Demand For Agricultural Machinery Has Raised At Rotation

Farm machinery has advanced enormously in the last decades, which is not surprising given that modern agriculture has been around for more than a century. Agricultural machinery started out as simple implements for agricultural labour to cut down the effort required for ploughing, sowing and harvesting. But with the development of various applications, these simple, hand-made tools have now evolved into highly complex industrial machinery that is employed for the production and processing of different kinds of products. And, because of the increasing demand for these tools, they are being imported from all corners of the world.

Over the last few decades, production and import of agricultural machinery have become the subject of continuous debate. European countries are usually blamed for such import of machinery because of their relative weak level of industrial production. Countries like the US and Japan, on the other hand, have highly industrialized industries that manufacture many industrial tools needed for agricultural purposes.

For agricultural machinery, Europe seems to be the main culprit, despite the fact that in many cases, the main source of export of agricultural machinery to these parts of the world is Europe. There are various reasons why European countries are deemed to be the major exporters of agricultural machinery, which include higher export duty imposed on agricultural products, cheaper cost of labor, diversification of crops and producing countries into two major groups: the first group being industrialised, while the second group consists of rural and low-skilled producers. The second group is known as low-tech producers who are very dependent on agricultural equipment for their daily business.

A number of exports of agricultural machinery are seen to be destined for Asia, particularly to China, India and Pakistan. In the past ten years, such exports to these areas have risen dramatically. And in the coming decade, they are expected to increase at an even greater rate.

Agricultural machinery imports to the US have also increased substantially in the last few years. Though this trend is hardly new, it has taken on new dimensions in the recent years due to the huge rise in the US dollar's value. As the US dollar has appreciated against its counterparts of other currency, many European countries, especially France, have seen to it that they are getting more value from their dollars through agricultural imports.

While agricultural machinery imports to different countries vary in terms of technology, and thus importation rates, it is believed that it would be fair to assume that the biggest benefactor of the European market is China. China is the world's biggest producer of agricultural goods, and as it gets rich, its demand for agricultural machinery is bound to go up significantly.

Agricultural machinery imported to China is worth some hundreds of billions of dollars annually. On top of that, the purchasing power of the Chinese Yuan is expected to double within the next ten years.

And, it is not just Europe that is suffering from the increasing demand for agricultural machinery. Huge demand for machinery in Australia and Africa is also expected to increase, as well as demand for agricultural machinery imported from Asia, which includes India, Russia, Middle East and South-East Asia.

A rise in demand for agricultural machinery can be seen to be the major reason behind the growing need of animal feed. Animal feed industries use a great amount of energy and thus it needs large quantities of it. Many countries are now importing their agricultural machinery, including food grade grain.

The growth in demand for agricultural machinery is not only seen in the industrial countries. Similarly, there is also demand for agricultural machinery in the consumer goods market. India, Bangladesh and Brazil have major agricultural industries that are based on animal feed.

The industrial world too is heavily reliant on agriculture, but the growing demand for agricultural machinery can be seen to have created a major rippling effect on the global economy. But is it an upward or downward spiral?
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