Outlook
Recently, there have been developments in the agriculture industry, ranging from advanced tool to techniques that result into efficient, sustainable environment and better food availability. Quite a number of global trends are influencing the sustainability of agricultural system and food as a whole. The world’s population is expected to exponentially continue to rise – increasing the demand for agricultural produce.
Climate change also is affecting disproportionately the food-insecure regions, which in turn is jeopardizing crop and livestock production, and fisheries. In order to satisfy the increased demand on the agricultural produce, the existing farming practices seem to result into more intense competition for the limited natural resources, further deforestation, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and land degradation.
Extreme poverty and hunger are said to have been reduced globally for more than two decades now. However, more than 400 million people living in rural areas are still extremely poor today. Natural disasters and crises have disrupted access to food and undermined development of quality manpower per acreage of land.
Technological improvements, together with drastic cuts in agricultural fossil fuel use, are going to help address the intensification of natural disasters and the climate change, which affect every aspect of the human life and the ecosystem at large. Greater development in pest and diseases control will help prevent agricultural yields. These concerns can be addressed if food systems would be made more efficient, resilient and inclusive.
Trends and Implication
High Performance Seeds
High performance seeds have their own features that make unique and able to take maximum advantage of irrigation water and nutrients. The quantity and quality of yield obtained is superior in comparison with other traditional seeds. Further, these seeds are delicate implying that special care has to be taken so that production may not reduce.
Irrigation practices
Water is essential for any growth in crops. It is the blood of agriculture life. The development of the crop pattern, crop combination, and the extent of the size to be planted is water dependent. Proper and timely watering of the farm is critical for better yields. Thus, without adequate irrigation measures, it is not possible to plant high-yielding seeds and do a proper fertilization.
Fertilizers
Fertilizers are an important ingredient for any modern agriculture. They facilitate increased production of high yielding seed culture. Using bio-fertilizers is even better because they are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Pesticides
Chemical substances that are used to control pests attacking crops are essential farming practise. However, there are quite a number of that contaminate plants causing health issues. In modern agriculture, growers are adopting the use of integrated pest management as a sustainable alternative for pesticides. This IPM system causes less damage to the environment. A good example is the planting of pest-resistance crops, making the use of chemical pesticide the last resort.
Crop rotation
The rotation of different types of crops in the same piece of land gives the soil an allowance to recover the nutrients that were used up by the previous crop. This technique is one of the powerful natural tools in modern agriculture, eradicating effects of same cultivation year after year. Another critical benefit is the biological pest control and naturally replenishing the nutrients in the soil for the next season.
Machinery
Efficiency, high yield production and environment conservation heavily relies on modern technology. It is a great importance element. Access to modern machinery and machinery are key factors for success of modern agriculture. Modern agricultural machinery plays different roles on different cop stages that will eventually result to better production. Activities such as planting, tilling, fertilizer application, and pest control processes heavily rely on modern machinery.
Technology
Agricultural technology is one of the most amazing and a revolutionary area of agricultural field since it focuses on sufficient food production to meet the ever- rising demand of the population. Modern farmers can now do better than the previous farmers. Machines can now operate themselves, the use of global positioning system; among many others have been made possible with advancement in technology.
Essentially, without modern technology, farming practices would not be able to supply the demand for food that is consumed by the general population.
Advantages of modern agriculture Modern technology has been able to catch up with a growing demand for food by world’s population. An increase in yield of primary crops and lower food prices is as the result of modern technology like new crop varieties, the use of big data and precision agriculture.