The three-field system is a regime of crop rotation in which a field is planted with one set of crops in the first year, a different set in the second year, and left fallow in the third, with crop assignments rotated from field to field so each segment is planted two years out of three. Cereal crops deplete the soil of nitrogen, but the legumes grown in the second year fix nitrogen and help restore it. The technique was first used in China during the Eastern Zhou period and arose independently in Europe in the medieval period, spreading there between the ninth and eleventh centuries to replace an earlier two-field system that had left half the land fallow. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Practice ClassSoil fertility and crop rotation 1 OriginFirst used in China during the Eastern Zhou period; arose independently in medieval Europe, spreading there between the ninth and eleventh centuries to replace an earlier two-field system. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Three-Field System (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, paragraph 1, first sentence
The three-field system is a regime of crop rotation in which a field is planted with one set of crops one year, a different set in the second year, and left fallow in the third year.
Lead section, paragraph 2, nitrogen passage
Cereal crops deplete the ground of nitrogen, but legumes can fix nitrogen and so fertilize the soil.
Lead section, paragraph 1, third sentence
The technique was first used in China in the Eastern Zhou period and arose independently in Europe in the medieval period.
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