European Union - Agricultural machinery, tractors

The value for Agricultural machinery, tractors in European Union was 5,972,621 as of 2005. As the graph below shows, over the past 44 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 8,598,727 in 1995 and a minimum value of 2,996,551 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 2,996,551
1962 3,262,727
1963 3,559,050
1964 3,846,038
1965 4,100,197
1966 4,359,269
1967 4,583,738
1968 4,820,471
1969 5,064,934
1970 5,240,821
1971 5,459,080
1972 5,631,435
1973 5,807,522
1974 5,982,798
1975 6,162,936
1976 6,330,228
1977 6,532,610
1978 6,699,649
1979 6,904,210
1980 7,145,083
1981 7,302,503
1982 7,458,432
1983 7,589,065
1984 7,697,914
1985 7,882,998
1986 8,025,224
1987 8,136,549
1988 8,255,359
1989 8,311,862
1990 8,308,447
1991 8,288,677
1992 8,346,057
1993 8,460,115
1994 8,591,277
1995 8,598,727
1996 8,570,588
1997 8,536,634
1998 8,517,635
1999 8,497,994
2000 8,500,718
2001 7,586,884
2002 7,713,934
2003 5,927,009
2004 5,908,292
2005 5,972,621

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