Intensity of food production !

Measured by the amount of food produced compared with the amount resources used to produce the food.

Can be measured by labour per unit area.
Number of workers

Land area

Can be measured by output per unit area too!
Amount of food produced

Land Area

-Introduced during the green revolution .i Irrigation is the practice of supplyng water to the land through artificial means.
-Enables farmers to control the amount of water supplied to crops.

Physical Factors

Relief - Physical height and slope of the land.
Gentle/flat slope, more productive for farming, less likely for soil erosion to occur, easier for farmers to transport and operate mahines.

Steep slopes, lower productivity, additional labour is required to build terraces.

Soil - Fertility of soil.
Fertility of soil depends on the amount of air, water and nutrients present in it.
Fertile soil, higher productivity as it is helpful for healthy plant growth.

Climate - Rainfall and average temperature of soil.
High temperature and rainfall, higher output as such conditions are more favourable for plant growth.

Social factors

Land fragmentation - A land of plot is diivide into smaller plots. Over many generations, the resultant plots may become very small.
Limited output of a small farm, unprofitable to use expensive machines. Productivity is low as more labour is required to work on the farm.

Land tenure - Land owned by government, not farmers.
Farmers have to pay a sum of money to get the right to live on and use the land.
It does not promote efficient use of the land to increase productivity. (harvest will eventually go to the government)

Economic factors

Demand - When people buy a large amount of food at a certain price at a certain time.
High demand, higher output and productivity.

Capital - Sum of money used to start or expand food production.
Capital is needed to purchase seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Helps to increase output and productivity.

Political factors

Government policies - Plan of action that a government takes.
In the 1980s, government replaced traditional farming with high-technology farming. Output per unit area is increased , less labour is also used in high-techology farming as more computers are used.

Technological factors

Green revolution - Helped LDC's to increase their production to keep up with the rapid population growth.