Agricultural productivity

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Food production per capita since 1961 Food production per capita.svg
Food production per capita since 1961
Grain silos Sunset at Grain Elevator 012 Cropped more.jpg
Grain silos
Rice plantation in Thailand Rice plantation in Thailand.jpg
Rice plantation in Thailand
Cambodians planting rice, 2004 Cambodian farmers planting rice.jpg
Cambodians planting rice, 2004

Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to inputs. [1] While individual products are usually measured by weight, which is known as crop yield, varying products make measuring overall agricultural output difficult. Therefore, agricultural productivity is usually measured as the market value of the final output. This productivity can be compared to many different types of inputs such as labour or land. Such comparisons are called partial measures of productivity. [2]

Contents

Agricultural productivity may also be measured by what is termed total factor productivity (TFP). This method of calculating agricultural productivity compares an index of agricultural inputs to an index of outputs. This measure of agricultural productivity was established to remedy the shortcomings of the partial measures of productivity; notably that it is often hard to identify the factors cause them to change. Changes in TFP are usually attributed to technological improvements. [3]

Agricultural productivity is an important component of food security. [4] Increasing agricultural productivity through sustainable practices can be an important way to decrease the amount of land needed for farming and slow environmental degradation and climate change through processes like deforestation. [5]

Sources of agricultural productivity

Wheat yields in least developed countries since 1961. The steep rise in crop yields in the U.S. began in the 1940s. The percentage of growth was fastest in the early rapid growth stage. In developing countries maize yields are still rapidly rising. Wheat yields in Least Developed Countries.svg
Wheat yields in least developed countries since 1961. The steep rise in crop yields in the U.S. began in the 1940s. The percentage of growth was fastest in the early rapid growth stage. In developing countries maize yields are still rapidly rising.

Productivity is driven by changes in either agricultural technique or improvements in technology. Some sources of changes in agricultural productivity have included: [7]

See: Productivity improving technologies (historical) Section: 2.4.1: Mechanization: Agriculture, Section 2.6: Scientific agriculture.

Impact

The productivity of a region's farms is important for many reasons. Aside from providing more food, increasing the productivity of farms affects the region's prospects for growth and competitiveness on the agricultural market, income distribution and savings, and labour migration. An increase in a region's agricultural productivity implies a more efficient distribution of scarce resources. As farmers adopt new techniques and differences, the more productive farmers benefit from an increase in their welfare while farmers who are not productive enough will exit the market to seek success elsewhere. [10]

A cooperative dairy factory in Victoria. StanhopeFactory.JPG
A cooperative dairy factory in Victoria.

As a region's farms become more productive, its comparative advantage in agricultural products increases, which means that it can produce these products at a lower opportunity cost than can other regions. [11] Therefore, the region becomes more competitive on the world market, which means that it can attract more consumers since they are able to buy more of the products offered for the same amount of money. As productivity improvement leads to falling food prices, this automatically leads to increases in real income elsewhere. [12]

Increases in agricultural productivity lead also to agricultural growth and can help to alleviate poverty in poor and developing countries, where agriculture often employs the greatest portion of the population. As farms become more productive, the wages earned by those who work in agriculture increase. At the same time, food prices decrease and food supplies become more stable. Labourers therefore have more money to spend on food as well as other products. This also leads to agricultural growth. People see that there is a greater opportunity to earn their living by farming and are attracted to agriculture either as owners of farms themselves or as labourers. [13]

A liquid manure spreader. Carrobotte g1.jpg
A liquid manure spreader.

It is not only the people employed in agriculture who benefit from increases in agricultural productivity. Those employed in other sectors also enjoy lower food prices and a more stable food supply. Their wages may also increase. [13]

Food security

Agricultural productivity is becoming increasingly important as the world population continues to grow. [14] As agricultural productivity grows, food prices decrease, allowing people to spend less on food, and combatting hunger. [15] India, one of the world's most populous countries, has taken steps in the past decades to increase its land productivity. In the 1960s North India produced only wheat, but with the advent of the earlier maturing high-yielding wheats and rices, the wheat could be harvested in time to plant rice. This wheat/rice combination is now widely used throughout the Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Uttar Pradesh. The wheat yield of three tons and rice yield of two tons combine for five tons of grain per hectare, helping to feed India's 1.1 billion people. [14]

