Publication Date:
2012-04-17
Description:
By reconstructing the nutrient balance of a Catalan village circa 1861–65 we examine the sustainability of organic agricultural systems in the northwest Mediterranean bioregion prior to the green revolution and the question of whether the nutrients extracted from the soil were replenished. With a population density of 59 inhabitants per square km, similar to other northern European rural areas at that time, and a lower livestock density per cropland unit, this village experienced a manure shortage. The gap was filled by other labour-intensive ways of transferring nutrients from uncultivated areas into the cropland. Key elements in this agricultural system were vineyards because they have few nutrient requirements, and woodland and scrublands as sources of relevant amounts of nutrients collected in several ways. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-15 DOI 10.1007/s10745-012-9485-4 Authors Enric Tello, Department of Economic History and Institutions, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 690, 08034 Barcelona, Spain Ramon Garrabou, Department of Economics and Economic History, Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain Xavier Cussó, Department of Economics and Economic History, Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain José Ramón Olarieta, Department of Environment and Soil Sciences, Higher Technical School of Agrarian Engineering, University of Lleida, 25198 Lerida, Spain Elena Galán, Department of Economic History and Institutions, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 690, 08034 Barcelona, Spain Journal Human Ecology Online ISSN 1572-9915 Print ISSN 0300-7839
Print ISSN:
0300-7839
Electronic ISSN:
1572-9915
Topics:
Biology
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Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
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Ethnic Sciences
