What Is an Agrarian Economy?
An agrarian economy is a type of economy that relies primarily on agricultural industry including livestock farming or crop production. It is a form of economy whose major factor of production is the agricultural land. Prosperity of agrarian economy is also influenced by other factors such adequate rainfall, suitable climate and inputs like fertilizers.
Agrarian economy is one of the oldest forms of economies still in existence. It comes from the word “agrarian” which means agriculture. Agrarian economy has gone through tremendous transformations. The major purpose behind these developments is to increase productivity of the agrarian economy. New ideas and technology are now being incorporated into agriculture. For instance, the genetically modified crops give higher yield, and cloning, artificial insemination and cross breeding result in superior quality of livestock that give a higher yield than the local breeds.
Despite modernization efforts, the agrarian economy has faced stiff competition from other forms of economies. For instance, many people have shifted from agrarian economy to industrial economies and other forms of white collar jobs. The bulging population has increasingly mounted pressure on the agricultural land necessitating different strategies of livelihoods. Threats of global warming and other climatic changes have also warranted means of diversification.