Abstract
This article describes agricultural practices of fertilization in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula between 1750 and 1900, where a leguminous plant called gorse (Ulex Europaeus) was used as bedding for livestock in order to produce manure. During the period examined, this whole region experienced a process of agricultural intensification which resulted in a net loss of nutrients in the soil. Peasants dealt with the increasing nutrient requirements by adapting land and livestock management in order to produce more manure during the second half of the 20th century. However, this was done at the expense of nutrient reserves in extensively managed areas, all of which resulted in an unsustainable agricultural pattern. Our data also suggest that the context of nutrient scarcity could be related to changes in the migration pattern, which started to be more intense after 1850 and preferred distant destinations (America), thus switching from seasonal to permanent stays.
Note
NW Iberia refers mostly to the region that the Romans called Gallaecia, which was a lot wider than the current Galicia and has similar geographical and socioeconomic features. It addresses the physical space we have studied, regardless of artificial borders.
About the authors
Beatriz Corbacho González holds a PhD in History from the University of Santiago de Compostela. She has done research on agrarian and environmental history within the theoretical frame of Social Metabolism and analysed soil fertility by applying the technique of nutrient balances.
Roc Padró Caminal is a Forest Engineer and holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona (Spain) in Environmental History. He has researched the socioecological transition from organic to industrial agriculture in Catalonia and analysed particular agroecosystems by applying both nutrient and energy balances.
David Soto Fernández currently works as associate professor in Economic History at the Department of Applied Economics, Santiago de Compostela University. He does research in Rural and Environmental History and has been a member of the Agroecosytems History Lab at the University Pablo de Olavide (Sevilla).
Lourenzo Fernández Prieto is a Professor at the History Department of the University of Santiago de Compostela, where he researches in the fields of Rural and Political History and coordinates the Histagra Research Group. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton, CUNY and University College Cork.
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