Agricultural Transformation: From Subsistence to Market Economy
From Traditional Agriculture to Market Agriculture
From Subsistence Economy to Market Economy: In the nineteenth century, agriculture underwent a series of significant changes. The introduction of new crops and agricultural machinery led to:
- An increase in food production, which allowed for feeding a growing population, especially in urban areas. This enabled a large proportion of the population, who had previously worked in agriculture, to move to cities and work in industry.
- The process of industrialization meant that the farmer, traditionally focused on personal consumption, became integrated into the market economy. Farmers began selling a large part of their production (over 50%) in the market, seeking maximum profits. This led to farmers specializing in the production of specific products.
- Farmers started purchasing a range of industrial products to improve their harvests, such as machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds. They also needed to buy industrial products like garments, furniture, and shoes, which they previously made themselves.
Land and Farm Structure
Traditional farms, operated by a single owner, can be large estates or smallholdings. These include:
- Large Estates: Holdings of more than 100 hectares, predominantly found in Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalusia. These estates often practice extensive farming, employing highly mechanized methods and few people, resulting in major crops and significant benefits.
- Smallholdings: Farms of less than 10 hectares, predominating in the northern half of the peninsula, including Galicia, Castilla y León, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria, the Balearic Islands, and the Canary Islands. Currently, these smallholdings are profitable if they practice intensive farming, primarily growing ornamental plants on the Mediterranean coast or early products.
- Medium-Sized Farms: Averages around 30 hectares. In recent years, policies incentivizing production and tax breaks developed by the European Union have favored these farms. This policy has encouraged intensive agriculture with the aim of producing for quality.
In conclusion, smallholders occupy a small part of the land surface in Spain, while the estates comprise a small number of holdings but account for more than 50% of the land surface area. In Catalonia, smallholders and family farms predominate, with a modern production structure and market-oriented exploitation.
Agricultural Labor in Spain
On small and medium-sized farms, the land is directly managed by the owner. Family labor predominates over employees. The owners, with the help of their families and some hired workers, are those who work the land. In many instances, it is women who are involved in the agricultural work.