The table below represents the yield of maize in 90kg bags in response to different quantities of planting fertilizer. (i) Fill in the blank spaces. (ii) Suggest the best level of production in relation to the inputs and output.

Input 50kg bag fertilizer	Output 90kg bag maize	Average product (AP)	Marginal product (MP)
0	6	-	-
1	10	$\frac{10}{1} = 10$	$\frac{10-6}{1-0} = 4$
2	24	$\frac{24}{2} = 12$	$\frac{24-10}{2-1} = 14$
3	31	$\frac{31}{3} \approx 10.33$	$\frac{31-24}{3-2} = 7$
4	36	$\frac{36}{4} = 9$	$\frac{36-31}{4-3} = 5$
5	40	$\frac{40}{5} = 8$	$\frac{40-36}{5-4} = 4$
6	43	$\frac{43}{6} \approx 7.17$	$\frac{43-40}{6-5} = 3$
7	43	$\frac{43}{7} \approx 6.14$	$\frac{43-43}{7-6} = 0$
8	40	$\frac{40}{8} = 5$	$\frac{40-43}{8-7} = -3$

Completed Table:

Input 50kg bag fertilizer	Output 90kg bag maize	Average product (AP)	Marginal product (MP)
0	6	-	-
1	10	10	4
2	24	12	14
3	31	10.33	7
4	36	9	5
5	40	8	4
6	43	7.17	3
7	43	6.14	0
8	40	5	-3

The total output of maize increases up to 43 bags, which is achieved with both 6 and 7 bags of fertilizer.
The marginal product (MP) shows the additional output from each extra bag of fertilizer.

• MP is positive and decreasing from the 3rd bag to the 6th bag.
• At 7 bags of fertilizer, the MP is 0, meaning the 7th bag of fertilizer did not add any extra maize output.
• At 8 bags of fertilizer, the MP is -3, meaning the 8th bag actually caused the total output to decrease.

The best level of production, in terms of maximizing physical output without wasting resources, is where the marginal product is zero. Beyond this point, adding more input leads to a decrease in total output.

The best level of production is at 7 bags of fertilizer, yielding 43 bags of maize. At this point, the marginal product is 0, indicating that maximum total output has been achieved, and adding more fertilizer would be inefficient or even detrimental.