The History of Agriculture in China

For most of tinese history, the major innovations in agriculture have stemmed largely from either large scale construction projects or canals. The other major historical innovations have been in specific introductions of new forms of crops that vastly improved yields and caloric intake. Over the course of the eleventh century, china'se population grew to and then stabilized at about a hundred and ten million. There it would stay, with admittedly significant dips during conquests and civil wars, right up to the sixteenth century when we get yet another injection of new crop types,. potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and beans being the most significant.