Crop Rotation (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For other uses, see Crop Rotation.

Crop Rotation
Availability
Introduced in	Age of Empires II
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Research
Researched at	Mill Folwark (Poles only)
Prerequisite(s)	Heavy Plow
Food	250
Wood	250
Research time	70 seconds
Effect
Farms provide +175 food before they need to be reseeded

Crop Rotation is a technology in Age of Empires II that can be researched at the Mill or at the Folwark (Poles only) once the Imperial Age is reached. Once researched, it gives Farms +175 food (for a total of 550) before they need to be reseeded.

Farms that are built before Crop Rotation is researched do not gain the food bonus. If the technology is completed while a Farm is being built, the food bonus applies to that Farm.

The Sicilians already have a civilization bonus which grants extra food by researching all other farm upgrades. As a result, their farms have up to 1,019 food, and with a Chinese ally, they get 1,130 food, giving the Sicilian farms the largest amount of food in the game.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Aztecs Bengalis Berbers Bulgarians Burgundians Burmese Byzantines Cumans Franks Georgians Goths Gurjaras Inca Italians Jurchens Khmer Lithuanians Magyars Malay Malians Maya Persians Poles Portuguese Romans Sicilians Slavs Tatars Teutons Vietnamese Vikings Wei	Armenians Bohemians Britons Celts Chinese Dravidians Ethiopians Hindustanis Huns Japanese Khitans Koreans Mongols Saracens Shu Spanish Turks Wu

Civilization bonuses

• Burgundians: Can research Crop Rotation in the Castle Age. Crop Rotation costs -33% food.
• Franks: Crop Rotation is free.
• Sicilians: Crop Rotation provides +125% additional food to Farms.
• Vietnamese: Researching Crop Rotation is 100% faster and costs no wood.
• Wei: Receive one Villager after researching Crop Rotation.

Team bonuses

• Portuguese: Researching Crop Rotation is 25% faster.

Changelog

Rise of the Rajas

• Vietnamese: Crop Rotation costs the regular price.

Definitive Edition

• Vietnamese: With update 35584, Crop Rotation costs no wood.

Lords of the West

• Burgundians: With update 47820, Crop Rotation costs -50% food.

Dynasties of India

• Burgundians: With update 66692, Crop Rotation costs -40% food. With update 78174, Crop Rotation costs -33% food.

Return of Rome

• Vietnamese: With update 87863, researching Crop Rotation is 100% faster.

History

“	With experience over time farmers noted that food production gradually declined on fields where the same crops were planted year after year. Experimentation showed that proper crop rotation could restore high yields. Farmers of the Middle Ages did not understand the science of this result but developed a practical plan through experience. Planting the same crops over and over depleted specific nutrients that a plant needed in quantity. Through crop rotation, different plants were found to restore the nutrients needed by something else. Alfalfa, for example, restores nitrogen to soil from which it has been depleted by other crops. Planting alfalfa restored the soil for the next year and made good winter feed for livestock.	”
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual