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After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred. Key crops involved in this exchange included maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes and manioc traveling from the New World to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, barley, rice and turnips going from the Old World to the New. There were very few livestock species in the New World, with horses, cattle, sheep and goats being completely unknown before their arrival with Old World settlers. Crops moving in both directions across the Atlantic Ocean caused population growth around the world, and had a lasting effect on many cultures.[71] Since being introduced by Portuguese in the 16th century,[72] maize and manioc have replaced traditional African crops as the continent's most important staple food crops.[73] After its introduction from South America to Spain in the late 1500s, the potato became an important staple crop throughout Europe by the late 1700s. The potato allowed farmers to produce more food, and initially added variety to the European diet. The nutrition boost caused by increased potato consumption resulted in lower disease rates, higher birth rates and lower mortality rates, causing a population boom throughout the British Empire, the US and Europe.[74] The introduction of the potato also brought about the first intensive use of fertilizer, in the form of guano imported to Europe from Peru, and the first artificial pesticide, in the form of an arsenic compound used to fight Colorado potato beetles. Before the adoption of the potato as a major crop, the dependence on grain caused repetitive regional and national famines when the crops failed: 17 major famines in England alone between 1523 and 1623. Although initially almost eliminating the danger of famine, the resulting dependence on the potato eventually caused the European Potato Failure, a disastrous crop failure from disease resulting in widespread famine, and the death of over one million people in Ireland alone.[75] |
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