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The civilization of Ancient Egypt developed under the conditions of the predictable seasonal floods of the Nile. From year to year, the recurring floods of the Nile and the fertile soil of its valley allowed the Egyptians to develop highly productive agriculture by the standards of the ancient world, and on its basis to build social institutions and the state. The Egyptians were one of the first peoples to engage in large-scale agriculture. Basin irrigation allowed them to grow both food crops, especially grains such as wheat and barley, and industrial crops such as flax and papyrus.
Geography
The civilization of ancient Egypt developed in the arid climate of northern Africa. The region is influenced by several key geographic factors: its proximity to the Arab and Libyan deserts and the Nile River, which flows north from Lake Victoria into the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the arid climate and the almost complete absence of precipitation, the regular flooding of the Nile was a factor that became a determining factor for the development of the ancient Egyptian civilization. The river provided a fertile oasis in the middle of the great desert, which allowed the Egyptians to build a state based on developed agriculture. Egypt's dependence on the river as a source of life was not entirely unique. This dependence was characteristic of several other high cultures of antiquity, including Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilization, which relied on the Tigris / Euphrates and Indus rivers, respectively.
Farming system
Collecting grapes and making wine.
Louvre
Nile and field plantings
The length of the Nile River was determined in 2016 at 4175 miles, which makes it the first longest in the world (the Amazon is the largest in volume). The main source of water is Lake Victoria. From there, the river flows northward and eventually flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The source of the river is difficult to determine with complete certainty and is believed to be located in the Nyungwe forest in Rwanda. The river passes through 9 countries and many different locations, including deserts, swamps, rainforests and mountains. The Nile has two main tributaries: the Blue Nile, which originates in Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which originates from Rwanda. While the White Nile is considered longer and easier to navigate, the Blue Nile carries about two-thirds of the river's water volume. The name of the tributaries comes from the color of the water they carry. The tributaries join at Khartoum, and the mouth in Egypt forks again, forming the Nile Delta.
The Egyptians took advantage of the natural cyclical nature of the Nile flood. Because this flood is predictable, the Egyptians could develop their agricultural practices from it. The water level in the river rose in August and September, leaving the floodplain and delta submerged 1.5 meters in water at the peak of flooding. This annual flooding of the river is known as inundation. When the floods receded in October, farmers were left with moist and fertile soil in which to sow their plants. The soil left over from this flood is known as silt and originated from the Ethiopian highlands near the Nile.Planting took place in October, after the flood ended and the grain continued to grow with minimal care until it ripened in March or May. Although the flood of the Nile was much more predictable and calm than that of other rivers such as the Tigris and Euphrates, it was not always perfect. High flood waters were destructive and could destroy canals that were made for irrigation. The lack of flood water posed a potentially more serious problem because it made the Egyptians starve.
Irrigation system
In order to fully utilize the waters of the Nile River, the Egyptians developed irrigation systems. Irrigation allowed the Egyptians to use the waters of the Nile for a variety of purposes. In particular, irrigation gave them greater control over their agricultural activities. Streams of water were diverted from specific areas, such as cities and gardens, to protect them from flooding. Irrigation was also used to provide the Egyptians with drinking water. Despite the fact that irrigation was a key factor in their agricultural activities, there were no national regulations to control water resources. Most likely, irrigation was the responsibility of local farmers. However, the earliest and best known mention of irrigation in Egyptian archeology was found at the top of the mace of the Pharaoh Scorpio, which was dated to around 3100 BC. NS. The top of the mace depicts a pharaoh with a hoe in his hands, standing over a canal that was part of an irrigation network. The high-ranking pharaoh's connection to irrigation underscores the importance of irrigation and agriculture in Egyptian society.
Basin irrigation
The ancient Egyptians developed and used a special form of water management known as basin irrigation. This practice made it possible to control the rise and fall of the river, and thus meet the needs of agriculture for irrigation. In the sowing area, a cross-section of earthen ramparts was formed. After the flood of the Nile, water was trapped in basins formed by ramparts. This net retained water longer than it naturally retained, allowing the land to be saturated with moisture for subsequent planting of crops. Then the flood water remaining in the basin was redirected to other basins that needed large volumes of water.
Gardening
Gardening and horticulture also developed as a complement to field planting. Plantings for garden and horticultural crops, as a rule, took place above flooded areas, away from the Nile floodplain, and as a result, much more effort was required to cultivate them.
