Agriculture and technology

What is agriculture?

What is technology?

Agriculture is the science or practice of farming- OALD

Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, biofuel, drugs and other products used to sustain and enhance human life.

Technology is the scientific knowledge used in practical ways-OALD

Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function.

HISTORY Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers,

pesticides and the domestication of livestock were developed a long time ago, but have made great progress in the past century.

When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition.

Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible.

Till the modern age the use of cattle and animals became predominant and also the production of hand tools, horse shoes and ploughs led to the development in agriculture.

A Sumerian harvester's sickle madefrom baked clay (ca. 3000 BC).

Threshing of grain in ancient Egypt

Roman harvesting machine

Modern developments

In the 20th century through mechanization self-propelled mechanical harvesters, planters and other equipment were developed, further revolutionizing agriculture.

These inventions allowed farming tasks to be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible, leading modern farms to output much greater volumes of high-quality produce per land unit.

The Haber–Bosch Process

In 1909 the Haber-Bosch method to synthesize ammonium nitrate was first demonstrated, it represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints.

Nitrogen is a critical limiting mineral nutrient in plant growth. Carbon and oxygen are also critical, but are easily obtained by plants from soil and air. Even though air is 78% nitrogen, atmospheric nitrogen is nutritionally unavailable because nitrogen molecules are held together by strong triple bonds.

Nitrogen must be 'fixed', i.e. converted into some bioavailable form, through natural or man-made processes. It was not until the early 20th century that Fritz Haber developed the first practical process to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, which is nutritionally available.

N2 + 3 H2 → 2 NH3 (ΔH = −92.4 kJ·mol−1)

Fertilizer generated from ammonia produced by the Haber process is estimated to be responsible for sustaining one-third of the Earth's population.

Green Revolution Green Revolution refers to a series of research,

development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1960s, that increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s.

The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the "Father of the Green Revolution" credited with saving over a billion people from starvation, involved the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers.

In 1968 Norman was invited to India and with Punjab India adopted the green revolution.

Mechanized Agriculture

Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize the work of agriculture, greatly increasing farm worker productivity.

In modern times powered machinery has replaced many jobs formerly carried out by men or animals.

Commonly used agricultural machineryTractor The most common use of the term "tractor" is for the

vehicles used on farms. The farm tractor is used for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, tilling, disking, harrowing, planting, and similar tasks.

Specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture.

Cultivator A cultivator is any of several types of farm implement

used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with teeth (also called shanks) that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result.

Cultivators were originally drawn by draft animals (such as

horses, mules, or oxen) or were pushed or drawn by people. Cultivators stir and pulverize the soil, either before

planting (to aerate the soil or after the crop has begun growing to kill weeds.

Seed drillA seed drill is a sowing device that precisely positions seeds in the soil and then covers them. Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by hand. Besides being wasteful, planting was very imprecise and led to a poor distribution of seeds, leading to low productivity. The use of a seed drill can improve the ratio of crop yield by as much as nine times.

Potato planterA potato planter is a farm implement for sowing seed potatoes. A manual planter is sometimes called a bell planter, which may have two farm hands sitting on the back whilst taking potatoes from a hopper. The length between potatoes is tolled by a bell, at the sound of which potatoes are thrown down tubes. An automatic planter is hitched behind a farm tractor with a three-point linkage and towed. Cups lift seed potatoes from a hopper and drop them in tubes, planting up to eight drills at a time.

Rice transplanterA rice trans planter is a specialized transplanter fitted to transplant rice seedlings onto paddy field.

Broadcast spreaderA broadcast seeder, alternately called a broadcast spreader, is a farm implement commonly used for spreading seed, lime, fertilizer, sand, ice melt, etc., and is an alternative to drop spreaders/seeders.

Drip irrigation Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or micro irrigation or localized irrigation, is an irrigation method that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. It is done through narrow tubes that deliver water directly to the base of the plant.

BalerA baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, straw, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. Several different types of balers are commonly used, each producing a different type of bales – rectangular or cylindrical, of various sizes, bound with twine, strapping, netting, or wire. Industrial balers are also used in material recycling facilities, primarily for baling metal, plastic, or paper for transport.

Livestock trailerA trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly, the term trailer refers to such vehicles used for transport of goods and materials. The most common is the stock trailer, a trailer that is enclosed on the bottom, but has openings at approximately the eye level of the animals to allow ventilation

Milking machineMilking machines are used to harvest milk from cows when manual milking becomes inefficient or labour intensive. Milking machines work in a way that is different from hand milking or calf suckling. Continuous vacuum is applied inside the soft liner to massage milk from the teat by creating a pressure difference across the teat canal (or opening at the end of the teat). Vacuum also helps keep the machine attached to the cow.

Bulk tankIn dairy farming a bulk milk cooling tank is a large storage tank for cooling and holding milk at a cold temperature until it can be picked up by a milk hauler. The bulk milk cooling tank is an important piece of dairy farm equipment. It is usually made of stainless steel and used every day to store the raw milk on the farm in good condition. It must be cleaned after each milk collection. The milk cooling tank can be the property of the farmer or be rented from a dairy plant.

Genetically modified crops To produce genetically modified food and materials with

diverse uses. To provide protection from environmental threats, such as

cold (in the case of Ice-minus bacteria), or pathogens, such as insects or viruses, and/or resistance to herbicides. There are also fungal and virus resistant crops developed or in development.

