Which country has the most tractors on its farmland?

[VCheng]

Reason : post in appropriate thread on the issue, rather than starting a new one and cluttering the forum.

(Well, let's see if this thread is regarded as clutter or not. )

Apparently, Iceland has more tractors than hectares of land:

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from: Daily chart: Ploughing ahead | The Economist

Daily chart
Ploughing ahead
Sep 17th 2012, 16:00 by The Economist online

Which country has the most tractors on its farmland?

More than 60 contestants from more than 30 countries gathered in Croatia at the weekend for the 59th World Ploughing Championships. The Economist failed to send a correspondent, but we have learned that the competition was split into conventional ploughing and reversible ploughing, where two ploughs are mounted back-to-back so they can be driven backwards and forwards. Competitors furrowed plots of about two square kilometres and were judged on the depth, straightness and overall look of their ploughing. The championships are usually dominated by Britain and New Zealand, and indeed the victor in the conventional category was a Scotsman. Yet if preponderance of tractors were the key factor behind competitive ploughing success, no entrants would be able to touch the Icelanders: Iceland has more tractors than hectares of arable land, according to World Bank data, the only country in the world so endowed. Rocky terrain and a lack of dependable roads go some way to explaining this outlier; Iceland has a road density (quantity of road per land area) comparable to Kenya or Tanzania.

 

[JohnyD]

mostly countries with short of hands have more tractors!

 

[VCheng]

mostly countries with short of hands have more tractors!

Yes, mechanized farming makes up for a relative lack of working hands.

 

[Plexyre]

I think the reason is more different. A lack of working hands on agriculture could be one of the reasons, but I think that the major reason has to do much more with terrain and geography. I know that countries such as Japan, Switzerland, and Italy usually have rough terrain not entirely suitable for ploughing the land without mechanized farming, and the article also mentioned Iceland having rough terrain.

 

[VCheng]

I think the reason is more different. A lack of working hands on agriculture could be one of the reasons, but I think that the major reason has to do much more with terrain and geography. I know that countries such as Japan, Switzerland, and Italy usually have rough terrain not entirely suitable for ploughing the land without mechanized farming, and the article also mentioned Iceland having rough terrain.

Good point. Another thing which the chart does not take into account is the size of the tractors. A larger unit can do the work of several smaller ones.

 

[RiazHaq]

It may be a little dated but Nationmaster says Pakistan is #17 with 320,500 tractors. India is ranked #4 with 1,525,000 tractors.

Tractors statistics - countries compared - NationMaster

 

[EzioAltaïr]

mostly countries with short of hands have more tractors!

India has no shortage of hands. If we go for automation we'll end up with half our farmers in the streets.

 

[Sashan]

But do members know that Mahindra from India is the world's no 1 seller of tractors?

 

[Vassnti]

(Well, let's see if this thread is regarded as clutter or not. )

Only 304 days 14 hours and 43 minutes till the world ploughing champinships in Canada get your 10 day registration while they last for 10 full days of tractor loving goodness in beautiful Alberta.

The Event | World Plowing 2013

Now on the off chance that VC posted the thread tounge in cheek, please in future pick on things that New Zealands suxs at like cricket