Ajay Kumar at 23:43, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T23:43:09Z

New page

{{Short description|Quotient between production and productive factors}}
[[File:Food production per capita.svg|thumb|Food production per capita since 1961]]
[[File:Sunset at Grain Elevator 012 Cropped more.jpg|thumb|Grain [[silo]]s]]
[[File:Rice plantation in Thailand.jpg|thumb|380px|Rice plantation in Thailand]]
[[File:Cambodian farmers planting rice.jpg|thumb|Cambodians planting rice, 2004]]

'''Agricultural productivity''' is measured as the ratio of [[Agriculture|agricultural]] outputs to inputs.<ref>Measuring Agricultural Productivity Using the Average Productivity Index (API) by Lal Mervin Dharmasiri [http://www.sljol.info/index.php/SLJASS/article/download/4855/3884] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020212914/http://www.sljol.info/index.php/SLJASS/article/download/4855/3884 |date=2013-10-20 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Preckel|first1=Paul V.|last2=Hertel|first2=Thomas W.|last3=Arndt|first3=Channing|last4=Nin|first4=Alejandro|date=2003-11-01|title=Bridging the Gap between Partial and Total Factor Productivity Measures Using Directional Distance Functions|journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics|language=en|volume=85|issue=4|pages=928–942|doi=10.1111/1467-8276.00498|s2cid=154456202|issn=0002-9092}}</ref>

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.<ref>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.[http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/X9447E/x9447e00.HTM]</ref>

Agricultural productivity is an important component of [[food security]].{{sfn|Mbow|Rosenzweig|Barioni|Benton|2019|p=454}} Increasing agricultural productivity through [[Sustainable agriculture|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]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|date=2020-02-06|title=Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders|url=https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/sustainable-intensification-for-smallholders|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Project Drawdown|language=en}}</ref>

==Sources of agricultural productivity==
[[File:Wheat yields in Least Developed Countries.svg|thumb|300px|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.<ref>{{ Cite journal
|last1 = Fischer
|first1 = R. A.
|last2 = Byerlee
|first2 = Eric
|last3 = Edmeades
|first3 = E. O.
|title = Can Technology Deliver on the Yield Challenge to 2050
|journal = Expert Meeting on How to Feed the World
|publisher = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
|url = http://www.fao.org/3/a-ak977e.pdf
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809093607/http://www.fao.org/3/a-ak977e.pdf
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = 2017-08-09
}}</ref>]]
Productivity is driven by changes in either agricultural technique or improvements in technology. Some sources of changes in agricultural productivity have included:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Egli |first1=D.B. |s2cid=84059626 |year= 2008|title=Comparison of Corn and Soybean Yields in the United States: Historical Trends and Future Prospects |journal= Agronomy Journal|volume= 100|pages=S79–88|doi= 10.2134/agronj2006.0286c }}</ref>
* [[Mechanized agriculture|Mechanization]]
* High yield varieties, which were the basis of the [[Green revolution]]
* [[Fertilizer]]s: Primary plant nutrients: [[nitrogen]], [[phosphorus]] and [[potassium]]<ref>[http://www.ipni.net/ipniweb/portal.nsf/0/35A687BDB628E999852572050049A51A About IPNI], the International Plant Nutrition Institute</ref><ref>[http://www.tfi.org/ The Fertilizer Institute]</ref> and secondary nutrients such as [[sulfur]], [[zinc]], [[copper]], [[manganese]], [[calcium]], [[magnesium]] and [[molybdenum]] on deficient soil
* [[Education]] in management and entrepreneurial techniques to decrease fixed and variable costs and optimise manpower
* [[Liming (soil)|Liming]] of acid soils to raise [[pH]] and to provide calcium and magnesium
* [[Irrigation]]
* [[Herbicide]]s
* [[Genetic engineering]]
* [[Pesticide]]s
* Increased plant density
* [[Animal feed]] made more digestible by processing
* Keeping animals indoors in cold weather

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

==Impact==
The productivity of a region's [[farm]]s 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 [[efficiency|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.<ref>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{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (13–16).</ref>
[[File:StanhopeFactory.JPG|thumb|right|A [[cooperative]] dairy factory in [[Victoria, Australia|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beierlein |first1=James G. |last2=Schneeberger |first2=Kenneth C. |last3=Osburn |first3=Donald D. |date=2003 |title=Principles of Agribusiness Management |edition=3 |location=Prospect Heights, Illinois |publisher=Waveland Press |pages=154 |isbn=1-57766-267-9}}</ref> Therefore, the region becomes more competitive on the world market, which means that it can attract more [[consumer]]s 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Field |first1=Alexander J. |editor=David R. Henderson |editor-link=David R. Henderson |encyclopedia=[[Concise Encyclopedia of Economics]] |title=Productivity |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Productivity.html |year=2008 |edition= 2nd |publisher=[[Library of Economics and Liberty]] |location=Indianapolis |isbn=978-0865976658 |oclc=237794267}}</ref>

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.<ref name="oecd.org">Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Agriculture, DAC Guidelines and Reference Series, Paris: OECD, 2006, OECD.org, 13 July 2007 {{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/60/37922155.pdf |title= 37922155.pdf |access-date=2007-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817215241/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/60/37922155.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-17 }} (10).</ref>
[[File:Carrobotte g1.jpg|thumb|right|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.<ref name="oecd.org"/>

