Factors Affecting Yield of Crops
Tandzi Ngoune Liliane, Charles Shelton Mutengwa
Abstract
A good understanding of dynamics involved in food production is critical for the improvement of food security. It has been demonstrated that an increase in crop yields significantly reduces poverty. Yield, the mass of harvest crop product in a specific area, is influenced by several factors. These factors are grouped in three basic categories known as technological (agricultural practices, managerial decision, etc.), biological (diseases, insects, pests, weeds) and environmental (climatic condition, soil fertility, topography, water quality, etc.). These factors account for yield differences from one region to another worldwide. The current chapter will discuss each of these three basic factors as well as providing some recommendations for overcoming them. In addition, it will provide the importance of climate-smart agriculture in the increase of crop yields while facilitating the achievement of crop production in safe environment. This goes in line with the second goal of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of United Nations in transforming our world formulated as end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.