Mba - 1.

5 Assignment submitted to: Kashir Asghar

Group: Idress Jawed M Zain ul Abidin Khan Wardah Qutub Khan

Old MacDonald had a farm Case study

Bahria University

CASE STUDY: Old MacDonald had a farm and a service business too?

Question:
To what extent is the presence of a well-developed agricultural services sector a prerequisite for an efficient and profitable agriculture sector?

Answer:
In previous decades farming was considered only a family business, where all the work was done by the family and there was no intervention by any outsider. The farmer with whatever knowledge he possesses and whatever skills he had would use it in farming. The farmer would employ the basic tools which he or his workers could easily use. By using such methods and techniques it was difficult for the farmer to cover a huge land to cultivate as it took a lot of time and effort. Farmers had little idea of how to meet the challenges to meet the level of agricultural productivity necessary to satisfy the demand of the markets. The introduction of automated machines has had a significant impact on the level of production in recent years, for example mechanized harvesting has been a key factor in increasing cotton production. A major turning point was when tractors replaced draft animals. The major shift that has taken place in recent years is the growth of the agriculture service sector and the positive impact it has brought in the efficiency and profitability of the agriculture sector. There has been a trend when people are showing interest in the field of agriculture, whether it is conventional farming or organic farming. However, they lack the necessary skills and knowledge to run it. Even those people who are already in the business for a long time have not mastered all the tricks of running a farm and how to get most out of it. Because of this, we are seeing how professional agricultural services are coming to the forefront and lending their services to the farmers. To be able to better assist the farmers a wide range of new nosiness-to-business services have developed. Times when the farmer would use his equipment and retain staff have disappeared, and in return specialist service suppliers are hired.

With specialist agriculture services, farmers are directed on the administration services, agricultural operations they have on their farm. For example crop spraying and harvesting are brought from specialist service providers, or if a farmer wants to develop his land to accommodate more crops. Services such as professional agronomists can be used effectively to help manage crop rotation, soil management etc. outsourcing the application of fertilizers and pesticides and like services can also be very beneficial for the farmers as each service providers would be skilled and knowledgeable in their field of work, where they would be able to save the cost and at the same time increase the yield. Services such as: Agricultural Suitability and Viability Studies: determining the agricultural suitability of a site. Include items such as climate, soils, topography, water, sensitive resources, environmental constraints, access, facilities, land uses, etc. land use planning Water shed management & grazing plans Integrated pest management service Crop insurance service: guaranteeing that certain pest and disease will not affect the yield.

Rightly, with a well-developed agriculture service sector, farmers are able to exploit the benefits they can get from the production of their crops, thus increasing their efficiency and profitability.