Notes (edit)
Literature
- E.V. Cherezov, Agricultural Technique of Ancient Egypt, Chernivtsi: IGU, 1969.
Agriculture of Egypt - one of the traditional spheres of activity of the Egyptians for thousands of years. Egypt is an agrarian country, a third of the working population is employed in the country's agriculture.
Despite the excellent conditions for the cultivation of such crops as sugar cane, date palm and many other fruit and vegetable crops, agriculture in the country is going through hard times, and has long ceased to bring tangible income to the treasury.
Even the construction of the Aswan Dam, which contributed to the uninterrupted supply of crops, which is extremely necessary in the subtropics, and the protection of agricultural areas from the floods of the Nile, did not revive this sector of the national economy.
Main agricultural products: cotton, rice, grain, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; livestock, buffaloes, sheep and goats. State control has been loosened over agriculture, which is largely in private hands, except for sugar and cotton production. Virtually all Egyptian agriculture is concentrated on 2.5 million hectares (6 million hectares).acres) of fertile soil in the Nile Delta and Valley. Some desert land has been reclaimed for agriculture, including the ambitious Toshka Canal in Upper Egypt, but at the same time some fertile land in the Nile Delta and Valley has been lost through urbanization or weathering.
The combination of fertile alluvial soils with long sunny periods creates extremely favorable conditions for the cultivation of a wide variety of crops. However, the expansion of the irrigation system dating back to the 1960s and early 1970s was not accompanied by the establishment of an adequate drainage system. As a result, in many areas, especially in Upper Egypt, a serious problem of soil salinization has arisen.
The size of traditional peasant farms in Egypt is small. Farms with land of 2 hectares occupy about two-thirds of all agricultural land. As a rule, the land belongs to the peasant who cultivates it. Many farms are rented out and the tenant pays the fee to the owner, either in cash or as part of the harvest. Most of the work in the fields is done by the owner of the plot and his family members, but during the harvest season, for example, during the cotton picking season, even small farms need to hire additional labor.
Some large farms specialize in growing fruits and vegetables, but most of the farms are part of state cooperatives. Cooperatives buy all the cotton they grow and partly some food crops such as rice and wheat. Cooperatives are also responsible for supplying peasants with chemical fertilizers. The amount of fertilizer used per unit of cultivated land area in Egypt is much higher than in most other countries in the world, with the exception of Western Europe, Japan and South Korea.
Almost all farms are also engaged in animal husbandry; small-plot owners breed buffaloes, which are used for canal work, and cattle for milk production. About a quarter of the total area of the fields is allotted for the cultivation of clover, which serves as feed for livestock. The profitability of animal husbandry stimulated the departure of part of the peasants to work in the cities and the introduction of mechanization means in the agricultural sector. Threshers, water pumps and tractors are widely used now everywhere, and above all on the farms of the Nile Delta.
The main problem of the country in the field of agricultural production is the achievement of "food security" based on the country's self-sufficiency in food products. By the mid-1980s, the country was forced to import four-fifths of the wheat and flour needed for domestic consumption. Since now almost all available land areas are used for agricultural production, an increase in production volumes can be achieved only by increasing the yield of crops grown.
1986 saw the beginning of reforming the agricultural sector of the economy. In 1995, only the prices of cotton and sugar cane were controlled by the state. Egypt is most competitive in the production of crops such as tomatoes, wheat, cotton, potatoes, corn, legumes, sugar beets, and many types of fruits. The wheat self-sufficiency rate from 1982 to 1995 rose from 25% to 50%.
Category: Egypt
Agriculture was the main source of government revenue until 1952. Then its share in the country's economy decreased. Most of the land suitable for farming is located in the Nile Delta region. All major agricultural crops of the country are grown here. Peasant allotments of land are quite small.
In Egypt, land irrigation is actively used, and fertilizers are used.This leads to a fairly high grain yield - more than 7 thousand kg / ha. The main agricultural crops in Egypt are: wheat, corn, rice. Industrial crops include cotton, sugar beet and sugar cane.
In 2005, the implementation of the New Valley project began in Egypt. It consists in the transfer of part of the waters of Lake Nasser to the desert areas located in the west of the country. This makes it possible to increase the areas suitable for agriculture.
