Basic Product Relationships

Joint Products

• Joint products result from the same production process.
• As a rule, the two are combined products and production of one without the other is not possible.
• Examples are cotton lint and cotton seed, beef and hides wheat and straw, rice and straw, mutton and wool and cattle and manure.

Complementary Products

• Two products are said to be complementary if the transfer of resources to one product results increase of its production accompanied by an increase in the production of the other enterprises too.
• For instance, when the output of the first enterprise is increased, the output of the second also increases because of the complementary contribution.
• For example, if maize is grown after berseem or legumes, the yield of maize increases because legumes fixes nitrogen and makes the soil more fertile for the next crop.

Supplementary Products

• Two products are said to be supplementary, if for given level of resources, the production of one enterprise can be increased without affecting the production of other or may further increase in one enterprise does not affect the other enterprises.
• This relationship exists when increase or decrease in the level of one product does not affect the production level of the other product.
• Example is of wheat and maize crops in relation to land, poultry, dairy and bee keeping enterprises.

Competitive Products

• This relationship holds when increase or decrease in the production of one product affects the production of the other commodity inversely.
• It means that when two products are competitive, some of one product must be given up to increase the level of the other product.
• MRS between the products is, therefore, negative.
• For example: Cow and buffalo, Maize and cotton.

Antagonastic products

• The relationship between the products where production of one product is harmful for other are antagonistic products.