Intensification of Food Production

measured in terms of

Labour per Unit Area

Labour per Unit Area = number of workers/land area

Output per Unit Area

Output per unit area = amount of food produced/ land area

factors affecting food productivity

Physical Factors

Relief

physical height and slope of land

gentle or flat land = + productive for farming as water run off slower

Climate

determined by

average rainfall and temperature experienced in that place

areas with higher rainfall and higher temperature = higher farming output

with exceptions of potatoes and wheat, which grows with less water and lower temperature

soil

fertility of the soil

depends on

amount of air, water and nutrients present

the more minerals in the soil, the higher the productivity of the land

Social Factors

Land Fragmentation

the land is being divided to the number of children the owner of the land has

this means there will be less lands use for farming = less productions of food

Land Tenure

farmers need to pay the owner of the land they are farming on or living on

this causes farmers to have less motivation to farm = production of food will be reduced

Economic Factors

Demand

high demand encourages food producers to produce more food to meet the demands in order to earn money by selling crops

Capital

capital is the amount of money used to start or expand food production

this money is used to buy

seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and pay for operations in farm

fertilisers increase nutrients in the soil -> more fertilisers plants grow more healthy so output per unit area is increased

buy equipments to increase commercial fishing

buy sonar to locate school of fish

fishing becomes faster -> food becomes more productive as catches increase

Political Factors

government policies

government decides on how their resources are to be used to bring greater development in the country

also affects food productivity

example is the common fisheries policy

this helps maintain amount of fish in regeion for future generations but also fishing industry might be reduced

Technological Factors

use of modern machines and farming methods to have greater control over physical limitations and reduce amound of labour to increase productivity

Green Revolution

high-yielding varieties

improve strains of rice, wheat and other cereals to become pest resistant or to grow faster

mdoern irrigation methods

to supply water to the land through artificial means

examples human dykes, damns and canals to divert water from rivers

and also automated irrigation systems such as water sprinklers and sluice gates to control amount of water for watering crops

irrigation enagles amount of water supplied to the plants to be controlled