To modify the quality of the produce, for instance, increasing the nutritional value or providing more industrially useful qualities or quantities of the produce.

The Amflora potato, for example, produces a more industrially useful blend of starches. Cows have been engineered to produce more protein in their milk to facilitate cheese production.

Another goal in generating GMOs is to directly improve yield by accelerating growth, or making the organism hardier (for plants, by improving salt, cold or drought tolerance). Some agriculturally important animals have been genetically modified with growth hormones to increase their size.

. These modified crops would also reduce the usage of chemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, and therefore decrease the severity and frequency of the damages produced by this chemical pollution.

Ethical and safety concerns have been raised around the use of genetically modified food. A major safety concern relates to the human health implications of eating genetically modified food, in particular whether toxic or allergic reactions could occur.

A long-term study (2002 through 2008) on the economic impacts of Bt cotton in India, showed that Bt cotton increased yields, profits, and living standards of smallholder farmers. However, recently cotton bollworm has been developing resistance to Bt cotton and the Indian Agriculture Ministry linked farmers' suicides in India to the declining performance of Bt cotton for the first time. Consequently, in 2012 the state of Maharashtra banned Bt cotton and ordered a socio-economic study of it’s use.

BIOFUEL These fuels are produced from living organisms. These

fuels are made by a biomass conversion (biomass refers to recently living organisms, most often referring to plants or plant-derived materials). This biomass conversion can result in fuel in solid, liquid, or gas form.

Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources, such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production.

Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles.

. In 2010, worldwide biofuel production reached 105 billion liters and biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's fuels for road transport, a contribution largely made up of ethanol and biodiesel. The International Energy Agency has a goal for biofuels to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 to reduce dependence on petroleum and coal.

GPS USE IN AGRICULTURE

Tractor Guidance: Farmers can put their tractors on auto-pilot. If they plough their fields with a recording GPS system the tractor can then be programmed to follow the same route - for cultivating, fertilizing, pest control and harvesting. The programming of tractor routes has the potential to save a lot of money.

Crop-duster: Targeting: Insects don't attack a field with a uniform distribution. Instead outbreaks of insect activity are concentrated in certain areas. Workers strolling the crops can use a GPS to record the locations of insect problems. The data can then be used by crop-duster pilots to selectively target the problem areas instead of treating an entire field. This method results in a savings of time, fuel, and insecticide and crop exposure to chemicals.

Tracking Livestock: The location of valuable animals on a large farm can be monitored by GPS transmitters attached to the animals collar. When the animals are sent to market GPS transmitters can also be used to track their location.

Yield Monitoring: Estimates of yield variations across a property can be made using GPS. To do this the property is divided into zones and the yield of each zone is estimated and plotted on a map. The map can then be used to better understand the property and for decision-making in regard to the next planting.

Soil Sampling: Collecting soil samples across a large property can be organized using GPS and mapping software. The sample locations can be way pointed in the field and those waypoints marked on the mapping software. Then, when the laboratory results are returned the data can be plotted on the maps and decisions for soil treatment can be made for various parts of the property. The locational information can save money and time by allowing variable rate applications and treating only those areas with a documented need.

IMPEDIMENTS IN MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE

Increase in UnemploymentIn the poor countries the rate of unemployment is already high. So the use of machinery in agriculture has increased the rate of unemployment in the country. It is useful in those countries where labour is not available or labour is costly. Not Suitable for Small HoldingThe use of machinery is not profitable for small holdings. The majority of the farmers in underdeveloped countries is the owner of small holdings. For instance, owner of a 5 acre land cannot purchase tractor. Costly MachineryIn the poor countries farmer is unable to purchase the expensive machinery due to poverty. While labor is cheap in the poor country. Costly machinery increases the cost of production.

Lack of Technical Knowledge In the underdeveloped countries majority of farmers are uneducated and they cannot handle the machines. So misuse of machinery causes a great loss to the farmer. Lack of Foreign Exchange Foreign exchange is required to make payments for imported machinery. There is a shortage of foreign exchange in poor countries. So it becomes difficult to import the machinery. Preparing Facilities In most of developing countries maintenance and repairing facilities are not available in the rural areas. The break down of the machinery will cause delay in agricultural operation. Lack of Energy Resources Oil, Gas, and Electricity are the main source of energy. These are essential for the farm mechanization but there is shortage of these resources in the most of underdeveloped countries. Prices of oil are increasing day by day.

DETRIMENTAL EFECTS OF PESTICIDES/INSECTICIDES

Despite their beneficial effects, pesticide use has come under critical evaluation in the last 50 years. In 1960, the World Health Organization initiated the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) to increase awareness of the dangers of pesticides and to encourage their proper use.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1 to 5 million cases of pesticide poisoning occur every year. Pesticide exposure affects the immune system, and scientists speculate that impaired immune system function, commonly seen in underdeveloped countries, could be linked to pesticide use. Additionally, 10 percent of pesticides are linked to cancer.

Pesticides also affect the environment. They can damage ecosystems which may result in the extermination of species that are not necessarily intended to be their targets. Pets and native beneficial species may also be harmed by the strong chemicals in many pesticides

Groundwater pollution due to pesticides is a worldwide problem. According to reports at least 143 different pesticides and 21 transformation products have been found in ground water, including pesticides from every major chemical class.

During one survey in India, 58% of drinking water samples drawn from various hand pumps and wells around Bhopal were contaminated with Organo Chlorine pesticide.

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