The push by environmental activists to reduce and/or eliminate the use of pesticides and fertilizers in production agriculture may have varying impacts in individual countries but would likely reduce overall global production of cereals. This is because at the individual country level there are many other variables affecting production. Weather is chief among the external influencers of agricultural productivity, but pest and nutrient needs can also vary by geographic location, and chronologically. Using overall global cereals production and the use of fertilizer and pesticides, there is a nearly perfect correlation. The use of fertilizer (0.95) has a slightly stronger relationship to production than pesticide usage (0.91). Soil type...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.