Why is a high yield per hectare not the same as a high total?

Total output is yield times area, so where areas differ severalfold the denser plot may still produce less overall.

Does mechanisation always save money?

Machine purchase and upkeep must be deducted; the wages saved have to exceed the machine cost before the farm gains.

S5 Geography | Agriculture Paper 1 (Foundation)

2026-11-04

This paper does one thing: it links the inputs, processes and outputs of a farm into arithmetic, so total output is multiplied by area and the profit margin is divided by revenue.

Attempt first, mark afterwards　Allow about twenty-five minutes; write the formula before substituting, and keep the units of tonnes, hectares and cubic metres explicit.

01　Paper details (check answers afterwards)

Item	Detail
Questions	10 items
Suggested time	About 25 minutes
Difficulty mix	Foundation 4 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 2 · Error redo 1
Chapter	Chapter: S5 Geography \| Agriculture
Level	S5 (Secondary 5) Geography

02　Questions (10 items)

FoundationWhat three parts make up an agricultural system? Give two inputs and one output.
FoundationA farm of 80 hectares yields 3.5 tonnes per hectare. What is total output?
FoundationAnnual revenue is 960,000 and total cost 720,000. What are the profit and the profit margin?
FoundationA farm employs 12 full-time workers on 96 hectares. How much land per worker, and is this intensive or extensive?
IntermediateYield rises from 4 to 4.8 tonnes per hectare while fertiliser rises from 200 to 260 kilograms. What are the two percentage changes, and what do they show?
IntermediateA farm produces 500 tonnes, keeps 120 tonnes locally and sells the rest. What share is sold, and is this subsistence or commercial farming?
IntermediateOf 200 hectares, sixty per cent grows rice, a quarter vegetables and the rest lies fallow. How many hectares each?
ChallengeMechanisation cuts 40 workers to 12 on the same 200 hectares. What is land per worker before and after, what is the fall in labour, and what is the net saving if each worker costs 180,000 a year and the machine 3,600,000?
ChallengeA farm needs 8,000 cubic metres per hectare over 120 hectares. If irrigation efficiency rises from 60 to 75 per cent, how much water is drawn before and after, and what is the saving?
Error redoA student sees 6 tonnes per hectare on farm A against 3 on farm B and concludes A must produce more in total. What is wrong?

03　Answers and one-line notes

#	Answer	One-line note
1	Inputs, processes and outputs; seeds and fertiliser are inputs, and rice is an output.	A farm system turns inputs into outputs through processes such as sowing, fertilising, irrigating and harvesting, so a change in any link shifts the yield.
2	Total output is 280 tonnes.	Area times yield per hectare, 80 times 3.5, gives 280 tonnes; per-hectare yield is only a density and must be multiplied by area.
3	Profit 240,000 and margin 25 per cent.	Revenue minus cost is 240,000; that over revenue, 240,000 over 960,000, gives 25 per cent, and the denominator is revenue rather than cost.
4	8 hectares each, which is relatively extensive.	96 divided by 12 gives 8 hectares; few workers per hectare with heavy machinery is extensive farming.
5	Yield up 20 per cent, fertiliser up 30 per cent, so returns to the extra input are falling.	The yield change over 4 is 20 per cent; the fertiliser change is 30 per cent, so the extra input buys proportionally less output.
6	76 per cent sold, so commercial.	Subtracting the 120 tonnes kept leaves 380, which over 500 is 76 per cent; a high sold share means output is aimed at the market.
7	Rice 120, vegetables 50, fallow 30 hectares.	Sixty per cent of 200 is 120, a quarter is 50, and the remaining fifteen per cent is 30 hectares.
8	From 5 to 16.67 hectares; labour down 70 per cent; net saving 1,440,000.	Two hundred over forty is 5 and over twelve is 16.67; losing 28 of 40 workers is 70 per cent; wages saved are 28 times 180,000, less 3,600,000 of machine cost, leaving 1,440,000.
9	From 1,600,000 to 1,280,000 cubic metres, a saving of 20 per cent.	The crop needs 960,000 cubic metres; dividing by 0.60 gives 1,600,000 drawn, and by 0.75 gives 1,280,000, so 320,000 cubic metres or 20 per cent is saved.
10	Wrong: 80 hectares at 6 gives 480 tonnes while 200 at 3 gives 600, so B produces more overall.	Total output is yield times area: 80 times 6 is 480 and 200 times 3 is 600, so area must be counted alongside yield.

04　What to do after marking

After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.

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