the Russian state and the constant resettlement of its people.

The Scandinavian Peninsula and Finland constitute a special Atlantic-Arctic climatic region. Winters here with frequent cyclones coming from the Atlantic. Therefore, even the most frosty of them with sharp warming.

Summer is relatively cool due to the predominance of northern winds. Spring, as in Western Europe, is protracted. There are no spring “returns of cold weather” here, so agricultural work begins quite early. In summer, a low-pressure zone regularly forms, so there are no droughts, a large number of cloudy days in spring and summer (in particular, in Finland) is compensated by lengthening of daylight hours and does not inhibit plant vegetation.

In Western and Central Europe, there is a strong influence of the Atlantic, there are no large pockets of continental air, there are no or almost no prolonged cold spells or heat.

Droughts are rare here. The average annual precipitation in Western Europe is 500-1000 mm.

In autumn in Western Europe there is a gradual cooling. The closer to winter, the warmer the sea air. In the second half of autumn, anticyclone weather prevails, but frequent intrusions of warm sea air contribute to the formation of low cloudiness with drizzling rain. Almost every year in Central Europe in late September - early October there is a "return of heat".

The North American continent does not have a sharply continental climate. The mountain range in the West closes the path to the Pacific air masses, and the outbursts of heat and cold are here in a meridional direction. Strong and constant throughout the year cyclonic activity weakens the continentality of the climate. Winters in Canada are severe, and the temperature minimum can reach -45 °, but frosts are unstable. On average, the winter temperature is 15-20 degrees higher than in the most severe regions of Eastern Siberia. Consequently, the soil of the earth does not freeze through in the same way as in Siberia and in a number of regions of Eastern Europe. It is especially important to emphasize the abundance of snowfall.

Active cyclonic activity here in summer as well. Therefore, the Russian peasantry, mastering the vast expanses of land, at each stage of the development of society received a yield of the main agricultural crops, incommensurably lower than the enormous investment of labor. This prompted maximum caution in the "technology" of agricultural practice, forced to follow the path of constant expansion of production areas.

Traditionalism in the field of agricultural culture was combined with the extraordinary ability of the Russian peasant to adapt to certain local conditions and even turn shortcomings into virtues. In the Vologda province, described in the 60s. 18th century A. Olishev, for example, used the following technique: to sow barley together with rye in the spring. They took two loaves from one field. In the 80s of the XVIII century. the same was practiced in the Tver province.

main culture and XVIII century winter rye remained in Russia. It does not deteriorate longer in domestic storage conditions, it is better suited for malt, for the manufacture of beer and kvass. It was distinguished by the most reliable yield, and on any land. The ripened rye is “stronger in the ears of any spring bread”, i.e. does not crumble.

Spring rye also played an important role, often insuring winter sowing at death. From its grain, although it is smaller than that of winter grain, they prepared cereals.

Of the spring crops, oats occupied a similar place. It is necessary and unpretentious for horses, it also grows on poor "dung-free" lands, it requires less processing. Almost everywhere the soil for oats is plowed and harrowed only once, and this is a tremendous saving of peasant labor. And its most important advantage is a stable yield.

An important place in the assortment of spring crops was occupied by barley (“zhito”). This most important cereal crop is also relatively unpretentious. Barley malt is needed in the manufacture of beer and mash. Possessing the shortest vegetation period (from 8 to 9 weeks, compared with 12-18 weeks of spring rye, wheat), it, following oats, gave a relatively reliable harvest. Due to precocity, barley moved further to the North and became the most important means of salvation in the event of the death of winter crops. True, giving a relatively high yield, barley in ripe ears crumbled very quickly. In the 70s of the XVIII century. in Russia, barley was cultivated ordinary, bare, black, hexagonal, six-line naked, dihedral.

Wheat (spring) was also one of those crops that more or less firmly entered the circle of needs of a peasant family in the north, and in the south, and in the east of Russia. However, only in the second half of the 18th century, as a result of folk practice, a wheat variety was created, more or less adapted to the natural and climatic conditions of Russia.

Ice wheat (a special type of spring crop). It was sown in the spring, as soon as the snow melted and the ground had not yet thawed. With super-early sowing, it was not drowned out by herbs, it hurt less. Its main advantage is its optimal adaptability to the economic conditions of the three-field. Like any wheat (winter and spring), glacier required good plowing.

Peas and buckwheat were grown among other crops of the spring wedge. The sown area under them sometimes reached 8-12% of the spring field. Peas were sown on better, but, nevertheless, not manured lands. V Central Russia and oats, and buckwheat, and peas constantly suffered from autumn frosts.

