5 Factors of Agricultural Production will be listed and explained in this article. We hope you find it informative and educative.
Factors of Agricultural Production
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Based upon the definition of agriculture as the activity of planting crops and rearing animals, it is worthy to note that agricultural activities cannot be duly out until some factors are considered and put into place either at a large or small scale.
In order to produce food or rear animals, every farmer must have the following major factors which include lands, water, labor, finance, and a good management system for the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural practices.
This article is written to further elaborate and explain these factors to the understanding of everyone who may be interested.
Factors of Agricultural Production
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The following are Factors of Agricultural Production:
Land
Irrespective of whether you will be planting crops or rearing animals, you will need land as a primary factor before you consider agricultural activities because, without land, the practice of agriculture is nearly impossible.
We are not elaborating on the size of the land because the size is dependent on what you want to use the land for; for instance, someone who wants to have a commercial plantain plantation will need more land compared to someone who wants to have a subsistence snail farm.
The acquisition of land for agricultural purposes is done through many ways, either by inheritance (for example when a father passes a land as an inheritance to his child), lease; some people who do not have inherited lands usually rent lands to use for agricultural purposes with a solid agreement with the landowner, others who have enough money usually buy the land that they need to carry out the purpose for which they want, some other persons receive lands as gifts but irrespective of how a person interns to get land, it is impossible to do agricultural activities without land because it is the land that provides the water and nutrients that plants would need to grow well.
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Water
Water is life; not just to humans but also for agricultural practices. All the crops and livestock need good water to grow well. Plant nutrients in the soil and other materials are transported in soul water from the root up the plant for healthy growth.
In animal farming, water serves as a necessity because it is with water that the tools are washed, it is water that animals drink, etc.
Because of the importance of water, some farmers realize that they may not always have water, so they ensure that they get artificial sources of water so that they can ensure that the crops are well watered irrespective of the season.
Labour
Agriculture demands a great deal of human labor, even with the advent of technology in the agricultural sector, manpower is still required to pilot agricultural practices.
All the stages of agriculture demand that people work manually. There are just some things that cannot be done mechanically (at least for now).
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Even the machines that help make work easier and faster still require a person to operate it. The importance of manpower in agriculture cannot be overrated.
No matter how wealthy a farmer is, he or she will still need to employ human resources to ensure the smooth running of his or her agricultural activities.
Finance
Agriculture, no matter the aspect or level you want to start from is capital intensive. Without money, even though the largest land is made available for you, you will still be unable to carry out agricultural activities because you need money to buy the seedlings, you need money to get the tools and machinery, you will still need money to pay your staff and some other logistics involved in agriculture. Hence, finance is a very vital part of agriculture.
Management System
Aside from providing food and meat for man to eat, agriculture is a business and every business needs an adequate management system else it crashes.
It is one thing to be a farmer for 2 years and another to sustain the momentum for another 38 years. Most farms have folded up because they were not properly managed hence, making a good management system an inevitable factor in agricultural production.
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As long as a farmer or potential farmer has all of these factors in mind and ensures the adequate balance of each of them, he will be championing his way into becoming a successful farmer.
