OECD members - Agricultural machinery, tractors

The value for Agricultural machinery, tractors in OECD members was 14,687,300 as of 2005. As the graph below shows, over the past 44 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 17,287,840 in 1999 and a minimum value of 9,244,087 in 1961.

Definition: Agricultural machinery refers to the number of wheel and crawler tractors (excluding garden tractors) in use in agriculture at the end of the calendar year specified or during the first quarter of the following year.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 9,244,087
1962 9,584,264
1963 9,949,959
1964 10,303,580
1965 10,622,200
1966 11,606,270
1967 11,872,290
1968 12,132,280
1969 12,402,200
1970 12,536,440
1971 12,746,830
1972 12,937,860
1973 13,183,150
1974 13,591,840
1975 13,645,200
1976 13,930,220
1977 14,259,680
1978 14,586,670
1979 14,760,910
1980 15,267,780
1981 15,395,390
1982 15,692,280
1983 15,933,090
1984 16,165,710
1985 16,612,420
1986 16,870,310
1987 17,097,950
1988 17,130,120
1989 17,260,150
1990 16,831,910
1991 16,598,520
1992 16,641,290
1993 16,825,440
1994 17,000,170
1995 17,093,530
1996 17,104,890
1997 17,174,150
1998 17,225,060
1999 17,287,840
2000 17,285,260
2001 16,393,850
2002 16,551,490
2003 14,738,790
2004 14,678,620
2005 14,687,300

Development Relevance: Agricultural land covers more than one-third of the world's land area. In many industrialized countries, agricultural land is subject to zoning regulations. In the context of zoning, agricultural land (or more properly agriculturally zoned land) refers to plots that may be used for agricultural activities, regardless of the physical type or quality of land. A substantial contribution to agriculture in the last century has been the escalation from manual and stock-animal farm work to gas-powered farm equipment. Globally, steel plows, mowers, mechanical reapers, seed drills, and threshers contributed to the development of mechanized agriculture, tractors enabled the farmer to sow and harvest large agricultural lands with less manpower. In modern times, powered machinery such as tractors, has replaced many jobs formerly carried out by men or animals such as oxen, horses and mules. FAO estimates that most farmers in developing countries experience a greater annual expenditure on farm power inputs than on fertilizer, seeds or agrochemicals. Agriculture is still a major sector in many economies, and agricultural activities provide developing countries with food and revenue. But agricultural activities also can degrade natural resources as poor farming practices cause soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. There is no single correct mix of inputs to the agricultural land, as it is dependent on local climate, land quality, and economic development; appropriate levels and application rates vary by country and over time and depend on the type of crops, the climate and soils, and the production process used.

Limitations and Exceptions: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: A tractor provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially tillage. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanized. The most common use of the term "tractor" is for the vehicles used on farms. The farm tractor is used for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, tilling, disking, harrowing, planting, and similar tasks. Planting, tending and harvesting a crop requires both a significant amount of power and a suitable range of tools and equipment. Mechanization of farming has allowed an increase to the area that can be planted and has contributed towards increased yields, mainly due to the precision with which the farming tasks can be accomplished.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Agricultural production