Abiotic and biotic elemental factors affecting the productivity of crops

Abstract

Yield of the crop is concerned with the exploitation of plant morphological (or structural) and plant physiological (or functional) responses with a soil and atmospheric environment to produce a high yield per unit area of land. Growth is irreversible in increase in size or weight. 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. Crop yield provides the food for human beings, fodder for animals and fiber for clothing. Land is the natural resource which is unchanged and the burden of the
population is tremendously increasing, thereby decrease the area per capita. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the production per unit area on available land. These factors are grouped in three basic categories known as biological (diseases, insects, pests, weeds), technological (agricultural practices, managerial decision, etc.), and environmental/climatic (climatic condition, soil fertility, topography, water quality, etc.). These factors account for yield differences from one region to another worldwide. The current study discusses each of these three basic factors as well as providing some recommendations for overcoming them. 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.