The first plantations were established by the Spanish in the early 16th century, in the West Indies; from there they spread to Brazil, Mexico, North America and Indonesia in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
Agricultural protectionism in Europe, the United States, and Japan has led to more intensive farming in these regions than is environmentally or economically justified. By inflating prices and per acre revenues, while (in some cases) limiting the acreage that can be planted, agricultural policies induce farmers to use more inputs on each acre planted than they otherwise would. Driven by these incentives, farmers adopt chemical-intensive monocultures that lead to more soil erosion, chemical runoff, loss of biological diversity, and conversion of once-natural ecosystems to cropland than would otherwise take place.