Page 161 - Mocarelli, Luca, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2020. Maize to the People! Cultivation, Consumption and Trade in the North-Eastern Mediterranean (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century). Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 161
buckwheat or maize? ultimately, potatoes!
Conclusion
During the nineteenth century, maize established itself completely in
Slovenian agriculture. In the last decades of the century, the promotion of
maize cultivation was no longer required. Instead, the press, the expert lit-
erature, and organizations for the promotion of agriculture shifted their fo-
cus to education. Their aim was to improve the maize production technol-
ogy to ensure an even better yield and broaden its use. The effects of maize
adaptation were important in the long term. The Slovenian territory with
its dissimilar regional dynamics of maize cultivation, its various economic
applications or dietary uses did not represent a very special example. Quite
the opposite: it was merely a local manifestation of the wider European
processes that altered the structure of agriculture in the nineteenth centu-
ry. In Slovenia too, maize thus represented an integral part of the restruc-
turing and modernization of agriculture as well as of the peasant econo-
my. In terms of its significance and impact, maize was similar to potatoes.
A broader look reveals the process of a long-term rational economization
of agricultural labour, called for by the modern capitalist economy. During
this process, it was crucial to increase the yield or the profitability of agri-
cultural labour to allow for the social modernization of the peasant popula-
tion and encourage general economic development (Lazarević 1998). Until
as late as World War II, peasants represented the most numerous stratum of
the population. Due to the increased purchasing power of peasants, any in-
crease in the profitability of agricultural labour had significant macroeco-
nomic effects. Throughout the decades, the tendency that peasants should
alter the patterns and shares of crops was strengthened in the organization
of the agricultural economy. They would gradually adopt the most profit-
able crops with regard to the necessary investments of money and labour.
Apart from potatoes, maize represented an impetus for changes in the agri-
cultural structure and the foundations of the peasant economy. The consid-
erable yield and multifaceted usefulness of maize contributed to its expan-
sion. In the nineteenth-century central Slovenian space, it had to compete
with buckwheat for its place in the fields. This, however, was only an appar-
ent competition, as the actual rivalry took place between buckwheat and
potatoes. Buckwheat – the dominant food item of peasants in the middle of
the nineteenth century – was not replaced by maize. It was actually pushed
out by potatoes. No cereal could compete with the economic value of po-
tatoes – their extraordinary yield, nutritional value, and versatility. Maize
and potatoes did not compete in the Slovenian territory. As imported and
159
Conclusion
During the nineteenth century, maize established itself completely in
Slovenian agriculture. In the last decades of the century, the promotion of
maize cultivation was no longer required. Instead, the press, the expert lit-
erature, and organizations for the promotion of agriculture shifted their fo-
cus to education. Their aim was to improve the maize production technol-
ogy to ensure an even better yield and broaden its use. The effects of maize
adaptation were important in the long term. The Slovenian territory with
its dissimilar regional dynamics of maize cultivation, its various economic
applications or dietary uses did not represent a very special example. Quite
the opposite: it was merely a local manifestation of the wider European
processes that altered the structure of agriculture in the nineteenth centu-
ry. In Slovenia too, maize thus represented an integral part of the restruc-
turing and modernization of agriculture as well as of the peasant econo-
my. In terms of its significance and impact, maize was similar to potatoes.
A broader look reveals the process of a long-term rational economization
of agricultural labour, called for by the modern capitalist economy. During
this process, it was crucial to increase the yield or the profitability of agri-
cultural labour to allow for the social modernization of the peasant popula-
tion and encourage general economic development (Lazarević 1998). Until
as late as World War II, peasants represented the most numerous stratum of
the population. Due to the increased purchasing power of peasants, any in-
crease in the profitability of agricultural labour had significant macroeco-
nomic effects. Throughout the decades, the tendency that peasants should
alter the patterns and shares of crops was strengthened in the organization
of the agricultural economy. They would gradually adopt the most profit-
able crops with regard to the necessary investments of money and labour.
Apart from potatoes, maize represented an impetus for changes in the agri-
cultural structure and the foundations of the peasant economy. The consid-
erable yield and multifaceted usefulness of maize contributed to its expan-
sion. In the nineteenth-century central Slovenian space, it had to compete
with buckwheat for its place in the fields. This, however, was only an appar-
ent competition, as the actual rivalry took place between buckwheat and
potatoes. Buckwheat – the dominant food item of peasants in the middle of
the nineteenth century – was not replaced by maize. It was actually pushed
out by potatoes. No cereal could compete with the economic value of po-
tatoes – their extraordinary yield, nutritional value, and versatility. Maize
and potatoes did not compete in the Slovenian territory. As imported and
159