Flax and hemp were an indispensable element of the assortment of fallow three-field crops. The first of these crops grew very poorly on chernozem, the second, on the contrary, on podzol, although both greatly depleted the soil. But, being the most important element of subsistence peasant farming, they were sown in the smallest sizes (up to 2%) even in the most unfavorable zones. The remaining spring crops (spelt, lentil, turnip, millet, poppy, etc.) were sown only in certain natural and climatic zones in sizes significantly inferior to all other crops. Millet gave the best yields on the "fat lands".

Approximately in the 50s. active propaganda of potatoes began, but only by the 90s did it become noticeable in peasant gardens.

In the regions of the far north, in particular in the Arkhangelsk district, clearing of forest areas was carried out in the spring, cutting down the forest to the very root. For a whole year he lies motionless. Next spring it is set on fire, but, apparently, a trifle burns down, as unburned trees and branches are taken for firewood. Then the earth is loosened with a plow and rye is sown. From the second year, the land is regularly fertilized with manure and only barley is sown. Without fertilizer, novelties serve 4-5 years. In Onega district, cut down forest was left for two years, "to prop it up." A large forest was taken for firewood and a building. And burned the rest. Novina was also used here for 4-5 years in a row.

In the Urals, with a known expanse of land, the specificity of the relief led to the fact that the practice of systematic manure was focused on very small areas, arable land masses were often abandoned, and instead of them new lands were involved in the economic turnover.

Only the near fields received manure, they sown on the distant fields for three years, when they stopped “bearing” for 3-4 years, they were mowing.

In the Shadrinsk district, the launch of unfertilized arable land was longer, the distant arable land was abandoned until wheatgrass began to grow on it, which appears no earlier than after 20 or more years. After that, the harvest in this place of all crops, as in the new land. In other areas, the land was completely abandoned.

In other words, in the 18th century, as in an earlier era, the fallow system of agriculture with a three-field crop rotation was by no means everywhere classical; closed and completely autonomous system. In the vastness of Russia, it existed largely due to the constant renewal of part of the field lands from the reserves of arable land. Only in the second half of the century did these reserves, which gave a serious impetus to the preservation and increase of the fertility of field lands, begin to disappear. As a result, this leads to the absolute dominance of a closed system of three-field field, which, in the absence of proper investment of labor and capital, ultimately leads to a decline in the fertility of the land.

In the chernozem zone, weeds forced the periodic renewal of arable land. Even at the end of the century, contemporaries noted that “chernozem, the best soil ... brings wild grass in half with bread”, that “when threshing bread, almost half of the cockle and other wild grass seeds come out.”

The annual fallow served as a traditional means of increasing fertility here too, but its function was at the same time different. As a rule, it was the so-called "push field". Toloka is a specific and very effective way of weed control for this zone. On the field, sometimes for 10-15 days, and more often for the entire period, the couple drove out cattle, which ate and knocked out unnecessary vegetation with their hooves: “where cattle walk more and the earth is better beaten out of grass, excellently good bread will be born there.” Where cattle breeding was less developed, burning was used. Sometimes it took on huge proportions. For the 60s of the XVIII century, a contemporary noted that, for example, in the Saratov places "it often happens when the whole steppe in the spring looks like a great sea of ​​fire."

In addition, there was a widespread practice of running plowed (weedy) fields for three to four years. The constant introduction of new lands into circulation was also facilitated by another circumstance - the need for good hayfields, which were only on lands abandoned from arable land.

Thus, the internal contradictions of the fallow three-field, its flaws led to the constant practice of clearing and plowing new lands.

The desire to preserve the "winter dampness" for the spring shoots of spring crops led to the widest distribution of autumn plowing in the Chernozem region. In the spring most spring cereals were already sown on the soil plowed up in autumn, simply by harvesting the seeds so that seedlings appeared as early as possible. Only barley crops sometimes suffered from this practice, the seedlings of which were oppressed by spring frosts and lagged behind in growth from weeds, which then, in turn, oppressed it, littering the fields. In the spring, they plowed the land only for millet and buckwheat, which are afraid of spring matinees and sown later than other crops.

The main agricultural tool in the 18th century, as before, was the plow. It had a traditional, time-tested form. Indeed, in the eighteenth century the vast majority of the plows had a relay ("transitional") police for more economical maneuvering at the end of the corral near the boundary. Having changed the blade of the police from the right position to the left, the peasant, turning the plow 180 °, could start work without wasting time on races and directly paving the next furrow next to the one just made.

