ECONOMICS (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Spanish colonizers of the 16th-century introduced new staple crops to Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, and thereby contributed to population growth in Asia.

Detailed explanation-2: -Perhaps the most important items to travel from the Americas to the rest of the world were corn and potatoes. Both were inexpensive to grow and nutritious. Potatoes, especially, supplied many essential vitamins and minerals. Over time, both crops became an important and steady part of diets throughout the world.

Detailed explanation-3: -These two-way exchanges between the Americas and Europe/Africa are known collectively as the Columbian Exchange. Of all the commodities in the Atlantic World, sugar proved to be the most important. Indeed, in the colonial era, sugar carried the same economic importance as oil does today.

Detailed explanation-4: -People in Europe were introduced to maize (a type of corn), potatoes and sweet potatoes, beans and squashes, tomatoes, avocados, papaya, pineapples, peanuts, chili peppers, and cacao (the raw form of cocoa). New crops from America changed how Europeans lived and farmed. The potato, for example, had an enormous impact.

Detailed explanation-5: -We call potatoes and maize staple crops because they were a main food source that helped to increase global populations. But another type of crop also transformed the global economic system. These were known as cash crops.