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How agriculture technology has helped feed our growing population

Even if you’ve never being involved in anything that has to do with farming, you could easily attest to the changes in agriculture technology throughout history. Well, if you think there haven’t been many changes, ask your grandparents how they got their food and you’ll get a better idea of what I’m talking about.

Do you know that there are over seven billion people in the world? Well, that’s true, and the number keeps increasing every passing day. As humans, we can’t possibly do without food. So how will we be able to provide safe and highly nutritious food to the world? There’s no other way to do this than through changes and advancement in the agricultural system.

The agricultural revolution began in the 18th and 19th century. This period witnessed significant changes in the way people farmed. Scientific techniques were used to boost crop yield as well as to breed better livestock. Over 200 hundred years, up to ninety percent of the people in the US dwelled on farms and produced their own food. However, today only about two percent of the population produces the food including meats, fruits, dairy and vegetables that everyone eats. Now that’s a significant change in the number of people associated with producing and making sure there’s more than enough food to go around.

So How Has agriculture technology Evolved?

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Farmers utilize technology to make significant advances in producing more food for the ever-growing world. Thanks to Agriculture Technology, farmers can seamlessly produce more food to feed more people. Farmers make use of technology such as motorized equipment as well as modified housing for animals and biotechnology which allow for improvement in agriculture.

The changes in equipment have given farmers the opportunity to effortlessly farm and grow food. In the past, farmers would have to carry out all kind of field work by hand or with horse-drawn equipment and this would obviously take a very long time to complete.

Moreover, the horses were not fast enough to get the job done, and farmers would have to let the horses rest from time to time.

Today, most farmers utilize tractors as well as other motorized equipment to boost field work. Since tractors are larger and tend to move faster than horses, farmers can work on more land and grow more food.

While tractors are susceptible to breakdowns, they are still the perfect alternative to horses as they can run for longer period of time to meet the farmer’s needs.

Changes in Animal Care in April

Agriculture technology has also modified the way animals are raised as well as where they live. Through research with various animals, scientists have discovered the most ideal type of housing for animals to live and produce food.

For instance, Diary cows now dwell in barns that have comfortable mattresses, water beds or sand beds for them to sleep on. Moreover, fans and sprinklers keep them cool when it’s hot outside, and nutritionists are available to feed them special diets.

Now all this was not possible in the past as farmers did not know what makes a cow comfortable, but today farmers have enough information to take good care of their livestock and boost milk production.

Moreover, chickens are now kept indoor most times to shield them from predators such as hawks and other wild animals. This housing also protects them from diseases that might be carried by wild birds.

The good thing is that when chickens live in indoors, both the eggs and meat they produce will be protected from diseases making the final product very healthy for consumers.

The Power of Biotechnology

Biotechnology in agriculture has to do with the use of technology to make significant advancements in crop and animal production.

Today, seed technology has changed compared to how it was in the past; crops can withstand harsh weather conditions such as flooding and drought. In time past, an entire harvest could be destroyed by drought as plants were not able to withstand harsh weather conditions.

Thanks to today’s biotechnology and genetic engineering, crops can withstand bad weather conditions; this implies that farmers can comfortably harvest crops and supply food to the market even in harsh weather years. Moreover, seed technology also implies that farmers can plant different crops and add diversity into our diets.

Also, pesticides and herbicides give farmers the chance to protect crops from pest, insects, and weeds. By cutting down the amount of pests on farmlands, farmers are able to harvest more crops and have enough to sell to the market and still have enough for their families to eat.

Well, so far we have seen how agriculture has evolved over the years and how farmers have become more efficient in food production. Now we’re going to proceed to the next phase of the discussion.

Is Food Affecting Us As a Species?

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Well, the answer to this question depends on our eating habits. The food we eat gives our bodies the information and nutrients they need to function properly.

If we fail to get the right information, our metabolic processes suffer the consequences and our health declines.

If we overeat or eat foods that give our bodies the wrong instructions, we can become malnourished, overweight and stand the risk of developing health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

So, food can only affect us as a species when we stick to the consumption of the wrong foods that gives our bodies the wrong instructions.

In my opinion, food is affecting our society in both positive and negative ways; eating whole and organic foods is the sure way to perfect health while the regular consumption of processed foods is the sure way to countless health problems.



This post first appeared on TechDigg, please read the originial post: here

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