Of course, the plow also had disadvantages. I. Komov wrote, in particular, that the plow “is insufficient because it is unnecessarily shaky and has excessively short handles, which is why it is so depressing to own it that it is difficult to say whether the horse that pulls it or the person who rules is more difficult to walk with it ". Small plowing with a plow (from 0.5 to 1 inch) was compensated by double and triple plowing.

Plow was indispensable on sandy-stony soils, because. passed small pebbles between coulters, easily overcame rhizomes, etc.

The simplicity of design, the cheapness of the plow made it affordable even for a poor peasant. In the Urals, the plow became a competitor to the Saban, which was somewhat lighter than the Ukrainian plow, but required at least 4 horses.

In Russian agriculture in the XVIII century. a noticeable and important role belonged to the plow itself. During this period, agricultural practice involved a huge amount of new lands that were far from ideal in their mechanical properties. Where roe deer on double horse-drawn traction could not cope with strong clayey, silty soil, a wheeled plow was widely used.

The second important type of tillage tool was the traditional harrow. It had 5 teeth on each side (25 in total). A bent arc was attached in front of the harrow, a ring was attached to it, a rope was attached to it, and bent shafts were attached to the rope.

Thus, in the 18th century, Russian agriculture was dominated by the most ancient, traditional types of tools, and of a relatively late, if not origin, then, in any case, mass distribution.

Repeated plowing, where it was not associated with the plowing of manure, was usually aimed at loosening or, as they said in the 18th century, "softening" the land. However, no less, and perhaps more important task was the fight against weeds. The intensification of soil cultivation was carried out at the slightest opportunity. But in the vast majority of regions of Russia there were no conditions for this.

In the 18th century, in contrast to earlier times, seed growing, the supply of imported seeds of the best varieties, especially flax, became a very noticeable branch of agriculture. True, after two years they were, as they said then, "reborn", but for many this did not at all discourage them from having the best commercial flax.

Spring crops were mainly sown early. In the Urals in the Perm province, for example, winter crops were sown in August, spring crops - in April-early May. The less fertile ones were sown more densely, the more fertile ones less often. They sowed thicker in weedy fields. The difference sometimes reached 150% or more.

However, in the second half of the century, the Russian peasantry (and, above all, the landowners' economy) switched from traditionally rare sowing to the practice of denser sowing. A different approach gradually began to take root: the thicker the sow, the greater the profit. True, there was no unambiguous logic of this approach. Often thick seeding is just weed control.

Sowing everywhere is a strictly defined procedure. First ready ground“spread out”, i.e. they make furrows with a plow every 2 sazhens and mark the entire corral in this way, "to see how the seed lays down, so as not to make sowing and mistakes." Next, the farmer puts on a special basket with seeds over his shoulder and, walking along the furrow, throws a handful of grain forward on both sides so that almost all the grains fall evenly. Sowing required special skill from the farmer and was very hard work. The best sowing time in different places was determined differently. They sowed in the rain, and in the dry season, and after the rain, and before the rain. It was based on local tradition. Seed placement had two main options. Having raised the arable land and sowed, the seeds are plowed with a plow or a plow; or bury the seeds.

Cereal crops throughout Russia were harvested with sickles and tied into sheaves. The reaper first makes a belt out of the same bread and spreads it out on the ground, then he reaps, taking as much into his hand as he can grab, and after picking up he puts it on his belt until he sees that the sheaf is full. Then he ties it with a belt and puts it on the ground with ears up. Sheaves stand like this for two, three hours, and sometimes until evening. And then they put it in the sacrum. Outwardly, it all looks very simple. In fact, behind every movement is the danger of losing grains. In other words, the harvest was extremely intense work that required every second of attention.

In the Urals, in the Perm province, sheaves were placed, as in the Center of Russia, in grandmas (12 sheaves put together, covered with the thirteenth on top). They usually stood in the field for two weeks or more, "so that the straw and grass withered." This time is used by farmers for the second plowing for winter.

The peasants, as a rule, put the sheaves into piles, and the landowners into stacks.

By decrees of Peter I, the mowing of spring grains with scythes with special hooks on a shaft was introduced into the practice of agriculture for simultaneous raking of bread into rows with mowing. By the middle of the XVIII century. this method of cleaning has firmly entered the peasant life. Peas, like flax, hemp, were fiddled with hands.

The threshing of sheaves in most regions of Russia, except for the black earth and steppe regions, was associated with a special procedure for drying the sheaves in the so-called barns, since the grain in the ears did not ripen in the climatic conditions of the Non-Black Earth Region, including the Urals.

