Criteria and indicators for assessing the efficiency of utilization of resources in agriculture.

摘要

The main criteria for assessing the efficiency of utilization of resources in agricultural production include: growth in gross output; gross and net income; and profit. Indicators used in determining the return from resources used as inputs are considered, together with factors that influence the return obtained from utilizing resources, ways of assessing the utilization of land resources, and criteria for assessing the utilization of labour resources. Analysis of data relating to Russian agricultural production between 1990 and 2002 shows that there was a significant decrease in the volumes of basic production resources used during this period. The land area used for agricultural production by all categories of farm fell by 8.5% between 1990 and 2002, while the land area used by agricultural enterprises for agricultural production fell by 33% in this period. This was associated with a sharp decline in agricultural production in Russia, particularly production of meat and milk. The fall in agricultural production was caused not only by the reduction in land area used, but also by falling livestock numbers, declining productivity of animals and lower crop yields. Lower crop yields are attributed to shortages of mineral and organic fertilizers. Shortages of feed crops in turn had negative effects on animal production. The high costs of fuel and lubricants, equipment and spare parts have resulted in reduced use of mechanized production methods, and increasing use of manual labour. This has led to reduced productivity of labour. A number of measures for increasing returns obtained from production resources used in agriculture are recommended, focusing on the use of resource-conserving technologies and optimizing feeding conditions for farm animals.