Land-limited agriculture

Land-limited agriculture describes agricultural systems where the most serious limitation is on available land area. Capital-limited, and labor-limited agricultural systems develop along very different lines.

The overall agricultural efficiency or productivity of a farming system can only be calculated with respect to it's limitations. In other words, for a given crop one farming system may produce a higher yield per farmer, another may excel in yield per acre and still another lead the pack in yield per dollar invested; these three systems each could be considered the "most efficient" in labor limited, land-limited and capital-limited agricultures respectively.

Land-limited with plentiful capital

Land-limited agriculture in places such as Japan, where a large population in a wealthy developed country is supported by a small amount of arable land, tends to offer high consumer prices for agricultural goods. In turn this supports an agricultural system with large capital investments relative to the amount of land farmed. This results in a highly mechanized agriculture, often in climate controlled environments, producing very dense yields of high value crops. These systems tend to return the highest value/area density of any agricultural system.

Land-limited with limited capital

Land-limited agriculture in places such as India and China, where a large population in a under-developed rural countryside is supported by small amounts of arable land tends to be marked by a very low cost of agricultural labor which, in turn, supports an agriculture with a large labor force relative to the amount of land farmed. This results in a highly labor intensive agriculture, producing very dense yields of staple food (low value) crops. These systems tend to return the highest calorie/area density of any agricultural system, for example: world record yields of rice in SRI production among peasant farmers in Northern India without use of in-organic inputs. (find external link)