Usually the barn was loaded in the evening, dried at night, and threshing began early in the morning. In the 80s, instead of barns, "rigi" were already widespread among the landowners, that is, drying sheds with special ovens. Moreover, almost simultaneously with them, the landowners also built threshing sheds. From 300 to 400 sheaves of rye or wheat were loaded into barns, about 500 sheaves of oats, and if the sheaves were small, then up to 600-700 or more.

They threshed, as a rule, on open currents. 6-8 people worked in the barn and at the same time. “The dryer lowers sheaves from the barn window, which are lined on the current in 2 rows with ears of corn in the middle and threshed with oak flails, passing 2 and 3 times from one edge to the other. Then they turn over to the other side and thresh again. After that, “they cut the belts of the sheaves with a knife and again thresh, striking with a flail not at the ears, but at the goose, for there are also small straws with ears in them. Finally, one peasant takes a rake, with which he breaks the straw, throwing it over a small number of threshers, who beat it several more times with flails. And then, seeing that there are no grains left in the ears, they will rake up the straw. Grains, together with threshing waste, were raked into a heap. Straw is raked separately, as are empty ears, which were stored in wicker baskets. Grain from a heap was winnowed on open currents in good, moderately windy weather. They blew with wooden shovels, throwing them into the wind. Large, full-weight grain, falling immediately, was called "seed".

In the Urals, in the Perm province in the 80s, the yield on some plots of the best newly plowed lands could reach 15 in a good year, and 10 in ordinary years on old arable, well cultivated and fertilized plots. On unfertilized lands, the yield could reach sam-6, and in lean years it could decrease to sam-3, sam-4 and lower. Over large areas, the typical high yield was sam-5, the average, which was more common, sam-3, and the poor harvest was sam-2.

Control questions

1. The emergence of agriculture and its role in the development of civilization.

2. The role of women in the emergence of agriculture.

3. The first centers of the development of agriculture

4. Climatic conditions in Russia and their difference from European and other countries.

5. Cultures cultivated in Russia in the 18th century.

6. Features of land use in Russia.

7. System of tillage.

8. Tools used in soil cultivation and their improvement.

9. Pre-sowing tillage and sowing.

10. Harvest.

Scientific development of agriculture

As a science, agriculture has its roots in ancient antiquity. The most interesting of those documents are the works of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. Among them, the works of Aristotle (IV century BC), Hesiod (VII century BC) are of particular interest. .), Theophrastus (IV-III century BC), Cato (III-II century BC), Varro (II-I century BC), Pliny older (I century BC), Columella (I century AD), etc.

They laid the foundations of natural science and agriculture. The treatise "On Agriculture" by Columella contains recommendations for choosing land plots, tillage, fertilizer, norms and terms of sowing, selection of large seeds, care of crops, harvesting. He proposed a classification of soils and fertilizers. He considers agriculture as a systematic scientific category, he proposes to set up special experiments.

In the Middle Ages affects negative influence the Catholic Church, which denied science, blessed the crusades. The Arabs contributed to the development of agriculture. They introduced the culture of cotton, sericulture, created a center of Arab education with large universities in Cordoba and Grenada. There were translations into Arabic of Aristotle, Hippocrates, which contributed to the preservation of their heritage. There was even a statement that “not only the blood of a martyr, but also the ink of a scientist deserve respect”, “whoever goes on a journey for the sake of science, Allah will ease the way to paradise for him.”

Philosophers appeared in the midst of monasteries and monasticism at that time. Although they were centers of reactionary sentiment. At the same time, only the monks were literate and could read the ancient classics, and in some of them they began to be critical of the dogmas of the church.

Religious dogmas received a significant blow from the results of the discovery of America (1492), when everyone already understood that the Earth was round. In the Old World, new crops appeared for it - potatoes and corn. This was followed by other events, and the next century was a turning point in the views on the structure of the world. The dominance of the Catholic Church was destroyed, science and culture, thanks to Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Magellan, Luther, Thomas More and others, received a significant impetus. In agriculture appeared " New system agriculture ”Torello (1557), where clover sowing was recommended to maintain soil fertility. Soil liming was recommended by the works of Gallo (1550). Bernard Palissy (1563) first recognized the soil as a source of minerals necessary for plants, which was experimentally proven only 300 years later.

The development of natural and exact sciences played an important role in the development of agriculture as a science.

