Investing on Modern Farming Techniques and Equipment
Food is an important part of our lives. We all need food to survive and thrive. There is a global issue about the availability, distribution, price, and quality of food that is becoming alarming.
As per the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), about 815 million peopleare undernourished worldwide. One in every nine people do not have enough food to lead a healthy life, and more than 2 billion people consume diets largely lacking in fruit or vegetables. In addition, obesity affects over 600 million adults globally, with rates as high as 37% among some populations like North America or Europe.
This situation can be solved by using modern farming methods and techniques for sustainable farming, which will help improve soil health, increase productivity, reduce environmental impacts on biodiversity, etc. and ensure better-tasting food.
Modern farming techniques can be grouped into different categories: improved crop varieties, improved agronomic practices; increased mechanisation; increased irrigation; and introduction of organic agriculture, to name a few.
The use of improved crop varieties is one of the major factors for sustainable farming. It has been estimated that almost all yield increase in India between 1950 and 1990 was as a result of breeding better crop varieties.
The second major factor is the use of fertilisers, pesticides, machine power, etc., which significantly affect productivity per hectare through higher yields. Increased irrigation results in more water being available for crops even during drought years which helps save crops from damage due to lack of water. Some examples are drip irrigation, sprinklers, French drains, etc.
Modern Tools and Equipment to Boost Farming
Mechanisation has also been a major factor for sustainable farming as it helps increase farm productivity and reduces the drudgery of farmers. It includes the use of irrigation pumps, electrical tillers, threshers, tractors, etc. All these factors have enabled farmers to achieve higher yields from their land without overworking themselves.
More business people are investing infarming drones for saleto get high-quality images of the land to assess its productivity and the need for irrigation, fertilisers, or pesticides. Modern farming techniques are not only about using modern equipment but also reviving traditional practices. These are using microorganisms (e.g., biodiversity in soil) to increase crop yields, growing an array of plants together (polyculture) for natural fertilisation, rotating crops with legumes (nitrogen fixers), mulching the soil to reduce loss of moisture and soil erosion.
Modern farming equipment can be differentiated into two main types: human-powered and machine-powered, which includes the use of horses, oxen, hand tools, etc., while modern farming equipment includes tractors, irrigation systems, greenhouses, etc.
Farmers today also use solar pumps instead of electric pumps for irrigation.
There are many benefits ofmodern farming techniques and equipmentwhich enable farmers to achieve higher yields from their land without overworking themselves. This would ensure better-tasting food, increase productivity, reduce environmental impacts on biodiversity, etc.
In turn, this will help increase food production without any negative impact on the environment. Thus, modern farming techniques and equipment play an important role in sustainable farming, ensuring better food for everyone.
In countries like India, labourcosts are high compared to other inputs such asfertiliseror pesticides. It becomes imperative to use mechanisation for sustainable farming as even small gains in terms of increased output can help reduce the total production cost involved.
Focusing on Sustainable Farming
The introduction of organic agriculture is another modern farming technique that is gaining popularity all over the world among small-scale farms because it does not involve using manufactured chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides. The use of organic farming techniques is slowly increasing in developed countries like the USA, UK, etc., due to consumer demand for organic food products there.
The major benefits of using modern farming techniques for sustainable agriculture are better soil health, higher productivity per hectare, ability to withstand adverse conditions such as lack of water or weather, etc. It can also improve the taste and nutritional value of crops, increase farm income, giving farmers more financial security and the ability to diversify their farms by growing various crops instead of depending on one crop, which can be risky. It can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to less fossil fuels and provide machines powered by electricity generated through renewable sources such as wind power or solar energy, etc.
These modern farming techniques and equipment are vital for sustainable farming in the future because farmers, governments, and non-governmental organisations globally need to work together towards achieving food security for everyone by reducing dependency on imported food products.
Sustainable agriculture is important to ensure enough food production per year and protect forests that act as natural carbon sinks where trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis while releasing oxygen.
However, it can be seen that modern farming techniques cannot solve all problems related to the growing population at the same time. Some of their side effects include groundwater contamination due to extensive use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides, increased greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming, etc., which needs more research about these aspects.
