Today we are going to learn about some useful technologies in the agriculture sector. Before starting our topic let us take a glance at what is technology. Technology is the use of modern equipment, skills, techniques, and processes to enhance the productivity of work with ease. It can also be seen as applying scientific knowledge in our lives to achieve practical objectives.
Table of Contents
What is agriculture?
Agriculture can be understood as a process of obtaining food, Fiber, food, and many more products through cultivating a variety of plants and raising livestock.
Heading forward to our topic, the use of sophisticated technology in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, and horticulture is known as Agricultural technology or Agrotechnology. It is used in the hopes of increasing the quality and quantity of yields, efficiency, and profits through agriculture. Through agrotechnology helps farmers in being safer and environment friendly.
Some of the various agricultural technologies which enhanced the profitability of agriculture are mentioned below:
- Automated Irrigation: Automatic irrigation systems are very useful and are like a boon to farmers in the winter season, as they do not have to do it by themselves in the freezing cold. The process of Automated agriculture is handled by an irrigation controller. An irrigation controller is a device used in the operation of automatic systems such as sprinklers and drip irrigation systems.
Some IoT sensors and actuators are used in this setup. These sensors examine the moisture in the soil and send the command to actuators to start irrigating plants. The rate of water flow is also decided by these smart sensors according to the need for water.
2. Satellite imagery: satellite images are used in agriculture to examine various types of indexes such as normalised difference vegetation Index, canopy chlorophyll content index, and modified soil-adjusted vegetation index. It aims to predict yield, monitor the properties of soil, and conditions of crops, examine threats, predict harvests and observe changes in seasons and climate. These satellite Data help farmers in doing agriculture more efficiently and profitably.
3. Weather forecasting: it is the most used technology by farmers because due to irregular weather patterns, farmers cannot predict rain and other factors. This results in crop failure. For a better and more profitable yield, farmers should have all the data about soil moisture, temperature, light, and rain of the present and future. For instance, if a farmer knows about the timing of rain via forecast, he can avoid losses by not wasting water and money on irrigation.
Through these Data, farmers can make profitable decisions such as the best timing for pesticide spraying and irrigation.
4. Agricultural Drone: Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that are used for optimizing the field. The drones help farmers by examining large areas of land and providing options such as the optimization of yield, monitoring of crop growth and production, providing crop health reports, providing data on plant population, examining soil, and helping in spraying pesticides and fertilizers by aerial spraying. These technical flying bees are also useful in the aerial sowing of seeds. With all these features drones empower farmers to make the right and profitable choices.
5. Hydroponics: hydroponics is the modern technological horticulture that is done without soil. It involves the use of a mineral nutrient solution mixed with an aqueous solution.
The data shows that plants grown with the technique of hydroponics are healthier and more nutritious. Due to hydroponics use of water for irrigation in agriculture decreases.
6. Automatic machines: automated machines bring revolution to farming. They help farmers in achieving profitable farming and reducing ecological problems related to farming. These machines enhanced productivity by helping farmers make decisions more precise.
Some of the most used automated machinery are listed below:
- Advanced tractors and trailers
- Rotary tiller
- Plough
- Power harrow
- Leser leveller
- Water bowser
- Combine harvester
- Mechanical Pesticide sprayers
- Disc harrows
As a coin has two faces there are also two faces of agricultural technologies. One side shows how useful these technologies are to farmers and the other shows the disadvantages of agricultural technology.
Pros of agricultural technologies are the following:
- Higher crop productivity: agricultural activities have boosted the productivity of agriculture in the last few years. It helps farmers in achieving the goal of more yield in the same area of land.
2. Time-saving: by using agricultural technologies farmers can save their time and can use it for other things which require more time.
3. Saves energy: agricultural technologies help farmers in saving energy by making it easy for them.
4. Decreased costs of agriculture: modern agricultural technologies have decreased the expenses of pesticides, fertilizers, and labor.
5. Decreased water usage: the use of water for irrigating fields has been decreased by the precise requirement calculating abilities of these modern analytical technologies.
6. Provides transportation facilities: modern technologies provide transportation facilities by which farmers can get exposure to price.
7. Increased trade and business: technologies have paved many ways of trade for farmers. They can sell and buy crops at any place they want by easily transporting them. They can sell their crops digitally.
Cons of agricultural technologies are described below:
- Lack of practical knowledge: due to the lack of practical knowledge farmers face challenges in handling or operating these complex technologies.
2. Expensive: modern technologies are costly, which all farmers cannot afford.
3. High maintenance cost: these technical machines require maintenance, which usually costs high to farmers.
4. Damages environment: these technological machines have been used repeatedly for a long time and this led to environmental damage.
5. Illiteracy among farmers: most of the farmers are not illiterate which makes them unable to use these modern complex machines.
6. Calculating errors: it is not mandatory that machines will always give the best result, and this sometimes leads farmers to make wrong decisions and face losses.
7. Decreases the soil fertility: the use of fertilizers and pesticides with the help of modern machines Causes soil to lose its fertility
Indeed, agricultural technologies can make farming effortless and profitable for farmers but being fully dependent on technology is not the right choice. Hope you have understood everything. Help and support us to grow.