With the development of capitalism and the growth of the urban population, the demand for agricultural products also increased. This led to an increase in the marketability of the page - x. production, the introduction of more intensive farming systems. In the 2nd half of the 18th century. in England, there was a change in the fallow system of agriculture (fallow–winter–yar), which did not satisfy the increased needs for agricultural products, crop replacement. The so-called Norfolk crop rotation was mastered, which included spring and winter crops, root crops and clover in its pure form or mixed with cereal grasses. This contributed to a significant increase in land productivity, restoration of soil fertility, provision of livestock with fodder, enlargement of agricultural land and expansion of pastures. A. Jung was an active propagandist of the reproductive system.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The problem of transition to a more intensive system of agriculture also arose before other countries. In Germany, for example, this process took place later. A great merit in solving this problem belongs to the German scientist I. Schubart, who laid the foundation for the sowing of clover in a fallow field and did much for the further development of clover sowing. The achievements of Western Europe were summarized by A. Thayer (Germany). He subdivided all crops into depleting and enriching the soil, and thus substantiated the need for alternating them in crop rotations. Thayer proceeded from the so-called. the humus theory of plant nutrition, which erroneously asserted that green plants take the carbon contained in humus with their roots from the soil. Nevertheless, Thayer's main thoughts on the importance of soil organic matter played a progressive role. In the 19th century chemistry and physiology of plants began to settle as independent sciences. A major step has been taken in the theory of plant nutrition. In 1840, the German scientist J. Liebig formulated the main provisions of the theory of mineral nutrition of plants, according to which only inorganic nature supplies food to plants. Humus retained the indirect role of influencing the mineral part of the soil with the help of carbon dioxide formed during its decomposition. Erroneous in Liebig's theory was the underestimation of nitrogen fertilizers. Liebig's contemporary, the French scientist J. Bussengaud, found that plants take nitrogen, as well as ash elements, from the soil. Bussingault created the first experimental station in Western Europe in Alsace (1837). The development of agronomy owes much to the work of the Rotemsted Experimental Station (England). An important role in agronomy was played by the German scientist G. Gelrigel, who experimentally proved the symbiosis of legumes with nodule bacteria (1886). In the same period, that branch of agronomy, which was later called agrophysics, made significant progress.

The works of G. Mendel (Austria, 1868), A. Weismann (Germany, 1899), T. Morgan (USA, 1911) formulated the theory of heredity. A significant contribution to the development of agronomic knowledge was made by the work of the American breeder L. Burbank on the creation of new forms of fruit, ornamental, and other agricultural crops. In the United States, much attention is paid to the study of dry farming (the cultivation of agricultural plants in arid regions without irrigation), the development of measures to control weeds, diseases, and agricultural pests, as well as ways to eliminate soil erosion. In Western Europe and the USA, chemicalization of agriculture (the use of fertilizers, liming of soils, etc.), selection and seed production of agricultural crops were successfully developed.

Further improvement of the fruit-shifting system is associated with the scientific activities of the Rothamsted Experimental Station. In particular, scientific experiments have substantiated the use of sugar beet instead of or along with rutabaga, turnip and chard. Beets provide as much animal feed as a by-product as these crops.

Agronomy in Russia, as in other countries, has come a long way of development. The ancient Russian literary monuments contained some information about the methods of farming. Scattered records on agricultural issues, which were of a practical nature, have also been preserved. In the 1st half of the 18th century. translated manuals on agriculture and home economics appeared in Russia. A major role in the development of domestic agronomy belongs to M. V. Lomonosov, who in his writings developed progressive agronomic ideas, persistently sought the development of agriculture, the setting up of experiments, and the study of Russian agriculture. The Free Economic Society, organized in 1765, played an important role in the development of domestic agronomy. Russian agronomy was greatly influenced by the works and practical activities of A. T. Bolotov and I. M. Komov, who criticized the then-dominated fallow system of agriculture. Bolotov proposed to introduce seven-field crop rotations instead of three-field crop rotations, reducing the area under fallow and occupying three fields with grasses. Komov was the first of the Russian scientists to substantiate the fruit-shifting system of agriculture with the sowing of legumes and root crops and the replacement of fallow with tilled crops. Being well acquainted with foreign experience, he spoke out against the pattern, recipes and simplification in Agronomy, recommended setting up experiments and repeating them until you were convinced of the reliability of the results obtained. In the 1st half of the 19th century. A significant contribution to Russian agronomy was made by M. G. Pavlov, in whose works the scientific foundations of agriculture were laid (the importance of soil processes in plant nutrition, the use of fertilizers, and the transition from a three-field grain system to an intensive fruit-shifting system of agriculture). Pavlov attached great importance practice, believing that it is she who is bringing the theory into action.

