Agriculture in the Contemporary World: The Economic and Environmental Issues

Abstract

This paper seeks to highlight the economic and environmental issues concerning the agricultural sector in the contemporary world. It emphasizes the role of agriculture in the process of overall economic growth and poverty reduction. The recent developments in the rental markets of agricultural capital goods have been tapped quite successfully by the small and marginal farmers which are a healthy sign when the average size of agricultural land holding is shrinking. On the other hand, the global climate change is expected to not only adversely affect agricultural yields, labour productivity, and insurance coverage but also increase the gap between rich and poor countries as far as the fate of their farmers is concerned. The role of innovations in agricultural technology in dealing with the dual challenges of degradation of natural resource base and global climatic change is also discussed in this paper.