Agriculture and Technology
The Past, Present and Future ⌛
--
Mankind has come a long way. Whether or not you are a believer in the evolution theory, one thing we can all agree on is that development has marked our history as a species — evolution is our story. A key area where we see significant innovation is in the technology of man. In every aspect of man’s activities — agriculture, transportation, the arts, commerce, healthcare, to highlight a few, technological development has come to stay.
Technology makes life easier. The industrial age saw a massive shift from human-based labor to machine dependency. This meant greater efficiency because fewer machines could do the work of a greater number of men, produce more yield, and to top it off, do so at a faster rate. It also removed the dangers and strain on humans, having to do hazardous, back-breaking work themselves. Also, for a race that was fast growing geometrically in population, the breakthroughs in technology were much needed in the area of agriculture, to catch up with the increasing population and cater to its food needs. But this accelerated growth has created with it challenges such as soil degradation due to excessive machinery use or lower biodiversity from the disturbance of natural ecological balance.
In pre-historic times, humans foraged for food and hunted animals, grabbing whatever random fruits the earth provided. Following the invention of agriculture, mankind moved to mainly cultivating crops and raising domesticated animals for food production, forming agrarian communities. These two major stages in human agricultural methods had their tools and instruments. Stone tools were the standard of the prehistoric era, some 2.6 million years ago. It just might interest you to know that some groups still get by on the hunter-gatherer lifestyle in today’s modern age. Advancements in technology introduced more sophisticated equipment, from the creation of the plough to the global positioning system (GPS) driven precision farming equipment. Humans have developed new ways to make farming more efficient thus growing more food with fewer resources.
The benefits of technological advancement in agriculture are outstanding. Farmers no longer have to apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides uniformly across entire fields. Instead, they can use the minimum quantities required and target very specific areas. People can do more work and cover more areas of land in a shorter time. Machines don’t get tired, so human limits can be mitigated. Better farming practices have been explored, and studies are still ongoing to discover eco-friendly, best farming practices to preserve the earth and sustain all life.
Photo credit: Pinterest
What can we anticipate for the future? As in other areas of human activities, we can expect to see machines completely taking over agricultural activities in the near future. With artificial intelligence pushing new frontiers never before imagined in human history, it’s safe to say total computerized systems will happen, sooner than we would think.
