Abstract:The study assessed agricultural sustainability in South Asia (i.e., Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal) by computing multi-lateral multi-temporal Total Factor Productivity (TFP) indices and their six finer components (technical change, technical-, scale-and mix-efficiency changes, residual scale and residual mix-efficiency changes) and examined the role of capital in driving TFP growth covering a 34-year period . Results revealed that all countries sustained agricultural productivity growth at variable rates with Bangladesh experiencing highest rate estimated @1.05% p.a. followed by India (0.52%), Pakistan (0.38%) and Nepal (0.06% p.a.). There were little or no variation in technical and scale efficiency changes among the countries. However, residual scale efficiency increased @0.44% p.a. in Bangladesh, 0.12% p.a. in Pakistan, remained unchanged in India and declined −0.39% p.a. in Nepal. Similarly, mix efficiency increased @0.44% in Bangladesh, remained unchanged in India and declined @−0.12% p.a.in Pakistan and −0.39% p.a. in Nepal. The major drivers of agricultural TFP growth were the levels of natural, human and technology capital endowments whereas financial capital and crop diversification had opposite effects. Policy implications include land and tenurial reforms aimed at consolidating farm operation size and smooth operation of the land rental market to improve natural capital, investments in education to improve human capital and agricultural R&D to enhance technology capital in order to boost agricultural productivity growth in South Asia.

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The present study applied the Färe–Primont index approach to estimate the total factor productivity (TFP) growth of world agriculture, covering the period 1969–2013. Overall, the world agricultural TFP grew at a rate of 0.44% p.a. This growth was mainly contributed to by technological progress and mix efficiency changes, while the contributions of technical efficiency and scale efficiency changes were negligible. TFP growth varied across regions, with South Asia at the top of the list (1.05% p.a.), and East Asia and the Pacific (0.18% p.a.) at the bottom. TFP components exerted differential influences amongst regions. For instance, mix efficiency played a dominant role in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, whereas it was technical efficiency change in Latin America and the Caribbean region. The paper argues for region specific policy interventions emphasizing technical progress through investment in R&D and price and non-price interventions to improve economies of scope and scale of operation in the agricultural sector.

Growth in total factor productivity (TFP) indicates the sustainable and/or judicious use of scarce resources, including non-renewables. This paper identifies sources of growth in global agricultural TFP and its finer components, ranging from climate, production environment, and socio-economic factors, using a panel data of 104 countries, covering a 45-year period (1969–2013); and, finally, projects changes in TFP from increased climate variability. The results revealed that global agricultural productivity grew consistently at a rate of 0.44% p.a., driven by technological progress and mix-efficiency change, with negligible contributions from technical- and scale-efficiency changes; albeit with variations across regions. Both long-term and short-term climatic factors and the natural production environment significantly reduce global agricultural productivity, whereas a host of socio-economic factors have a significant but varied influence. The projected increased level of future climate variability will significantly reduce future agricultural productivity. Policy implications include investments in crop diversification, education, agricultural spending, number of researchers, and country specific R&D.