The technology used in agriculture has drastically evolved over the years. Let’s dive into the interesting story of the evolution of agriculture.
“When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilisation.”
– Daniel Webster
The above-mentioned quote perfectly encapsulates the significant role that agriculture has played in shaping human civilisation. Without the advent of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago, modern human civilization wouldn’t have been possible. It would be important to note that modern humans i.e., homo sapiens, have been largely hunter-gatherers for most of their approximate 200,000 years of existence and that agriculture is a modern phenomenon that allowed humans to settle in places with fertile lands and give up their nomadic lives. With regards to technology used in agriculture, it has varied and evolved exponentially over the years due to the emergence of new technologies and tools.
Guess what wouldn’t have been possible without agriculture?
The great pyramids of Giza wouldn’t have been possible without the fertile lands surrounding the Nile River – the bedrock of Egyptian civilization.
From global positioning system (GPS) powered tracking to modern irrigation systems, the technology used in agriculture has transformed substantially and will continue to evolve. Genetically engineered seeds have led to higher yields and enhanced the quality of produce along with its shelf life, thus overcoming the shortcomings of ancient seed varieties and meeting the nutritional needs of the largest human population ever in the history of mankind. To celebrate the human tenacity and ingenuity, let’s briefly discuss some technologies used in agriculture.
Top 5 technologies used in agriculture
Weather monitoring
Crop growth and weather are inextricably linked. Indoor farming with controlled temperature and lighting is slowly gaining prominence in developed countries that have capital to spare, but in developing countries like India, agriculture remains largely weather dependent. Certain crops require either high or low temperatures to germinate and develop.
Additionally, by combining temperature with humidity, pest infestation, and diseases can be predicted. Thus, weather monitoring systems can help farmers exhaustively plan crop protection, sowing, harvesting, along with other farming activities by clearly anticipating weather conditions with the help of hi-tech tools. Through weather monitoring tech, farmers can gauge crop and soil conditions including parameters like air and soil temperature, soil moisture, humidity, wind speed and direction, and rainfall.
Precision agriculture
Precision agriculture (PA) aims at improving agricultural yield by designing a strategy based on observations, measurements, and responses to spatial and temporal variations. It’s also referred to as satellite agriculture, site-specific crop management, and as-needed farming in some instances.
Through the utilisation of information technology (IT), precision farming sees to it that the crops and soil are supplied with the essentials required for maximum productivity and health. This results in profit along with economically sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions.
PA provides farmers with real-time data about the crop, air, and soil conditions, in addition to other important information like local weather forecasts, labour costs, and availability of equipment.
Crop and soil sensors
The function of soil sensors is to measure essential soil properties and are used in conjunction with GPS, which generates field maps of distinct soil features. For example, sensors designed to measure soil moisture can measure and estimate the water content in the soil. These sensors can either be stationary or movable like handheld probes.
Likewise, remote sensing technologies can also be used to monitor crop health. Such equipment is designed to read the electromagnetic spectrum of light reflected by the leaves of plants. By gauging the subtle colour of the light, the chlorophyll levels in the plants can be discerned. Furthermore, such tech can evaluate crop growth, detect subtle changes in vegetation, etc., further propelling the advancement of agriculture.
RFID and security technologies
RFID technology is designed to read and record data through radio waves and is utilised in livestock farming for animal tracking and for locating inventory in food chains. RFID tags can maintain vast repositories of data and can be used for storing information such as the time of harvest, moisture content, temperature, and nutrition data. The technology can accurately store data that can be used by entities while exporting and importing agricultural commodities.
Regarding farm security, there are devices ranging from motion sensors to security cameras that can help safeguard fields. Just like a home alarm, motion sensors installed at farms can detect movements and alert the owner. There are even state-of-the-art infrared sensors that can detect unusual heat patterns, and devices that can warn of pest attacks.
AI technologies
Out of all the technologies discussed so far, AI is perhaps the most potent and revolutionary technology that dictates the various facets of farming. AI has the potential to save the agricultural sector from climate change while fulfilling the food needs of a burgeoning world population. The technology can play a critical role in agricultural processes like real-time crop monitoring, harvesting, processing, and marketing. Moreover, AI can be used to detect and diagnose the various diseases that affect crops. Lastly, the tech can be utilised for detecting weed-infected areas precisely and spraying pesticides on them.
The evolution of agricultural tools
Early agriculture is characterised by simple hand tools like the axe, plough, sickle, etc., devices that are still used by certain tribal communities and farmers. With the gradual progress in time, tractors have successfully replaced the ox, horse, and even humans in terms of raw muscle power and efficiency. As a continuance of the trend, cutting-edge smart tractors are touted to replace traditional tractors in the future. Surveillance technologies powered by remote sensing will render scarecrows obsolete in the future.
What has happened is the mechanisation of agriculture over the years. However, the issue of mechanisation of agriculture is nuanced as certain mechanical tools like ploughs, tractors, planters, seeders, etc. aren’t very recent and can be replaced by superior equipment in the future and can be referred to as low-mechanisation tools.
On the other hand, the features of high-tech mechanisation include high flexibility and nimbleness in terms of switching tasks, variations in performing operations, and the use of a considerable amount of software fuelled by AI. The crucial difference between low-tech and hi-tech mechanisation is that the former supports and/or substitutes basic human labour, while the latter is designed to aid and/or replace complex human functionalities like cognition, decision-making, sensing, precise hand-to-eye coordination, and performing complicated operations like selective harvesting.
Cutting-edge sensors, advances in computing, the economic feasibility of hi-tech tools, and the rise of AI, are some factors that have moulded the technology used in agriculture.
A brief study of the history of agriculture would reveal that the evolution of technology used in agriculture has played a big part in the success of humans as a species. What do you think will be the next revolutionary technology in agriculture? In our opinion, hydroponics is certainly a strong contender.
Also Read – AI-led smart farming solutions transforming agriculture in India
