Agriculture plays a key role in providing employment in the national economy, but that role has shrunk considerably over the period since 1989. The share of agriculture in total employment was 16.2% in 2005 compared to 26.4% in 1989, but the decline in agriculture’s contribution to GDP has been even more significant from 12.8% in 1989 to 4.1% in 2005 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] (Figure 3.22.1). The volume of agricultural production decreased by 5% over the period 1990-92 to 2002-04 (Figure 3.22.2), among the largest reductions across OECD countries (Figure 3.22.2). But in the recent period 2000 to 2006 production has begun to stabilise and even increase for some commodities, both in value and volume terms, notably for pig and poultry products [2, 3, 6]. Trends for purchased farm input use (volume terms) over the period 1990-92 to 2002-04, however, have been variable, decreasing for nitrogen (–2%) and phosphorus (–32%) inorganic fertilisers, as well as for agricultural water use (–31%), but increasing for pesticides (52%) and direct on-farm energy consumption (29%) (Figure 3.22.2). Although the use of farm inputs stabilised and even began to rise slightly from the late 1990s, by 2005 they still remained below their peak of the middle to late 1980s [3].