Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Economics
1. AECO 141 - Principles of Agricultural Economics2. AECO 241 - Farm Management and Production Economics (1+1)
3. AECO 141 - AGRICULTURAL MARKETING
4. AECO 142 - Agricultural Finance and Co-operation
5. AEC - AGRICULTURAL MARKETING , CO- OPERATION AND FINANCE
6. AEC 401 - AGRI BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (1+1)
7. AEC 301 - NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
8. AEC 101 - PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
9.AECO 342 - AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Introduction- Agricultural Economics
A study of economic principles, with emphasis on their application to the solution offarm, agribusiness, and agricultural industry problems in relationship to other sectors is
known as Agricultural Economics. In other words, it applies principles of economics to
issues of agricultural production, natural resources, and rural development. It mainly
focuses on principles of microeconomics. Agricultural economics began in the 19th century as a way to apply economic principles and research methods to crop production and livestock management. The roots of the discipline, however, can be found in the writings of the classical economists like
Adam Smith. The word, agriculture comes from the Latin word ager, referring to the soil and
cultura, to its cultivation. Agriculture, in its widest sense can be defined as the cultivation
and /or production of crop plants or livestock products. It is synonymous with farming:
the field or field –dependent production of food, fodder and industrial organic materials.
Having known the meaning of agriculture, let us know what economics is.
Economics is the science that studies as to how people choose to use scarce productive
resources to produce various goods and to distribute these goods to various members of
society for their consumption. Now having defined agriculture and economics, we look
into the field of agricultural economics
Importance of agricultural economics
Akin to economics, the field of agricultural economics finds to seek relevance betweencause and effect using the most advanced methods viz, production functions and
programming models. It uses theoretical concepts of economics to provide answers to the
problems of agriculture and agribusiness. Initially earnest efforts were made by the
economists to use the economic theory to agricultural problems. Now the subject matters
of agricultural economics is enriched in many directions and fields taking the relevant
tools of sciences particularly mathematics and statistics. Agricultural depression which
occurred in last quarter of 19th century and middle of 20th century brought about
increased attention and concern to find out plausible cause and solutions for world
agricultural depression. Here in this context the contribution made by agronomists,
economists, horticulturists, etc., is noteworthy. Agriculture is the integral part of the
world food system, having the foundation links between crops and animal production
system. Agricultural economists here have to play a major role in understanding the
intricacies involved in the foundation systems. Knowledge regarding problems in
production, finance, marketing and government policies and their impact on production
and distribution is very essential to find out suitable solutions for the farm problems.
Students of agricultural economics are taught the subject disciplines viz.,
microeconomics, macroeconomics, agricultural production economics, farm
management, agricultural marketing etc., to fulfill the requirements.
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