(iii) Increase in the population.
(iv) Growth of civilization.
Let us now examine how rent is affected by these improvements.
(i) Improvement In the Means of
Transport and Rent: If there is an
improvement in the means of communication and transport, the agricultural
products will be marketed at a cheaper cost. The rent of the land which is
situated near the market will fall and the rent of the distant land will rise as
they are now almost near the market as regards the marketing of products.
(ii) Agricultural Improvements and Rent: An improvement in the technique of
cultivation exercises powerful influence on rent from agricultural land. If
better methods of cultivation are discovered and applied, the yield per acre
will increase. It will result in the total increase of agricultural products. If
the demand for the agricultural commodities does not increase to the same extent
as the. increase in production has taken place, the price of the products will
fall. Inferior grades of land which were being cultivated at the old price, will
now be thrown out of cultivation. The margin of cultivation will ascend and so
the rent will decrease.
(iii) Growth of Population and Rent: If there is an increase in the
population, the demand for agricultural products goes up. People either bring
under cultivation inferior kind of land or resort to intensive cultivation. As
inferior grades of land are brought under cultivation, the rent on the superior
grades of land begins to increase. So, we conclude that with the growth of
population, the margin of cultivation descends and the rent goes up.
(iv) Growth of Cultivation and Rent. With the increase in the standard of
living of the people, the demand for various kinds of agricultural products
increases. The agriculturists meet the demand by bringing the inferior grades of
land under cultivation. As inferior grades of land are brought under plough, the rent of the superior grades of land goes up.
