Factors determine production in agriculture sector
Answers
Physical factors affecting agriculture are: (i) climate (ii) soil and (iii) topography. Climate plays a dominating role in agriculture. Plants require sufficient heat and moisture for their growth.
The general factors determining agricultural productivity are as follows:
1. Pressure of Population on Agriculture:
The high man-land ratio in the developed countries of the world is contrasted by low man-land ratio in the developing countries (of Asia in particular). Overcrowding in agriculture has resulted in fragmentation of landholdings and pseudo- unemployment in agriculture.
2. Rural Environment:
The developing countries are characterised by mass illiteracy and a conservative, superstitious social atmosphere in rural areas. The farmers, in general, are also reluctant to use modern methods of agriculture.
3. Role of Non-farm Services:
Non-farm services such as finance, marketing, etc. influence agricultural productivity. In developed economies, vigorous governmental backing to farmers in the form of credit and crop insurance, for instance, has insulated them from the risks of a market economy. On the other hand, the presence of intermediaries in agriculture has harmed the economies of developing countries to a great extent.
There are institutional factors influencing productivity as well. These are given below.
4. Size of Holdings:
The highly populated countries of Asia are characterized by low to very low per capita landholdings, which hamper mechanization. Moreover, small holdings cause great wastage of time, labour and cattle. Moreover, adopting scientific methods of cultivation and application of HYV seeds is impossible in small holdings.
5. Pattern of Land Tenure:
In India, for example, ‘ the abolition of the zamindari system failed to improve the condition of tenants. The cultivators have to pay high rents for their lands. Under such adverse circumstances, productivity is a casualty.
Technological factors are also responsible for high/low productivity.
The farmers of developing countries generally use traditional implements in contrast to the improved implements used in developed countries such as tractors, steel ploughs, sugarcane crushers, pumping sets, etc. Poor technique is one of the most important causes of low productivity in agriculture.
Heavy dependency on climate leads to irregular crop productivity in the developing nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Due to lack of capital, the development of irrigation facilities is heavily impaired in these countries. However, after the success of the Green Revolution in some regions of the developing world, the dependence of cultivators on climate has been reduced to some extent.