The spectre of historical crop losses: challenging questions and methodological issues = O espectro da perda de culturas na História: problemas e metodologias

• Autor(a) principal: Qeiroz, Ana Isabel
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Gomes, Inês, Amorim, Inês
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/129322
• topic: Geografia; Geography

Calamities in agricultural production have emerged as a relevant research topic for global food security in the current context of adaptation to climate change. Historians have been participating in this research by examining crop losses in the past. However, they face challenging questions and methodological issues when evaluating the magnitude, intensity and social relevance of damages caused by adverse climate events and plant pests and diseases. This paper presents a review of some aspects that lead to harvest failures, along with three case studies involving Portuguese territories in modern times, based on the scientific interest and research of the authors. A few methodological considerations are also provided concerning decryption and the use of available data, to help avoid misinterpretations in future research on the topic.