Production Functions and Factors in Agroecosystems

Abstract

Agroecological production systems are often described as being knowledge-intensive or management-intensive. However, what does the term ‘intensity’ mean in agroecosystems analysis? It can be simply defined as the degree to which a production factor is used in a production process, relative to other production factors and output productivity. Land, labour, and capital are the classical production factors in agriculture, and the way in which they are combined to realize a certain production determines different levels and forms of agricultural intensification and productivity. Nowadays, knowledge is considered as a fourth production factor. The use of agricultural knowledge—traditional, scientific, popular, etc.—may replace or reduce the need for other production factors to achieve similar levels of productivity. A common misconception related to intensification is the assumption that family or smallholder agriculture is less intensive than industrial agriculture. This chapter will provide concepts and tools to analyse that. Another concept closely related to production factors is that of resources. In agricultural economics, resources are classified as fixed or long-term (such as land, machinery, infrastructure, irrigation systems, etc.) and operational or short-term resources, which are consumed completely during one production process (e.g., seeds, fertilizers). This view is strongly rooted in the industrial approach to agriculture that emerged during the green revolution. In agroecology, we tend to see most resources as being reproducible (e.g., land can be restored, seeds can be produced locally, nutrients can be recycled, etc.), and we distinguish between internally sourced and externally sourced resources, as well as between biotic resources (e.g., genetic resources, biodiversity, pollen) and abiotic ones (water, nutrients). The differences between these views have several implications for the way in which resource use efficiencies are calculated, especially because a single resource can be used in several processes in the agroecosystem, within a single season or over time. However, to understand how this can be done in agroecology, it is first necessary to know how factor allocation, resource use, and productivity are analysed in classical agronomy. This chapter provides system analytical concepts and methods to assess agricultural intensification, factor productivity, and resource allocation. However, resource allocation analyses are restricted here to land and labour. Financial resources are left out of this chapter, as they are often analysed in light of economic theory, which represents a completely different paradigm compared to systems analysis. Patterns concerning the spatial allocation of biomass and nutrients are discussed in Chap. 7, while trade-offs around the allocation of financial versus other resources are addressed in Chap. 9.