Yield gap
Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The yield gap is the difference between the yield a crop could give and the yield farmers actually get. Crop yield is output per hectare. The yield a crop could give is its potential yield (under ideal conditions) or its attainable yield (with the best practices available locally).
Yield gap = potential or attainable yield − actual farm yield
It matters because India's net sown area is close to its ceiling at about 140 million ha. Future growth must come from higher yields, not more land. Closing the yield gap with better seed, extension (advice to farmers) and inputs is the cheapest source of that growth.
Example
Suppose research farms in a district get 5 tonnes of rice per hectare, but ordinary farmers there get only 3 tonnes. The yield gap is 5 − 3 = 2 tonnes per hectare. Better seed, balanced fertiliser and timely advice could close part of this gap without adding a single hectare.
Don't confuse with
- Crop yield: this is the actual output per hectare. The yield gap is how far that output falls short of what is possible.
Related concepts
- Crop rotation
- Intercropping
- Mixed cropping
- Micro-irrigation
- Evergreen Revolution
- Second Green Revolution
- Gene Revolution
- Precision farming
- Digital agriculture
- Custom hiring centre