TECHOLOGY & AGRICULTURE

INTRODUCTION:
Agriculture refers to the production of food
and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key
development that led to the rise of civilization, with the husbandry
of domesticated animals and plants (i.e. crops) creating food
surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated
and stratified societies. The study of agriculture is known as
agricultural science .

Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of

specialties. Cultivation of crops on arable land and the pastoral
herding of livestock on rangeland remain at the foundation of
agriculture. In the past century a distinction has been made
between sustainable agriculture and intensive farming. Modern
agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, and
technological improvements have sharply increased yields from
cultivation. The more exotic varieties of agriculture include
aquaculture and tree farming

In 2007, about one third of the world's

workers were employed in agriculture. However, the relative
significance of farming has dropped steadily since the beginning of
industrialization, and in 2003 – for the first time in history – the
services sector overtook agriculture as the economic sector
employing the most people worldwide. Despite the fact that
agriculture employs over one-third of the world's population,
agricultural production accounts for less than five percent of the
gross world product.
Climate Change:

Climate change has the potential to affect

agriculture through changes in temperature and moisture regimes.
Agriculture can both mitigate or worsen global warming. Some of
the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere comes from the
decomposition of organic matter in the soil, and much of the
methane emitted into the atmosphere is due to the decomposition
of organic matter in wet soils such as rice paddies. Further, wet or
anaerobic soils also lose nitrogen through denitrification, releasing
the greenhouse gas nitric oxide. Changes in management can
reduce the release of these greenhouse gases, and soil can further
be used to sequester some of the CO2 in the atmosphere.

AGRICULTURAL ADVANCEMENTS:

What technological advances can we expect to see by 2013?

Within the hallowed halls of academia, one of the best futurists is

Mike Boehlje at Purdue's Center for Food and Agricultural
Business. He sees three types of technology at the farm level that
are in the process of coming to market: technology to manipulate
growth processes of plants and animals, technology for monitoring
and measuring systems, and automated process control technology.
On its own, each area is significant, he says, but it's their coming
commercial convergence that will bring the most significant
change.

GREEN REVOLUTION:
Agriculture has played a key role in the
development of human civilization. Until the Industrial
Revolution, the vast majority of the human population labored in
agriculture. Development of agricultural techniques has steadily
increased agricultural productivity, and the widespread diffusion of
these techniques during a time period is often called an agricultural
revolution. A remarkable shift in agricultural practices has
occurred over the past century in response to new technologies. In
particular, the Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium
nitrate made the traditional practice of recycling nutrients with
crop rotation and animal manure less necessary.

The green revolution popularized the use of conventional

hybridization to increase yield many folds by creating "high-
yielding varieties". For example, average yields of corn (maize) in
the USA have increased from around 2.5 tons per hectare (t/ha) (40
bushels per acre) in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha (150 bushels per acre)
in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased
from less than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South
American average wheat yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1
t/ha, Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha with irrigation. In
contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is
over 8 t/ha. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in
climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques
(use of fertilizers, chemical pest control, growth control to avoid
lodging)).

Synthetic nitrogen, along with mined rock phosphate, pesticides

and mechanization, have greatly increased crop yields in the early
20th century. Increased supply of grains has led to cheaper
livestock as well. Further, global yield increases were experienced
later in the 20th century when high-yield varieties of common
staple grains such as rice, wheat, and corn (maize) were introduced
as a part of the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution exported
the technologies (including pesticides and synthetic nitrogen) of
the developed world out to the developing world. Thomas Malthus
famously predicted that the Earth would not be able to support its
growing population, but technologies such as the Green Revolution
have allowed the world to produce a surplus of food.
The percent of the human population working in agriculture has
decreased over time.

By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed

stocks and cultivated plants selected and given a unique name
because of its decorative or useful characteristics had so improved
that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the Middle
Ages. With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th and
20th centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks
could be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible.
In recent years there has been a backlash against the external
environmental effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the
organic movement.
GENETIC TECHNOLOGY:

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are

organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic
engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA
technology. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available
to breeders to utilize in creating desired germlines for new crops.
After mechanical tomato-harvesters were developed in the early
1960s, agricultural scientists genetically modified tomatoes to be
more resistant to mechanical handling. More recently, genetic
engineering is being employed in various parts of the world, to
create crops with other beneficial traits.

