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Concept
Agricultural productivity
Summary
Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to inputs. 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.
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.
Agricultural productivity is an important component of food security. 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.
Productivity is driven by changes in either agricultural technique or improvements in technology. Some sources of changes in agricultural productivity have included:
Mechanization
High yield varieties, which were the basis of the Green revolution
Fertilizers: Primary plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium 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 of acid soils to raise pH and to provide calcium and magnesium
Irrigation
Herbicides
Genetic engineering
Pesticides
Increased plant density
Animal feed made more digestible by processing
Keeping animals indoors in cold weather
See: Productivity improving technologies (historical) Section: 2.
Official source
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