Crop yield


In agriculture, the yield is a measurement of the amount of a crop grown, or product such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land. The seed ratio is another way of calculating agricultural productivity.
Innovation, such as the use of fertilizer, the creation of better farming tools, new methods of farming and improved crop varieties, have improved yields. The higher the yield and more intensive use of the farmland, the higher the productivity and profitability of a farm; this increases the well-being of farming families. Surplus crops not needed to feed the family dependant on subsistence agriculture can be sold or bartered. The more grain or fodder a farmer can produce, the more draft animals such as horses and oxen could be supported and harnessed for labour and production of manure. Increased crop yields also means fewer hands are needed on farm, freeing them for industry and commerce. This, in turn, led to the formation and growth of cities, which then translated into an increased demand for foodstuffs or other agricultural products.

Measurement

The units by which the yield of a crop is usually measured today are kilograms per hectare or bushels per acre.
Long-term cereal yields in the United Kingdom were some 500 kg/ha in Medieval times, jumping to 2000 kg/ha in the Industrial Revolution, and jumping again to 8000 kg/ha in the Green Revolution. Each technological advance increasing the crop yield also reduces the society's ecological footprint.

Seed ratio

The seed ratio is the ratio between the investment in seed versus the yield. For example, if three grains are harvested for each grain seeded, the resulting seed ratio is 1:3, which is considered by some agronomists as the minimum required to sustain human life. One of the three seeds must be set aside for the next planting season, the remaining two either consumed by the grower, or for livestock feed. In parts of Europe the seed ratio during the 9th century was merely 1:2.5, in the Low Countries it improved to 1:14 with the introduction of the three-field system of crop rotation around the 14th century.