How has gene technology benefited agriculture? Genetically

engineered crops such as corn, soy and cotton are being cultivated
in more than 21 countries. In the United States, for example, about
60 per cent of corn is genetically modified to resist corn borer, a
common pest that feeds on the corn stem. Farmers have embraced
genetically modified corn because it yields high. The fact that this
corn variety contains Bacillus Thuringiensis saves farmers money
that could have been spent buying pesticides.
Developing countries such as South Africa, India and Pakistan
have embrace modern agricultural biotechnology. In South Africa,
for example, farmers are growing Bt. cotton. Reports indicate that
Bt cotton yields high that conventional varieties. The story is the
same in India. Bt. cotton is proving profitable to farmers.

BIOTECHNOLOGY:
Biotechnologies are techniques that use
living organisms to make or modify a product. biotechnology.
“This technology came into full glory and hatred in the last 10
years, and really probably defined the decade more than anything,”
Some conventional biotechnologies are well-accepted, such as
fermentation for bread or alcohol production. Another example is
plant and animal breeding to create varieties with better
characteristics or increased yields.

Modern biotechnologies change the genetic code of living

organisms using a technique called genetic modification. These
technologies have been widely adopted in industrial applications
such as enzyme production.

Other applications remain contentious, such as the use of

genetically modified (GM) crops created by inserting genes from
other organisms. Some GM crops can bring yield gains in some
places and declines in others. Because new techniques are rapidly
being developed, longer-term assessments of environmental and
health risks and benefits tend to lag behind discoveries. This
increases speculation and uncertainty.

The possibility of patenting genetic modifications can attract

investment in agricultural research. But it also tends to concentrate
ownership of resources, drive up costs, inhibit independent
research, and undermine local farming practices such as seed-
saving that are especially important in developing countries. It
could also mean new liabilities, for example if a genetically
modified plant spreads to nearby farms.

Many problems could be solved if biotechnologies would focus on

local priorities identified through transparent processes involving
the full spectrum of stakeholders.

Historically, agricultural development was geared towards

increasing productivity and exploiting natural resources, but
ignored complex interactions between agricultural activities, local
ecosystems, and society.

These interactions must be considered to enable sustainable use of

resources like water, soil, biodiversity and fossil fuels. Much of the
agricultural knowledge, science and technology needed to resolve
today’s challenges are available and well understood, but putting
them into practice requires creative efforts from all stakeholders.

Existing agricultural science and technology can tackle some of the

underlying causes of declining productivity. But further
developments based on a multidisciplinary approach are needed,
starting with more monitoring of how natural resources are used.
Other options for action include more research into how to use
natural resources responsibly and efforts to foster public awareness
of their importance.

Global call to adopt modern technology in agriculture:

There is a global call for adoption of modern

technology(Precision agriculture technologies) to increase the
agricultural productivity and reduce environmental risks.The
traditionally agrochemicals and irrigation were applied uniformly
without considering substantial variability in soil and crop
characteristics, topographic features and fruit yield within fields.
The unnecessary or over-use of fertilizers might
deteriorate water quality, promote weed growth and reduce profit,
while under-fertilisation may restrict crop yield and quality.

New technologies could significantly reduce

input costs, increase profitability while minimizing the
environmental impacts.

“Widespread availability of fast and accurate differential global

positioning system (DGPS) service and the rapid evolution of
laptop computing power, a range of automated instruments have
offered new opportunities for varying inputs within fields on as-
needed basis to maximize profit and reduce environmental
contamination, he said.

The precision agriculture technologies are economical,

environmentally sound, and can easily be adopted . use of modern
technology in agriculture to meet the challenges of food shortage.

Science and Technology for Development:

The International Assessment of Agricultural
Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) is an
international effort initiated by the World Bank that evaluated the
relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge,
science, and technology (AKST), and effectiveness of related
public and private sector policies and institutional arrangements.
Its overarching question is: "How can we reduce hunger and
poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and facilitate equitable,
environmentally, socially and economically sustainable
development through the generation, access to, and use of
agricultural knowledge, science and technology?"

The project developed out of a consultative process involving 900

participants and 110 countries. The IAASTD was launched as an
intergovernmental process, with a multi-stakeholder Bureau, under
the co-sponsorship of the FAO, GEF, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO,
the World Bank and WHO.

