The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences released its annual Global Agricultural Productivity Report this week. Among the key findings, global agricultural productivity growth, which is averaging 0.76 percent annually, is only about one-third of the target rate of two percent per year needed to sustainably and profitably meet the demands of the world’s agri-food systems. Asia has emerged as a global productivity leader, especially in China, India, and Vietnam. The growth is driven by R&D investment and technology adoption. In contrast, much of Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America remains reliant on land expansion and input intensification, which can generate short-term output gains but can also erode ecosystems and stall sustainable growth. While the U.S. averaged -0.05 percent annual growth during the past decade, China surged ahead at 1.9 percent, backed by twice the R&D funding and threatening the U.S. edge in global agriculture.
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