Question

Describe key features of agricultural economics that distinguish it from other disciplines in economics and agricultural sciences

Answer 1

Economics is the analysis of people in their choices between alternative ends they face given the real or apparent resources needed to achieve those alternative ends. Even when we're talking about national or global economies, these options are always at the individual level. All decisions are made by individuals. Governments make no decisions; they reflect the decisions taken by their leaders. And those decisions reflect the valuations that individuals make regarding their alternative ends and resources.

Many farm economists see their subdiscipline as' applied economics.' Applied in the sense that they use economic principles to address agricultural and food issues. In this way, it is no different from any of the sub-disciplines of labor economics, transport economics or any of the economics. Agricultural economics focuses on forestry, food and fiber and related practices within its scope of issues and assessments. This looks at the production, processing and distribution of foodstuffs and will involve the exploration of the biology of plants and animals used in manufacturing, chemistry and biochemistry for material processing, logistics and transport and their related underlying technologies.

It discusses labor, management, economics, customer preference decisions and public policies that affect all and/or any of the above activities. Agricultural economists are doing a very important job by growing our understanding of how to keep the whole economy fed and powered efficiently. Through concentrating on agriculture and food as their area of inquiry, farm economics become the primary economic sub-discipline, because food is important for all other activities in any economy. And a clear understanding of the food system (pre-production to the consumer's table) and the various economic avenues for productivity helps the rest of the economy to tackle growth rates