The works of A. V. Sovetov (second half of the 19th century) summarized all the best that was at that time in Russian practice and in the literature on agricultural systems, and established the dependence of forms of agriculture on socio-economic conditions. The Soviets gave a classification of farming systems and their history. The doctrine of agricultural systems in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. was further developed in the works of A. N. Shishkin, A. P. Lyudogovsky, A. S. Yermolov, I. A. Stebut, V. R. Williams, D. N. Pryanishnikov, and other scientists. A significant contribution to agronomy was made by V. V. Dokuchaev, who created the theory of soil as a special natural-historical body that develops under the influence of a number of factors. Together with N. M. Sibirtsev, he developed scientific classification soils by their origin, as well as measures to restore and increase the fertility of Russian chernozem. At the same time, P. A. Kostychev laid the foundation for agronomic soil science. Genetic soil science studies the soil as a natural-historical body, while agronomic soil science considers it as the main means of agricultural production. production. Kostychev's research revealed the essence of the relationship between soil and plants, and showed the role of man in changing these relationships. Studying the processes of decomposition of soil organic matter, Kostychev established the decisive role in this process of various groups of lower organisms. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Russian soil science was further developed by K. D. Glinka, V. R. Williams, and L. I. Prasolov. Using the methods of physical and colloidal chemistry, K. K. Gedroits developed the doctrine of the absorptive capacity of the soil, whose studies made it possible to explain many processes of soil formation, changes in the most important agronomic properties of the soil.

The origin of domestic agricultural chemistry in the 60-70s. 19th century associated with the name of D.I. Mendeleev, who studied the issues of plant nutrition and increasing the yield of agricultural crops. cultures. Mendeleev paid special attention to the use of fertilizers and the use of nutrients in the subsurface layers of the soil. A great merit in the development of the foundations of Russian Agronomy belongs to A.N. Engelhardt, who in the 70-80s. in his estate Batishchevo (Smolensk province) studied the effectiveness of mineral and organic fertilizers, the role of lime and lupine. As a result of many years of scientific activity D.N. Pryanishnikov, the processes of assimilation of ammonia nitrogen by plants were studied, which made it possible to organize industrial production ammonia fertilizers and widely use them in agriculture, and his studies of phosphorites contributed to the development of the production of phosphate fertilizers. Pryanishnikov established the role of legumes in the nitrogen balance, developed the doctrine of the fruit-shifting system of agriculture and crop rotation.

The largest contribution to the physiology and theory of plant nutrition was made by K.A. Timiryazev, who carried out classical studies of photosynthesis, considering it in continuous connection with the root nutrition of plants. Timiryazev's position that the study of the requirements of plants is the fundamental task of scientific agriculture has served to this day as a guideline in the development of agronomic disciplines. Successes of page - x. microbiology in Russia is associated with the scientific activity of S. N. Vinogradsky, who in 1889 isolated bacteria that cause the process of nitrification; he proved that the oxidation of ammonia in the soil occurs in two phases, each of which is due to the activity of different bacteria. Vinogradsky studied the biology of sulfur bacteria and iron bacteria; the microorganisms assimilating free nitrogen of air are allocated. Using his methods, microbiologists continue to further study the role of soil microorganisms. In 1892, D. I. Ivanovsky discovered a filterable virus and thus laid the foundation for a new branch in biological science - virology, which is of great importance for agriculture.

A special role in the development of Russian agronomy was played by experimental institutions and schools. In 1867 the Free Economic Society began experiments with fertilizers. In 1884, the Poltava experimental field was organized, then the Kherson (1889), Odessa, Don, Taganrog and Lokhvitsky experimental fields (1894), Vyatskaya, Ivanovskaya (1895) and Bezenchukskaya (1903) experimental stations. In 1902, a network of experimental stations was set up at sugar refineries to develop methods for cultivating sugar beets and selecting and testing varieties of this crop. In 1908, a new direction was laid in the organization of the page - x. experimental business in Russia - the placement of agricultural - x. research institutions in accordance with natural areas country; state experimental stations were created - Zapolskaya (Petersburg province), Kostychevskaya (Samara province), Engelgardtovskaya (Smolensk province) and Shatilovskaya (Tula province). At experimental stations and fields, they studied and developed methods of tillage, crop rotations, agrotechnics of individual crops, and other issues of great importance in agriculture. In the 1st half of the 19th century. the Novoaleksandria Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (now the Kharkov Agricultural Institute named after V. V. Dokuchaev) and the Gory-Goretsky Institute (now the Belarusian Agricultural Academy) were opened. In 1865, the Petrovskaya Agricultural and Forestry Academy (now the K. A. Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy) was established, which became the center for the development of agronomy and the training of agronomic personnel. In 1913, one of the largest agricultural enterprises was opened. universities in Voronezh. At the beginning of the 20th century in Moscow and St. Petersburg the Higher agricultural institutions were organized. courses for women; in Kharkov, Kazan, Warsaw and Yuriev - veterinary institutes. For all this, in pre-revolutionary Russia, agronomy had little effect on agriculture, since the bulk of the peasant farms, having extremely small allotments of land, lacking the necessary equipment and means, could not use the successes of agronomy.

