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DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURE


The agricultural practices, cropping patterns and their productivity are closely determined by the geo-climatic, socioeconomic, and cultural-political factors. In fact, the agriculture of any region is influenced by the following factors:


1. Physical factors: Terrain, topography, climate, and soil.


2. Institutionalfactors: Land-tenure, land tenancy, size of holdings, size of fields and land reforms.


3. Infrastructuralfactors:Irrigation, electricity, roads, credit and marketing, storage facilities, crop insurance and research.


4. Technological factors: High Yielding Varieties (new seeds), chemical fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, and farm machinery.


These factors individually and collectively have their impact on the cropping patterns, level of agricultural development and yield of crops in a region. A brief account of these factors has been given below.