The Future of Agriculture: Soil to Satellites.
Honestly the history of human civilization was always founded on agriculture and that was the main source of feeding population and shaping economies. However, the contemporary type of agriculture is far more developed and technologically evolved as compared to the commonly understood habit of having farmers working with crude tools on the farm. As the number of people in the world population that has been steadily rising and climatic change is threatening to wipe out food production, farming is assuming a new avenue which is technologically oriented, sustainable and innovative.
One of the most exciting things happening in the field of agriculture is precision farming. To farmers, drones, satellite and other advanced sensors have allowed farmers to monitor crops with greater precision than ever before. These technologies can also monitor soil moisture, health of plants and infestation of pests in real time ensuring that farmers do not waste more water, fertilizer or pesticide than is necessary. This does not only reduce wastage and damage to the environment but the returns are also high and the expenses are cut.
The other noticeable transformation is the development of the sustainable agriculture. Many farmers are leaving chemical-intensive methods and are instead turning into methods that are in line with nature rather than digging a grave to face it. Some of the practices that will restore the soil health and biodiversity are crop rotation, agro forestry, organic farming and use of natural fertilizers. Sustainable agriculture would also imply that the farming activity is sustainable and production of farming activities would not be exhausted due to the need to receive up-to-date profits.
Urban farming is also transforming the thoughts of the people in terms of food production. There is now cultivation of crops in the rooftops, growing in the towers in a vertical fashion and in the shipping containers which have been refurbished in cities worldwide. These emerging practices allow communities to produce on land closer to the point of consumption which reduces transportation emissions and also provides fresh foods to areas which may not have access to traditional farmland.
Finally, the concept of agriculture transcends food production it entails coming up with systems that not only nourish the people but the earth as well. The future in the field of agriculture is endless either by the most developed technology, environmentally-friendly or community-based initiatives. It provides us with a reminder that it is not only a need that food is but it is a collective need and something that brings us all together.
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