Control questions

1. Antique period of development of agriculture.

2. The development of agriculture in the Renaissance.

3. Change of the fallow cropping system

4. Works of German scientists on agriculture.

5. Works of Russian scientists on agriculture.

6. Significance of the works of experimental stations.

The main task of the country's economy in the first half of the XVII century. was to overcome the consequences of the "great Moscow ruin". This problem was hampered by the following factors:

heavy human and territorial losses suffered by the country as a result of "distemper";

low soil fertility of the Non-Black Earth region, where until the middle of the XVII century. housed the bulk of the population;

the strengthening of serfdom, which did not create an interest among the peasants in the results of their labor (landowners with an increase in their needs confiscated not only surplus, but also part of the necessary product, increasing corvée and dues);

the consumer character of the peasant economy, which was formed under the influence of the Orthodox community tradition, which focused on the simple satisfaction of needs, and not on the expansion of production in order to generate income and enrichment;

increased tax burden.

Agriculture

Since the end of the 10s - the beginning of the 20s, after the Stolbovsky peace and the Deulinsky truce, the expulsion of the gangs of looters-interventionists, the end of the actions of the insurgent detachments, the Russian people begin to restore normal economic life. Zamoskovny Krai comes to life - the center of European Russia, counties around the Russian capital, in the west and north-west, north-east and east. The Russian peasant is advancing to the outskirts - south of the Oka River, in the Volga and Ural regions, in Western Siberia. New settlements are emerging here. Peasants who fled here from the center from their owners - landowners and estates, monasteries and palace departments or transferred to these places, develop new land masses, enter into economic, marriage, household contacts with the local population. A mutual exchange of management experience is being established: local residents adopt the steam farming system, haymaking, apiary beekeeping, plows and other devices from the Russians; Russians, in turn, will learn from local residents about the method of long-term storage of unthreshed bread, and much more.

Agriculture did not recover quickly, the reasons for this were the low capacity of small peasant farms, low productivity, natural disasters, and crop shortages. The development of this sector of the economy was strongly and for a long time hampered by the consequences of the “Lithuanian ruin”. This is evidenced by scribe books - land inventories of that time. So, in 1622, in three counties south of the Oka - Belevsky, Mtsensk and Yelets - 1187 peasants and 2563 horses sat on the lands of local noblemen, i.e. there were twice as many landless or very weak peasants as peasants themselves. Agriculture, which experienced extreme decline at the beginning of the century, returned to its former state very slowly. Novoseltsev A.P., Sakharov A.N., Buganov V.I., Nazarov V.D. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century. - M.: LLC "Publishing house AST-LTD", 1997. - p.518

This was reflected in the economic situation of the nobles, their serviceability. In a number of southern counties, many of them did not have land and peasants (odnodvortsy), and even estates. Some, due to poverty, became Cossacks, serfs for rich boyars, monastic servants, or, according to the documents of that time, wallowed in taverns.

By the middle of the century, about half of the lands in the Zamoskovskiy Territory, in some places more than half, were classified by scribes as “living”, and not empty arable land.

The main way of development of agriculture of this time is extensive: farmers include an increasing number of new territories in the economic circulation. The people's colonization of the outskirts is proceeding at a rapid pace.

Since the end of the 50s - 60s, immigrants in many numbers go to the Volga region, Bashkiria, Siberia. With their arrival, they begin to engage in agriculture in those places where it did not exist before, for example, in Siberia.

In European Russia, the dominant system of agriculture was the three-field system. But in the forest regions of the Zamoskovskiy Krai, Pomorye, and even in the northern regions of the southern outskirts, undercutting, fallow, two-field, and motley fields were used. In Siberia, in the second half of the century, fallow land was gradually replaced by three-field land.

