Land as a factor of production is made useful through the

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks how land, which is a natural resource, becomes useful in production. Land is "a gift of nature," but in its raw state it often produces little of value.

Step 2: Explain the concept In Economics, the four factors of production are land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship. Land includes all natural resources, such as soil, minerals, forests, and water. These resources only become useful for production when people work on them. For example:

• A farmland must be cleared, tilled, planted, and harvested.
• Crude oil must be explored, drilled, and refined.
• Timber must be felled and processed.

All of these involve labour, which is human effort (physical or mental).

Step 3: Evaluate the options

• A. Application of human effort: Correct. Labour turns natural resources into useful goods and services.
• B. Acts of nature: Nature provides land, but it does not make it economically useful. This is why land is called a "free gift of nature."
• C. Application of fertilizer: Fertilizer is a form of capital input. It improves productivity, but it is only one specific method and it is also applied by humans.
• D. Use of machines: Machines are capital goods. They help, but they are also operated by humans, and they are not the general answer.

Step 4: Answer Land becomes useful through the application of human effort (labour), so the answer is A.

Tip: Remember "Land is given, labour makes it work." Whenever you see a question about making a natural resource useful, think of labour (human effort) as the key link between nature and production.