The precursor to the industrial revolution was the agricultural revolution and its major elements were the enclosure movement, new crops, and scientific agriculture.

1
Agricultural Revolution

• The precursor to the industrial revolution was
  the agricultural revolution and its major
  elements were the enclosure movement, new crops,
  and scientific agriculture.

2
Evidence

• Jethro Tull
• Charles Turnip Townshend
• Robert Bakewell
• Arthur Young
• crop rotation
• open-field
• enclosure movement

3

• The Agricultural Revolution is the process of
  commercializing farming.
• It first began in 16th and 17th centuries in the
  Low Countries and spread across the channel to
  England by the 18th century
• New crops (potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, clover,
  sunflowers) enriched the European diet and also
  provided ways to restore nitrates to the soil

4

• Better tools and innovations iron plow, seeding
  by drilling, crop rotation,
• Use of such restorative crops and crop rotation
  eliminated the need for leaving land fallow.
• About 1/3 more land was under cultivation as a
  result of ending the practice of leaving land
  fallow
• Selective breeding of animals and crops reflected
  scientific and empirical approaches.

5
Enclosure Movement

• Goal was to enclose the common fields that
  traditionally were open to tenant farmers and
  laborers to graze their animals, gather firewood,
  and so on.
• It began in the 17th century and was nearly
  complete a century later
• Enclosure allowed landowners to experiment with
  new crops and new production techniques
• The point was to produce crops for market rather
  than use
• It resulted in an increase in the number of
  landless peasants and poor agricultural workers