Agricultural Science

Grade 7

Week 2

Lesson 1

Topic: The importance of Agriculture

Objectives: After this topic students will:

1. List five contributions agriculture makes to our daily lives

2. Discuss how you as an individual and the country benefits from the goods and

services offered by agriculture

3. Evaluate how the use of technology in agriculture has contributed to farmers

being able to feed earth’s growing population.

Importance of Agriculture

For any country to successfully sustain a stable economic growth, improvement in

agricultural productivity and fiscal discipline are require. All stakeholders from both the

public (Government) and private sector must work together to ensure food security as

well as the creation of jobs. Moreover, the economic benefits of agriculture go beyond

just food security and creating job opportunities. The importance of agriculture in any

national economy cannot be underestimated.

Importance of Agriculture

Agriculture Provides:

1. Contributes to national income

2. The basic source of food

3. Source of employment

4. Infrastructural development

5. Source of foreign exchange

6. Development of the banking sector

7. Decreased discontent

8. A Basis for research

9. Raw materials for industries

Contributes to National Income This is arguably the most important contribution of agriculture to the national economy. In many developedand developing countries worldwide, agriculture contributes a huge percentage of the national income. In fact,most developing countries’ annual revenue is over 50% dependent on agriculture. Taxes collected fromindustries, workers, as well as those imposed on agricultural products are very important towards the effectivedevelopment of the national economy.

However, recent studies have revealed a decreasing pattern of agriculture’s contribution to the nationaleconomy. It has been noted that the more the country is developed, the less the agricultural contribution.

Contribution of the agricultural sector in Guyana in 2019

For that indicator, we provide data for Guyana from 1960 to 2019. The average value for Guyanaduring that period was 24.18 percent with a minimum of 12.37 percent in 2019 and a maximum of43.79 percent in 1992. The latest value from 2019 is 12.37 percent. For comparison, the worldaverage in 2019 based on 144 countries is 10.46 percent.

Contributes to National Income

Agricultural contribution to GDP 2010 - 2019

The basic source of food

All living things must eat

Whether developed, developing or

underdeveloped country, having a stable

source of food supply is very important.

Heavy population pressure especially in

developing and underdeveloped countries

leads to increased demand for food.

That being said, if agriculture doesn’tmeet the increased demand for food, thecountry’s economic growth rate can beadversely affected. In short, if yourworkforce is well fed, then the productionwill definitely increase.

Scene from Bourda Market

Infrastructural development

Almost every country in the world is constantly

trying to improve its infrastructure with agriculture

playing an integral part. With well-organized

infrastructure, the country will also experience rapid

economic development. This is because good

infrastructure enables quick means of transport and

communication for agricultural goods – both raw and

finished.

Infrastructures such as roads, railways, market

yards, airports, postal services, and many more will be

quickly develop or improve to facilitate quick

transportation of agricultural products.

Provide raw materials for industries

In developing countries, industries play a very important

role in developing their economies. Apart from being a great

source of employment, industries also need to buy raw

materials for producing finished goods. A huge chunk of

these raw materials is directly from agriculture. Materials

such as cotton are use in textile industries as raw materials.

In addition, products like tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, and

dairy products provide raw materials for various important

industries like leather and sports industries.

Source of employment

Creating employment to the masses is also another

important role that agriculture plays in any economy. Many

laborers depend on agriculture to get their wages. They can

include, grass cutters, tractor drivers, farming apparatus

technicians, or anyone who is directly involved in farming

activities. That said, agriculture allows manpower to be

shifted between the agricultural and non-agricultural

sectors.

Furthermore, agriculture plays an important role in

decreasing rural poverty. Improved irrigation methods,

seeds, and fertilizers have led to increased agricultural

production in rural areas. Therefore, most developing and

under develop countries are embracing agriculture to

combat their high rate of unemployment in their fast-

growing population.

Source of foreign exchange

In developing countries like ours, agricultural goods are

mainly for export. Products such as rice, coconut, sugar, and

many more are predominantly meant for export. That being

said, if a country is able to export a lot of agricultural

products as a result of increased productivity, the foreign

exchange earnings will also increase.

Also, as development gains momentum because of

industrialization, the total percentage of the country’s

agricultural export is likely to decrease as they’re need

domestically. This, in turn, conserves foreign currency.

In short, increased production of agricultural products

not only earns and conserves foreign exchange but also

expand other economic sectors

Source of foreign exchange

Agriculture export as a

percentage of GDP - GuyanaThe Guyana shop with manufactured products at the

Guyana Marketing Corporation on Robb Street

Georgetown

Development of the banking sector

As agriculture becomes more and more commercialized, the

banking sector has in turn experienced tremendous growth. As

most governments realize how important agriculture is,

measures have to be taken to ensure farmers’ earnings are safely

kept. Additionally, farmers require credits at low interest rates,

thus formation of lots of financial institutions with credit

facilities. This way, the banking sector is quickly developed

Different grades of rice

Decreased discontent

If a country is experiencing slow growth in the agricultural

sector, this can lead to a lot of discontentment amongst the

masses. It could be that the masses are unemployed or they’re

simply hungry. This kind of environment is certainly not good

for any democratic government to effectively run the economy.

Also, investors can be scare away from investing in such a

country.

That said, minimal political and social tensions are very

important for economic development. Agricultural progress can

give most people hope of a better tomorrow. Hence agriculture

is very important on social and political grounds

Spring Festival Known as ------

A Basis for Research

Work in agriculture has led to investigations into plant and

animal life and the products obtained from these. The present

use of suitable pesticides and better varieties of crops are some

of the improvements which have resulted from years of research

and experiment in agriculture

Researchers at a coconut

nursery

Reference

Agricultural Science for Secondary Schools in Guyana: Book 1 by Edward O’D

Williams et al

Agriculture for CSEC: New Edition Revision Course: by Sahadeo Ragoonanan

https://www.farmingportal.co.za