[Fantasy] [Low-Tech] Crops with extremely short cycle and low yield

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

What would be the unforeseen consequences of a fantasy setting having crops of extremely short lifecycles but also very low yields. E.g. a crop with 1/300 the yield, but capable of providing this yield (and dying) in just 24 hours. Or 1/50 the yield, but with a cycle of 7-10 days.

I am of course postulating this to be fantasy, not historical low-tech. Some more considerations are that (a) it's probably best to make the crop somewhat picky, so that it wouldn't be able to take over the rest of the ecosystem (or make other plants similarly vigorous) and (b) I'm not sure if I want a setting with seasons or without, so I'm wondering about both variants.

Thanks in advance!

[zazen]

Magic could be used if the crop is valuable - it could be either transported or conserved through magic, or both.

If the crop is unvaluable and picky like that, chances are most societies wouldn't bother doing agriculture with it. If it dies in 24 hours *but* can be conserved with reliable and cheap methods, it becomes more interesting.

If it's unvaluable but edible, It could be used as food for farmers, but since it dies so quickly, it can't even reach cities or other societies.

Anyway, I wonder what that mysterious crop is all about? Is it food? Spice? Material use such as cotton or silk? It's use in society greatly affects the importance people will give to it.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

I doubt anyone would bother with them. Since you didn't specify otherwise, I assume they take the same effort to plant and harvest, which means you're getting a tiny fraction of the yield for the same labor. Better to do the labor-intensive plowing and harvesting once with conventional crops and get enough to live off of for months than waste time on crops that won't even feed you for the time it took to cultivate them.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

I doubt anyone would bother with them. Since you didn't specify otherwise, I assume they take the same effort to plant and harvest, which means you're getting a tiny fraction of the yield for the same labor. Better to do the labor-intensive plowing and harvesting once with conventional crops and get enough to live off of for months than waste time on crops that won't even feed you for the time it took to cultivate them.

Hmm. Indeed I haven't put much (any?) thought into proportionally reducing the work required.

I'm basically looking for a way to create a setting with much shorter harvest cycles - numbered in days, or at most weeks.

Oh, and I intended the seeds/fruits to be as long-lasting as normal ones.

[Tuk the Weekah]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Hmm. Indeed I haven't put much (any?) thought into proportionally reducing the work required.

I'm basically looking for a way to create a setting with much shorter harvest cycles - numbered in days, or at most weeks.

Oh, and I intended the seeds/fruits to be as long-lasting as normal ones.

The problem, of course, in such a short life cycle is the weed issue. If it has a low labour cost, it will dominate the ecosystem. If it is so picky that it doesn't dominate, it will have a high labour cost. If it has a high labour cost, as TBC points out, farmers will tend to prefer traditional grain crops.

Have you considered something akin to wild rice? It is incredibly easy to harvest, and the process of harvesting simultaneously reseeds the "field". Basically, you bend the stalk over the canoe and tap it with a stick. Most of the seed falls into the canoe; some of the seed falls back into the lake/river to form the next crop.

Would having 4 cycles per year (and a dormant winter), with a low labour cost akin to wild rice, work for your purposes?

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Tuk the Weekah

The problem, of course, in such a short life cycle is the weed issue. If it has a low labour cost, it will dominate the ecosystem. If it is so picky that it doesn't dominate, it will have a high labour cost. If it has a high labour cost, as TBC points out, farmers will tend to prefer traditional grain crops.

I suppose there's some way to balance it to such a level of pickiness/labour that a field is easy to 'maintain' for a sufficient yield per time unit and per labour unit, but isn't very competitive in the wild (or at least not competitive enough to dominate everywhere)?

Originally Posted by Tuk the Weekah

Have you considered something akin to wild rice? It is incredibly easy to harvest, and the process of harvesting simultaneously reseeds the "field". Basically, you bend the stalk over the canoe and tap it with a stick. Most of the seed falls into the canoe; some of the seed falls back into the lake/river to form the next crop.

Thanks! This is the sort of things that would find a use in setting-building.

Originally Posted by Tuk the Weekah

Would having 4 cycles per year (and a dormant winter), with a low labour cost akin to wild rice, work for your purposes?

Maybe. Don't know yet. I'm in the very early stages of worldbuilding - I'm not even 100% sure the whole setting is viable at all, yet.

[gilbertocarlos]

Best option would be to plant it between other crops. So, let's say you can farm for 8 months a year, if you have a crop that takes 4 months and another one that takes 3, you'll be able to plant the first, then plant the second, then plant a few of the 1 day or 1 week crop.

Armies might be interested in it, wanderers too, just carry some of them for each man, in a siege, plant them, since it's low yield, the enemy won't have the incentive to put fire to it, and since you have a lot of manpower doing nothing, you can use it to plant and harvest.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by gilbertocarlos

Best option would be to plant it between other crops. So, let's say you can farm for 8 months a year, if you have a crop that takes 4 months and another one that takes 3, you'll be able to plant the first, then plant the second, then plant a few of the 1 day or 1 week crop.

Armies might be interested in it, wanderers too, just carry some of them for each man, in a siege, plant them, since it's low yield, the enemy won't have the incentive to put fire to it, and since you have a lot of manpower doing nothing, you can use it to plant and harvest.

Ooooh! Nomad agriculture! Neat idea.

Might be even more justified if it magically drains the land for some period of time, and won't grow on drained land.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Ooooh! Nomad agriculture! Neat idea.

Might be even more justified if it magically drains the land for some period of time, and won't grow on drained land.

It wouldn't even need magic. Just growing THAT fast is going to pull a ton of nutrients out of the soil, so anything less than burning after harvesting will kill the land fairly quickly.

[ClayDowling]

Yeast does grow that quickly, although it's moderately involved to keep the colony healthy, and you have to canibalise your other crops to keep it fed.

If you're looking for nomadic agriculture, you might look into what a lot of Native American tribes used. It's not exceptionally well documented, but there is some out there. The wild rice harvesting is still done the same way, but other crops were also planted.

Also, consider apples. Drop a bunch of seeds. Walk away. Come back in 10 years. They'll be wild apples, which aren't great for eating, but they make great cider, and there's always a market for a cheap drunk.