=== Food security ===
{{Further|Food security}}
Agricultural productivity is becoming increasingly important as the [[world population]] continues to grow.<ref name=Brown2006>Brown, Lester R. Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. New York City: Earth Policy Institute, 2006.</ref> As agricultural productivity grows, food prices decrease, allowing people to spend less on food, and combatting hunger.<ref name=Kumar2012>{{cite book |last= |first= |date=2012 |editor1-last=Kumar |editor1-first=Alok |editor2-last=Al Mahmood Mosfeq |editor2-first=Abdullah |title=Hunger, Agricultural Production, and Government Policies |url=http://web.uvic.ca/~kumara/econ329/bookproject12.pdf |location= |publisher=Department of Economics, University of Victoria |pages=1–31}}</ref> [[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 [[rice]]s, the wheat could be harvested in time to plant rice. This wheat/rice combination is now widely used throughout the [[Punjab (India)|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.<ref name=Brown2006/>

[[2007–2008 world food price crisis|Higher global food prices between 2006 and 2008]], primarily caused by an increasing amount [[arable land]] used for growing [[biofuel]]s 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.<ref name=Kumar2012/> On the other hand, higher global prices actually mean farmers with successful yields earn more, and this thus increases their productivity.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=13 March 2021 |title=The perfect storm: Global food prices hit six-year high |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/program/counting-the-cost/2021/3/13/the-perfect-storm-global-food-prices-hit-six-year-high |work=Al Jazeera English |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Kumar2012/>

=== Relation to population growth ===
{{Further|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 [[Fitness (biology)|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 [[Biophysical environment|environment]] — if the carrying capacity was lower, the human population would reach an equilibrium at a lower number.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bioinfo.rpi.edu/bystrc/pub/pimentel.pdf|title=Human population numbers as a function of food supply|author1=Russell Hopfenberg |author2=David Pimentel |author2-link=David Pimentel (scientist) }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Russell |last=Hopfenberg |date=2014 |title=An expansion of the demographic transition model: the dynamic link between agricultural productivity and population |journal=Biodiversity |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=246–254 |doi=10.1080/14888386.2014.973904 |url=https://ia601405.us.archive.org/21/items/3anexpansionofthedemographictransitionmodel/3%20An%20expansion%20of%20the%20demographic%20transition%20model.pdf |publisher=Taylor & Francis|s2cid=54798262 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wise |first=Jeff |date=9 January 2013 |title=About That Overpopulation Problem |url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/01/world-population-may-actually-start-declining-not-exploding.html |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |publisher=The Slate Group |access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cato.org/blog/prosperity-world-population-growth |title=Prosperity and World Population Growth |last=Tupy |first=Marian L. |date=10 January 2013 |publisher=[[Cato Institute]] |access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref>

==Inverse relationship theory==
[[File:DairyCattle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dairy cattle]] in [[Maryland]]]]
[[File:GrainProducts.jpg|thumb|right|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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deolalikar |first1=Anil B. |title=The Inverse Relationship between Productivity and Farm Size: A Test Using Regional Data from India |journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics |date=1981 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=275–279 |doi=10.2307/1239565 |issn=0002-9092|jstor=1239565 }}</ref> In [[Zimbabwe]], policies on [[Land reform in Zimbabwe#Impact on production|agrarian land reform]] under president [[Robert Mugabe]], especially in and following 2000, split large farms into many smaller farms, and this decreased productivity. [[Collectivization|Marxist agrarian land reform]] in the [[Soviet Union]], [[China]] and [[Vietnam]] combined small farms into larger units, this usually failed to increase productivity.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |publisher=[[International Sociological Association]] |work=Sociopedia |title=Agrarian reform |url=https://www.isa-sociology.org/uploads/files/Agrarian%20Reform.pdf |doi=10.1177/205684601072 |last=Jacobs |first=Susie |date=2010 |page=8|doi-broken-date=2023-08-01 }}</ref>

Nonetheless, increasing agricultural productivity amongst [[Smallholding|smallholder]] farms is an important way to improve farmer livelihoods in the [[developing world]].<ref name=":02"/>

==Sustainable increases in productivity==
Because [[Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture|agriculture has such large impacts on climate change]] and other [[Environmental impact of agriculture|environmental issues]], [[intensive agriculture|intensification]] of agriculture, which would increase productivity per amount of land being farmed, is seen by some as an important 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]].<ref name=":02"/> Implementing intensification through [[sustainable agriculture]] practices makes farming more sustainable in the long term, maintaining the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs while conserving the environment. International policy, embodied in [[Sustainable Development Goal 2]], focusses on improving these practices at an international level.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goals|first=sustainable development|title=Sustainable agriculture|url=http://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/overview/fao-and-the-post-2015-development-agenda/sustainable-agriculture/en/}}</ref>

Not all [[effects of climate change]] will be negative on 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.{{sfn|Mbow|Rosenzweig|Barioni|Benton|2019|pp=439–442}}
{{clear}}

==See also==
* [[Agricultural expansion]]
* [[Energy efficiency in agriculture]]
* [[Food vs. feed]]
* [[Green Revolution]]
* [[Mechanized agriculture]]
* [[Productivity]]
* [[Productivity improving technologies (historical)]] Section 4: Mechanized agriculture, Section 6: Scientific agriculture

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}
===Cited sources===
* {{Cite book |title=Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems |last1=Mbow |first1=C. |last2=Rosenzweig |first2=C. |last3=Barioni |first3=L. G. |last4=Benton |first4=T. |last5=Herrero |first5=M. |last6=Krishnapillai |first6=M. V. |year=2019 |pages=454 |chapter=Chapter 5: Food Security |display-authors=4|chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/08_Chapter-5.pdf}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fao.org Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – www.fao.org]
* [http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_33727_1_1_1_1_1,00.html OECD Department for Trade and Agriculture: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071029160704/http://www.oecd.org/document/23/0%2C3343%2Cen_2649_37401_37426007_1_1_1_37401%2C00.html OECD Agricultural Outlook Database (2006–2015)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Agricultural production]]
[[Category:Agricultural revolutions]]
[[Category:Sustainable agriculture]]

Agricultural productivity - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 23:43, 29 August 2023