Rye and oats were sown most of all. Next came barley and wheat, spring rye (yaritsa) and millet, buckwheat and spelt, peas and hemp. The same is in Siberia. More wheat was sown in the south than in the north. Turnips and cucumbers, cabbages and carrots, radishes and beets, onions and garlic, even watermelons and pumpkins were grown in vegetable gardens. In the gardens - cherries, red currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, apple trees, pears, plums. The yield was low. Crop failures, shortages, famine were often repeated.

The basis for the development of animal husbandry was the peasant economy. From it, the feudal lords received draft horses to work in their fields and table supplies: meat, live and dead poultry, eggs, butter, and so on. Among the peasants there were, on the one hand, many horses, many cows; on the other - deprived of any livestock. Cattle breeding especially developed in Pomorye, in the Yaroslavl region, in the southern counties.

Fish were caught everywhere, but especially in Pomorie. In the northern regions, the White and Barents Seas, cod and halibut, herring and salmon were caught; hunted seals, walruses, whales. On the Volga and Yaik, red fish and caviar were of particular value.

Subsistence agriculture was dominated by small-scale production. Hence the poor provision of the peasant with food, chronic hunger strikes. But even then, the growth of the social division of labor, the economic specialization of individual regions of the country, contributed to an increase in commodity circulation. The surplus of grain supplied to the market was provided by the southern and Volga districts.

In a number of cases, the king, boyars, nobles, monasteries expanded their own plowing, along with this, they were engaged in entrepreneurial activities and trade.

Three fields

The widespread transition to a three-field crop rotation is the largest achievement of agriculture in Russia. Its introduction revolutionized agricultural technology and land use. Three-fields was a means of agricultural development of new lands, created conditions for the mass cultivation of winter rye, the most suitable crop for the forest zone - buckwheat.

Other branches of agriculture were of an auxiliary nature. Under the dominance of the three fields, fertility largely depended on the state of animal husbandry. The availability of livestock determined the level of grain farming. Over time, livestock products have taken a leading place among the goods entering the domestic market. In the 17th century progress in animal husbandry. It was expressed in the allocation of areas where this industry became predominant, most adapted to the market. These are the Arkhangelsk province, Yaroslavl, Vologda counties.

land tenure

The economy of feudal society is based on the combination of large land holdings with small peasant holdings. The peasant produces on the plot of land the necessary product for himself and the surplus product for the feudal lord.

The dominant form of landownership was feudal landownership. Feudal ownership of land was strengthened and expanded, and the peasants were further enslaved. Having recovered from the war and intervention at the beginning of the century, the country entered a new stage of socio-economic development. The 17th century was a time of significant growth in the productive forces in industry and agriculture. Despite the dominance of natural economy, the successes of the social division of labor led not only to the flourishing of small-scale production, but also to the emergence of the first Russian manufactories. At the same time, not only domestic, but also foreign trade grew. The formation of the all-Russian national market was a qualitatively new phenomenon, which prepared the conditions for the emergence of capitalist production and, in turn, experienced its reverse powerful influence. In the 17th century, there were signs of the beginning of the process of primitive accumulation - the emergence of merchants, owners of big capital, who amassed wealth through non-equivalent exchange (traders in salt, precious Siberian furs, Novgorod and Pskov flax). However, under the conditions of the serf Russian state, the processes of monetary accumulation proceeded in a peculiar and slow manner, sharply differing from the rates and forms of initial accumulation in Western European countries. The result of this situation was not only the mutual interweaving of old and new production relations, but up to famous moment simultaneous development of both. Feudal ownership of land continued to expand and consolidate, serving as the basis for the development and legalization of serfdom.

According to the type of feudal landownership, patrimonial and local lands were distinguished. A patrimony was a land holding, an economic complex owned by the owner on the rights of full hereditary property. The estate is an inalienable land property, conditioned by the service to the ruler.

By the end of the 17th century, the process of development of secular landownership was actively going on. The state tried to transfer the principle of conditionality of landed property from estates to estates.

Penetration in the 17th century. commodity-money relations in the agricultural sector of the economy directly affected the economy of the feudal lords. The transfer of landownership to the fertile regions of the Chernozem center in the second half of the 17th century. served as a kind of lever for the development of commodity-money relations within the feudal economy. In the next century, the nobles intensified the trade in agricultural products. Landlord bread in this era became the most important product on the market. Such high-value crops as tobacco, sugar beet, and grapes attracted the attention of the landlords. Large stud farms and sheepfolds arose in various parts of Russia. The landowners sought to increase the profitability of their possessions.