Chapter 14 – Increasing Yields

Crop Yields  Worldwide cereal yields have more than doubled since the early 1960s.  What makes yields increase?  Productive inputs used more intensively  New Technologies  Farmers ability to increase efficiency

I. Purchased inputs A. Yields can be increased by adding more inputs to the land 1. Water, labor, chemicals, machinery

B. Should more fertilizer be used? 1. Too much fertilizer can reduce yields 2. Good potential in Sub-Saharan Africa for increasing yields by increasing fertilizer use

3. Increase in production must be enough to cover additional cost of input 4. Poor farmers may be unable to borrow or save enough money to buy the amount of fertilizer they would like

C. Machinery use 1. Mechanization is most profitable where land is abundant, labor is scarce, and credit & fuel are cheap 2. Different types of machines will be appropriate for developing countries than those used in developed countries

II. Agricultural labor A. The number of ag workers per hectare has increased steadily in the developing world

B. Adding labor will increase yield as long as productive work exists for the additional workers

III. Yields and technology A. Can increase output with the same level of inputs by using them in a different way 1. Technological progress - different production methods used to get more output from the same quantity of inputs

B. Technological improvements shift the supply curve out resulting in lower prices

IV. The Green Revolution A. New rice & wheat varieties that doubled or tripled yields were developed by agricultural researchers working in Mexico & the Philippines in the 1960s

1. Green Revolution technologies produced high yields when the new seed varieties were used with fertilizer, pesticides, & irrigation as part of a technological package a. Varieties were developed that would not fall down (lodge) when fertilizers were applied to boost yields

2. Norman Borlaug was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his research in Mexico that produced high-yielding wheat varieties

B. The director of the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1968 called this boom in production in LDCs the “Green Revolution”

C. Adoption of the new varieties was rapid & widespread throughout the Third World 1. The increase in production led to lower food prices which benefited the poor

D. Benefits of the Green Revolution 1. Mostly in wetter regions and where irrigation is easier 2. Evenly distributed among large and small farms

V. Prospects for future yield growth A. Reasons for concern growth in yields is slowing B. Reasons for Hope reducing environmental degradation Biotechnology

VI. Post-production food losses A. Increasing amount of food available without increasing production

1. In LDCs, 30% lost between the field and the consumer a. Pests b. Poor storage facilities c. Poor transportation d. Poor on-farm handling