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the historical background of agriculture
the historical background of agriculture
An article on history of agriculture
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Innovations in the Farming Industry
How has the way farmers operations changed in the last few decades? How many people could they feed? In 1920 a farmer was capable of feeding 19 mouths. Later in 1970 an average farmer could feed 26 mouths. But now in 2013 the average farmer is able to feed 155 mouths. This is a productivity increase of 816% (farmersfeeds.org). That is amazing! This paper will look at how the latest technologies have changed the way farmers manage their acres. There are thousands of innovations that have taken place, but we will only have time to discuss a small fraction of the engineering marvels that have taken place. Farming has come a long way in the past century, how has technology changed farming and how will it change more in the future? How has the changes in technology and farming practices changed the way farmers are able to operate. Some areas that will be discussed include mobile computing devices, machine automation, and modernized planting techniques.
Mobile computing devices have been greatly advancing in recent years, especially in the field of agriculture. Mobile devices have become extremely popular in recent years. There are many places where these devices are being integrated and agriculture is no exception. With these devices farmers are able to operate machines through many automated accessories in the machinery. As well as many mapping other applications. According to the expert Tim Norris,"First, it’s technology that lots of people seem to have already. Second, they already have a data plan on that device so telemetry and data transfer with those devices makes sense to me. And third, the Internet quality and availability seems to be improving at a fairly rapid pace, which mak...
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By implementing new farming techniques provided with the new technological advances in machines we can see abundant harvest in even the poorest third world countries. For example, the Green Revolution has already showed admirable progress in the northern part of India ever since it took start in 1950. By 1997, northern India increased its grain production by 37 percent. This has proven that traditional farming methods are being rendered obsolete. And because by the year 2000, there will be half the land per person in developing countries as there was in 1970, we need to apply ultra-efficient methods to sustain the growing need. Not only does the Green Revolution enhances food output, it also preserves the environment.
As Jensen points out, farming and industry accounts for the vast majority of total water usage in the world (477). The increasingly scarce resource is a necessary ingredient when growing food. Technology continuously improves to make it easier for farmers to grow crops while using less water. Scientists at the University of Georgia utilize what they term “variable rate irrigation” to let farmers automate the current systems of irrigation to water only the crops that need it (Gies). This is an example of retrofitting current farms, but there is a new way of farming coming to cities that reuses practically all of its water and stakes claim much less acreage in the process. The future of agriculture belongs to vertical and urban farming. These types of farms reduce the use of water, chemicals (such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides), soil and space (The Economist). These farms are so cutting edge that they are mostly in the experimental stages. Firms like Famgro farms are testing “stackable” farming systems that can scale with demand, even further reducing waste. Famgro’s stackable farms are ideal for cityscapes where land is at a premium; furthermore, reaping the added benefit of being in close proximity to the customers that they serve. Customers will enjoy high quality, fresh produce at only a slightly
Every new technology has advantages and disadvantages, aims and limitations. As each new technology is released though, we ourselves weigh up the profit and productivity against the cost and ethical dilemmas. Still, as reserch continues, technological advances will undoubtedly become a huge part of the Australian commercial farming industry. The question is when.
Nowadays more and more people are unaware of where their food comes from. Mankind now lives in an age where technology is the main focus and the rural way of life is becoming a thing of the past. The ability to produce food is so efficient and effective that some people do not even realize how their food gets to their plate. But that was not the case in the 19th century. In 1837, a man named John Deere changed farming forever.
Agriculture has been a part of American life for tens of thousands of years. The modern world today has changed a lot since then thanks to technology and new scientific studies in order to improve the way we see agriculture today. A specific change is a term call biotechnology which is the use of living organisms or other biological systems in the manufacture of drugs or other products or for environmental management, as in waste recycling. Biotechnology has changed agriculture by making plants resistant to certain diseases or to the animal aspect of changing the sex of a cow its just remarkable on how much science has changed and how far its come. Of course everything comes with its good and bad and this is sure a controversy that has gone on forever about its health risks and if its actually healthy for you but it is one part of science that has changed they way we farm and plant crops today.