The IAASTD was a three-year collaborative effort (2005-2007)

that assessed(AKST)in relation to meeting development and
sustainability goals of:
- Reducing hunger and poverty
- Improving nutrition, health and rural livelihoods
- Facilitating social and environmental sustainability

The results and conclusions of the project were reviewed and

ratified during the Intergovernmental Plenary Meeting held 7-12
April, 2008, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The IAASTD is composed of one Global

Assessment and five Sub-global Assessments, which use the same
basic framework as the Global Assessment, i.e., the impacts of
AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and
environmental and social sustainability in relation to both the past
and the future. The Global and Sub-global assessments are peer-
reviewed by governments and experts, and approved by the Panel
of participating governments.

The five Sub-global Assessments:

- Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) - Regional
Institute: ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research
in the Dry Areas)
- East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) - Regional Institute:
World Fish Center
- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) - Regional Institute:
IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture)
- North America and Europe (NAE)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)- Regional Institute: ACTS (African
Centre for Technology Studies)
were undertaken at the regional, national or local scales and
complement the Global Assessment by examining its context-
specific aspects.

The IAASTD aims in its reports to create 'plausible scenarios',

based on knowledge from past events and existing trends such as
population growth, rural/urban food and poverty dynamics, loss of
agricultural land, water availability and climate change effects.
Based around these issues, 'What if?' questions can be formulated
that allow the implications of different technological options to be
explored and understood.

For decades, agricultural science has focused on boosting

production through the development of new technologies. It has
achieved enormous yield gains as well as lower costs for large-
scale farming. But this success has come at a high environmental
cost. Furthermore, it has not solved the social and economic
problems of the poor in developing countries, which have
generally benefited the least from this boost in production.

It is time to fundamentally rethink the role of agricultural

knowledge, science and technology in achieving equitable
development and sustainability. The focus must turn to the needs
of small farms in diverse ecosystems and to areas with the greatest
needs. This means improving rural livelihoods, empowering
marginalized stakeholders, sustaining natural resources, enhancing
multiple benefits provided by ecosystems, considering diverse
forms of knowledge, and providing fair market access for farm
products.

DEMERITS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY:

The problem with much of modern technology,

especially with agriculture is that we endeavor to do the WRONG
thing as right as we can. We wish to feed huge populations with
mono cultural practices based on overpopulating crops for the
biggest (money) harvests of perfect food. The soil suffers, the
water suffers, and the food is not as nature intended. It has been
said that food today when compared to the past and in terms of the
economy and what we have in our pantry, is cheaper than it has
ever been. What a logistical nightmare; do what I should and grow
less with a somewhat lower but organic sustainable product or do
what is poor for the environment in the name of $$$ (666).
Biotechnology may be the last hope but the uninformed refuse to
even try a genetically altered apple. Give that apple to a starving
person and see them smile. How hungry do you have to be to
overcome your blissful ignorance?

Today’s world is a place of uneven development, unsustainable

use of natural resources, worsening impact of climate change, and
continued poverty and malnutrition. Poor food quality and diets
are partly responsible for the increase of chronic diseases like
obesity and heart disease. Agriculture is closely linked to these
concerns, including the loss of biodiversity, global warming and
water availability.

CONCLUSION:
Thus, Modern technology is already being used
in agriculture. The best example is the use of gene technology or
what’s popularly known as agricultural biotechnology in
developing drought and herbicide resistant crops. Through genetic
engineering, scientists have been able to introduce traits into
existing genes to make crops resistant to drought and herbicides.
One good example is the use of Bacillus Thuringiensis, commonly
known as Bt. Bacillus Thuringiensis, is a bacterium that dwells in
soil. It acts as a reservoir “of cry toxins and cry genes for
production of biological insecticides and insect-resistant
genetically modified crops.”

Also Modern technology has greatly affected

food production... obviously, the use of machineries and alike sped
up planting/harvesting processes as well as processing. At the same
time, advances in genetic engineering have explored the possibility
of improving the quality of food. A good example is canola oil.
Canola oil comes from rapeseed which has toxic/poisonous
compound (erucic acid). Genetic manipulations reduced this
poisonous materials hence we are safely consuming the product.
Crops are more resistant towards environmental stresses and
production rates are continuously increasing...