Higher global food prices between 2006 and 2008, primarily caused by an increasing amount arable land used for growing biofuels and the growing economies in China and elsewhere causing an increase in demand for meat products (which are less efficient than plants in terms of land use), caused the percentage of incomes used for food to increase throughout the world, forcing families to cut back on various other expenditures such as schooling for girls. In areas of sub-Saharan Africa, a decreased agricultural productivity due to crop failures has caused starvation. [15] On the other hand, higher global prices actually mean farmers with successful yields earn more, and this thus increases their productivity. [16]

Investing in the agricultural productivity of women in farming communities is of particular importance in boosting economic development and food security in parts of the developing world. Women in some areas of the world, for example in Africa, traditionally have less agency than men, but are often also more invested in farming in terms of time spent. They are furthermore generally more responsible for childcare, thus their productivity is more likely to translate in gains for the family as a whole. [15]

Relation to population growth

Some critics claim that increasing agricultural productivity results in human overpopulation. They are argue that, like other species, human populations grow up to their carrying capacity. When a species reaches its carrying capacity, the number of poor and weak individuals who die from disease or starvation is equal to the number of individuals being added to the population via birth. Because innovation continues to improve agricultural productivity (specifically yields), however, the theoretical carrying capacity continues to increase, allowing the human population to continue to grow. These writers claim that there are too many people on Earth and that therefore growth in agricultural productivity is detrimental to the environment — if the carrying capacity was lower, the human population would reach an equilibrium at a lower number. [17] [18]

However, unlike other animals, in humans greater development and prosperity has led to lower fecundity. Thus as productivity has increased and poverty has been reduced worldwide, population growth is declining. Research suggests we may actually face a declining world population in the future. [19] [20]

Inverse relationship theory

Dairy cattle in Maryland DairyCattle.jpg
Dairy cattle in Maryland
Some essential food products including bread, rice and pasta GrainProducts.jpg
Some essential food products including bread, rice and pasta

Deolalikar in 1981 investigated the theory first proposed by Sen in 1975 that in traditional, pre-modern farming in India, there is an inverse relationship to size of the farm and productivity, contrary to the economy of scale found in all other types of economic activity. It is debated whether the inverse relationship actually exists. Numerous studies falsify this theory. [21] In Zimbabwe, policies on agrarian land reform under president Robert Mugabe, especially in and following 2000, split large farms into many smaller farms, and this decreased productivity. Marxist agrarian land reform in the Soviet Union, China and Vietnam combined small farms into larger units, this usually failed to increase productivity. [22]

Nonetheless, increasing agricultural productivity amongst smallholder farms is an important way to improve farmer livelihoods in the developing world. [5]

Sustainable increases in productivity

Because agriculture has such significant impacts on climate change and other environmental issues, intensification of agriculture, which would increase productivity per amount of land being farmed, is seen by some as an essential method for climate change mitigation, because farmers will not require more land, and are thus incentivized not to participate in further land degradation or deforestation. [5] Implementing intensification through sustainable agriculture practices makes farming more sustainable in the long term, maintaining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs while conserving the environment. International policy, embodied in Sustainable Development Goal 2, focuses on improving these practices at a global level. [23]

Not all effects of climate change will negatively affect agricultural productivity. The IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land and the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C both project mixed changes in the yields of crops as global warming happens with some breadbasket regions becoming less productive, while other crops increase ranges and productivity. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cereal</span> Grass that has edible grain

A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat and quinoa, are pseudocereals. Most cereals are annuals, producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a perennial. Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres.

Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Indeed, so-called "organic pioneers" wanted to keep farming with nature, without being dependent on external inputs. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or severely limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as garlic extract, bicarbonate of soda, or pyrethrin which is found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides such as glyphosate are prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed, only in exceptional circumstances, include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming positively impacts sustainability, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, animal welfare, food security, and food safety. Organic farming can therefore be seen as part of the solution to the impacts of climate change, as also established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intensive farming</span> Branch of agriculture

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming, conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital, labour, agrochemicals and water, and higher crop yields per unit land area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable agriculture</span> Farming approach that balances environmental, economic and social factors in the long term

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business processes and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without causing damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects on soil, water, biodiversity, and surrounding or downstream resources, as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in the United States</span> Major industry in the United States

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, which is a net exporter of food. As of the 2017 census of agriculture, there were 2.04 million farms, covering an area of 900 million acres (1,400,000 sq mi), an average of 441 acres per farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subsistence agriculture</span> Farming to meet basic needs

Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occur principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, and only secondarily toward market prices. Tony Waters, a professor of sociology, defines "subsistence peasants" as "people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace".

Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit while satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to natural resources such as biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanised agriculture</span> Agriculture using powered machinery

Mechanised agriculture or agricultural mechanization is the use of machinery and equipment, ranging from simple and basic hand tools to more sophisticated, motorized equipment and machinery, to perform agricultural operations. In modern times, powered machinery has replaced many farm task formerly carried out by manual labour or by working animals such as oxen, horses and mules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smallholding</span> Small farm, often for a single family

A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology, involvement of family in labor and economic impact. There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farms in developing countries of the world alone, supporting almost two billion people. Smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent, smallholdings may not be self-sufficient. Still, they may be valued for providing supplemental sustenance, recreation, and general rural lifestyle appreciation. As the sustainable food and local food movements grow in affluent countries, some of these smallholdings are gaining increased economic viability in the developed world as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in India</span>

The history of agriculture in India dates back to the Neolithic period. India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs. As per the Indian economic survey 2020 -21, agriculture employed more than 50% of the Indian workforce and contributed 20.2% to the country's GDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial agriculture</span> Form of modern industrialized farming

Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, the application of patent protection to genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced in this way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Pakistan</span>

Agriculture is considered the backbone of Pakistan's economy, which relies heavily on its major crops. Pakistan's principal natural resources are arable land and water. Agriculture accounts for about 18.9% of Pakistan's GDP and employs about 42.3% of the labour force. The most agricultural province is Punjab where wheat & cotton are the most grown. Mango orchards are mostly found in Sindh and Punjab provinces, making it the world's fourth largest producer of mangoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Turkey</span>

Agriculture is still an important sector of Turkey's economy, and the country is one of the world's top ten agricultural producers. Wheat, sugar beet, milk, poultry, cotton, vegetables and fruit are major products; and Turkey is the world's largest grower of hazelnuts, apricots, and oregano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Angola</span>

Angola is a potentially rich agricultural country, with fertile soils, a favourable climate, and about 57.4 million ha of agricultural land, including more than 5.0 million ha of arable land. Before independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola had a flourishing tradition of family-based farming and was self-sufficient in all major food crops except wheat. The country exported coffee and maize, as well as crops such as sisal, bananas, tobacco and cassava. By the 1990s Angola produced less than 1% the volume of coffee it had produced in the early 1970s, while production of cotton, tobacco and sugar cane had ceased almost entirely. Poor global market prices and lack of investment have severely limited the sector since independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in England</span>

Agriculture in England is today intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops. Agriculture is heavily subsidised by the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Sweden</span>

Agriculture in Sweden differs by region. This is due to different soils and different climate zones, with many parts of the country being more suitable to forestry. It makes more economic sense to dedicate land to forestry than agriculture in the northern and mountainous parts of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farming systems in India</span>

Farming systems in India are strategically utilized, according to the locations where they are most suitable. The farming systems that significantly contribute to the agriculture of India are subsistence farming, organic farming, industrial farming. Regions throughout India differ in types of farming they use; some are based on horticulture, ley farming, agroforestry, and many more. Due to India's geographical location, certain parts experience different climates, thus affecting each region's agricultural productivity differently. India is very dependent on its monsoon cycle for large crop yields. India's agriculture has an extensive background which goes back to at least 9 thousand years. In India, in the alluvial plains of the Indus River in Pakistan, the old cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa experienced an apparent establishment of an organized farming urban culture. That society, known as the Harappan or Indus civilization, flourished until shortly after 4000 BP; it was much more comprehensive than those of Egypt or Babylonia and appeared earlier than analogous societies in northern China. Currently, the country holds the second position in agricultural production in the world. In 2007, agriculture and other industries made up more than 16% of India's GDP. Despite the steady decline in agriculture's contribution to the country's GDP, agriculture is the biggest industry in the country and plays a key role in the socio-economic growth of the country. India is the second-largest producer of wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane, silk, groundnuts, and dozens more. It is also the second biggest harvester of vegetables and fruit, representing 8.6% and 10.9% of overall production, respectively. The major fruits produced by India are mangoes, papayas, sapota, and bananas. India also has the biggest number of livestock in the world, holding 281 million. In 2008, the country housed the second largest number of cattle in the world with 175 million.