In today’s culture, society puts a lot of emphasis on utilizing technology. Technology’s influence has spread into the farming industry. In Wendell Berry’s article, “Renewing Husbandry,” he addresses the mechanical changes in the farming process. He stresses the idea of husbandry, taking care of the land and conserving the life the land offers. Berry describes the benefits and downfalls of technology. But the problems of technology exceed the benefits. Although technology aids in the farming process, the advancement in farming technology distorts the importance of cultivating the natural land.
Farmers possess a broader expanse of farming knowledge in the present day due to technology. Industrialization revolutionized the idea of farming, bringing about many efficient shortcuts for the farmers to use. In “Renewing Husbandry” author Wendell Berry, a farmer who experiences firsthand the revolution of farming, discusses farming before the effects of technology and how technology has since affected it. In the process of witnessing the revolution of farming, he comes to the conclusion that technology means the end of husbandry, destroying the true meaning of farming. However, Berry fails to recognize that the world is constantly changes; in order to succeed in the world, farmers must keep up with these changes.
Farming started many years ago. Since technology blossomed, most farmers have changed over to technology. Farms and operations worked differently than those twenty to thirty years ago, primarily because of advancements in technology, including sensors, devices, machines, and other forms of technology. Today, people use forms of technology such as a robot, temperature or moisture sensors, and the GPS. These advanced devices allow businesses to profit more, efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly. In “Renewing Husbandry,” Wendell Berry explains how technology has taken over farming rather than helping sustain a functional farm. He also describes the pros and cons of farming with technology. While he appreciates some of the advancements,
The first Crash Course video by John Green describes the primary point of the Agricultural Revolution by using an unappealing, double cheeseburger to show all processes needed to make the burger. This model is very effective; Green walks through the hunting and gathering agricultural methods of 15,000 years ago while comparing today’s dependency on all the ingredients. Although technology has progressed throughout the agricultural industry, basic farming methods have remained consistent.
Agriculture is the biggest industry in the world and home to millions of job opportunities with all jobs leading us to one purpose. Making the world a better place. Over the years agriculture has become bigger, better, and more efficient. With the progression of agriculture technology the agriculture industry has became more improved. Agriculture technology has shaped the face of our country. From the cotton gin to drones agriculture has improved. In this research paper we will take a look at the progression of agriculture technology through the years, and how the progression of agriculture technology has improved American farming has shaped the United States of America.
farmers could now be accessed from all over the country in just a couple of
It is estimated that 37 farmers leave the land every day to pursuit in different field (Herro 2006). The decline in rural farmers is from the consequences of industrialization of agriculture. Only 1 percent of the UK workforce is now employed on farm, compared to 35 percent in the last century (Herro 2006). Many of these workers are being weaved out by better technologies that can do the same work at a faster and more efficient rate. On the contrary, organic farming relies more on people for knowledge, daily monitoring, and production. A study by the Soil Association shows organic farming can potentially provide 32 percent more jobs per farm than conventional farming in the United Kingdom (Herro 2006). However, critics have argued that human labors will lead to higher food prices, which makes the shift infeasible. But while this may be true in developed country, a full scale shift to organic farming in developing countries, where labors are much cheaper than pesticides, can lead to a much higher profit for the farmers. Organic farming attracts younger employees than any other work industry. Currently, the average age for conventional farmer is 56 (Herro 2006). If a full scale shift to organic farming were to happen, it would draw a more vibrant and enthusiastic workforce who are food conscious than that older generations, setting up a platform
People have depended on agriculture for years as the primary source of getting food. We have developed all kinds of ways to manipulate nature so what we can produce higher yield crops, more nutritious crops, bigger crops, crops that withstand cold, and farming equipment that allows us to manufacture these crops with relative ease. Why then are there five billion people being malnourished and forty thousand children dying each day from hunger? It seems as though world hunger is more a result of the lack of distributing the food properly than the lack of quantity. agriculture has turned into a high profit business and biotech companies like Monsanto are constantly trying to come up with better and more efficient ways of farming. Are they doing this to try to solve the world hunger crisis, or merely to make a profit?
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...