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In Chilean historiography, the wheat cycle (Spanish: ''ciclo triguero'') refers to two episodes of booming wheat exports and related changes in society and agriculture. The first cycle occurred from 1687 to the independence wars and was caused by heavy demand in Peru. The importance of wheat had led the 18th century in Chile to be labelled the wheat century (Spanish: ''siglo del trigo''). The second cycle started in the mid-19th century, fueled by the California and Australian gold rushes and ended definitively during the Long depression in the 1870s. ==First cycle== Chile has a history of exporting cereals to Peru dating back to 1687 when Peru was struck by both an earthquake and a stem rust epidemic.〔 Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974. ''Historia De Chile''. Editorial Universitaria, Chile. p 155–160.〕 Chilean soil and climatic conditions were better for cereal production than those of Peru and Chilean wheat was cheaper and of better quality than Peruvian wheat.〔〔Collier, Simon and Sater William F. 2004. ''A History of Chile: 1808-2002'' Cambridge University Press. p. 10.〕 According to historians Villalobos et al., the 1687 events were only the detonant factor for exports to start.〔 The Chilean Central Valley, La Serena and Concepción were the districts that came to be involved in cereal export to Peru.〔 Compared with the 19th century, the area cultivated with wheat was very small and production modest.〔 Initially Chilean ''latifundia'' could not meet the wheat demand due to a labour shortage, so had to incorporate temporary workers in addition to the permanent staff. Another response by the latifundia to labour shortages was to act as merchants, buying wheat produced by independent farmers or from farmers that hired land. In the period 1700 to 1850, this second option was overall more lucrative.〔Gabriel Salazar. 2000. ''Labradores, Peones y Proletarios''. pp. 40–41〕 The independence wars in Chile (1810–1818) and Peru (1809–1824) had a negative impact on the Chilean wheat industry. Trade was disrupted and armies in Chile pillaged the countryside. The Guerra a muerte phase was particularly destructive and ended only to see a period of outlaw banditry (e.g. Pincheira brothers) occur until the late 1820s. Trade with Peru did not fully recover after the independence struggles.〔 Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974. ''Historia De Chile''. Editorial Universitaria, Chile. p 406-413.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chilean wheat cycle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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