Digital agriculture, sometimes known as smart farming or e-agriculture, is tools that digitally collect, store, analyze, and share electronic data and/or information in agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has described the digitalization process of agriculture as the digital agricultural revolution. Other definitions, such as those from the United Nations Project Breakthrough, Cornell University, and Purdue University, also emphasize the role of digital technology in the optimization of food systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 2</span> Global goal to end hunger by 2030

Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to achieve "zero hunger". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is: "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture". SDG 2 highlights the "complex inter-linkages between food security, nutrition, rural transformation and sustainable agriculture". According to the United Nations, there were up to 757 million people facing hunger in 2023 – one out of 11 people in the world, which accounts for slightly less than 10 percent of the world population. One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night, including 20 million people currently at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Measuring Agricultural Productivity Using the Average Productivity Index (API) by Lal Mervin Dharmasiri Archived 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Preckel, Paul V.; Hertel, Thomas W.; Arndt, Channing; Nin, Alejandro (2003-11-01). "Bridging the Gap between Partial and Total Factor Productivity Measures Using Directional Distance Functions". American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 85 (4): 928–942. doi:10.1111/1467-8276.00498. hdl: 10.1111/1467-8276.00498 . ISSN   0002-9092. S2CID   154456202.
  3. ↑ Agricultural Investment and Productivity in Developing Countries, FAO Economic And Social Development Paper No. 148, ed. Lydia Zepeda, 2001, FAO Corporate Document Repository, 12 July 2007, http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/X9447E/x9447e00.HTM.
  4. ↑ Mbow et al. 2019, p. 454.
  5. 1 2 3 "Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders". Project Drawdown. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  6. ↑ Fischer, R. A.; Byerlee, Eric; Edmeades, E. O. "Can Technology Deliver on the Yield Challenge to 2050" (PDF). Expert Meeting on How to Feed the World. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-09.
  7. ↑ Egli, D.B. (2008). "Comparison of Corn and Soybean Yields in the United States: Historical Trends and Future Prospects". Agronomy Journal. 100: S79–88. doi:10.2134/agronj2006.0286c. S2CID   84059626.
  8. ↑ About IPNI, the International Plant Nutrition Institute
  9. ↑ The Fertilizer Institute
  10. ↑ Mundlak, Yair, "Agricultural Productivity and Economic Policies: Concepts and Measurements," OECD Working Paper No. 75, OECD Development Center, August 1992, SourceOECD.org, 13 July 2007 http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=4172647/cl=20/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/wppdf?file=5lgsjhvj7g21.pdf%5B%5D (13–16).
  11. ↑ Beierlein, James G.; Schneeberger, Kenneth C.; Osburn, Donald D. (2003). Principles of Agribusiness Management (3 ed.). Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press. p. 154. ISBN   1-57766-267-9.
  12. ↑ Field, Alexander J. (2008). "Productivity". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty. ISBN   978-0865976658. OCLC   237794267.
  13. 1 2 Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Agriculture, DAC Guidelines and Reference Series, Paris: OECD, 2006, OECD.org, 13 July 2007 "37922155.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2007-07-13. (10).
  14. 1 2 Brown, Lester R. Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. New York City: Earth Policy Institute, 2006.
  15. 1 2 3 Kumar, Alok; Al Mahmood Mosfeq, Abdullah, eds. (2012). Hunger, Agricultural Production, and Government Policies (PDF). Department of Economics, University of Victoria. pp. 1–31.
  16. ↑ "The perfect storm: Global food prices hit six-year high". Al Jazeera English. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  17. ↑ Russell Hopfenberg; David Pimentel. "Human population numbers as a function of food supply" (PDF).
  18. ↑ Hopfenberg, Russell (2014). "An expansion of the demographic transition model: the dynamic link between agricultural productivity and population" (PDF). Biodiversity. 15 (4). Taylor & Francis: 246–254. Bibcode:2014Biodi..15..246H. doi:10.1080/14888386.2014.973904. S2CID   54798262.
  19. ↑ Wise, Jeff (9 January 2013). "About That Overpopulation Problem". Slate . The Slate Group. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Tupy, Marian L. (10 January 2013). "Prosperity and World Population Growth". Cato Institute . Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  21. ↑ Deolalikar, Anil B. (1981). "The Inverse Relationship between Productivity and Farm Size: A Test Using Regional Data from India". American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 63 (2): 275–279. doi:10.2307/1239565. ISSN   0002-9092. JSTOR   1239565.
  22. ↑ Jacobs, Susie (2010). "Agrarian reform" (PDF). Sociopedia. International Sociological Association. p. 8. doi:10.1177/205684601072 (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  23. ↑ Goals, sustainable development. "Sustainable agriculture".
  24. ↑ Mbow et al. 2019, pp. 439–442.

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