Hello World! Welcome Friends! A 2015 study revealed that there are about 570 million farms around the world. On the contrary, another study revealed that the produce from the farms all around the world is insufficient to cater to the increasing population.
It means, with the increasing global population, new methods for farming and increasing the yield are becoming a necessity. This mandates a necessary overhauling of the agriculture industry. Thankfully, many agri-tech companies have already stepped up with innovative ideas that not only improve the yield for the farmers but also let them thrive with limited natural resources. To put this in perspective, modern technology is looking forward to reducing the dependence of agriculture on natural resources. Not to mention that people who are keen on growing their own food can simply check out sites like https://naturaldwellers.com/ for important information.
What are the Challenges?
Agriculture has been the primary economic activity throughout ages, across different communities, and since the dawn of civilization. However, the changing economic conditions and shift from agriculture to modern employment opportunities have made the sector devoid of the manpower. Moreover, farming itself affects nature adversely, although minimally. For example, activities like tilling, harvesting, cropping, irrigation, etc. consume a lot of natural resources and also increase the chances of soil erosion. Since soil is the foremost resource needed for farming, depletion in its quality also depletes the quality of the crops.
Another possible challenge that the agriculture sector continually faces is maintaining a high yield. Well, a good yield depends on not only the volume of cropping but also on the availability of resources and extent of care these crops are offered. For example, a good yield requires good quality fertilizers, regular irrigation, and preventing the crops from pests and insects. But instead, using chemicals (which is the most common and abundantly used caring technique) for fertilizing and preventing crops for insects has an adverse effect on the health of natural resources. Although using chemical fertilizers and pesticides increases the yield, the soil and water reserves have to bear the losses. These chemicals are often carried away with the water into the streams and rivers affecting marine life. On the other hand, soil creatures that are necessary for replenishing the quality of the soil also die off due to these chemicals.
While these challenges, the yield, and quality, are quite imminent, there are other hurdles for the agriculture sector as well. These may include the challenges in the supply chain, storage and processing of crops, and also the valuation of the produce. Farmers are constantly struggling to make ends meet while also taking care of the demands for increasing production.
Thankfully, these issues might be adequately addressed by modern technology. The innovations in the field of agriculture range from methods for cultivation without regular resources to some ultra-advanced technology for increasing the yield. Let’s have a look at some of these innovations.
Hydroponics/Aeroponics- Farming Without Soil
The most remarkable advancement in agriculture is cultivation of the crops without soil. Yes, the soil used to be the most necessary resource for farming, but clearly, it is not anymore. The hydroponics uses a growth medium, usually an aqueous solution of minerals required by the crops. According to the experts at Farming Aquaponics, it is important that you check out your options for the plants that can be cultivated in specialized trays, using growth medium and require less care. The roots absorb these minerals directly from the solution required for their growth. Additionally, LED lights that emit specific frequencies of UV and IR rays are used to imitate sunlight, which is necessary for photosynthesis. It is noteworthy that this method uses a lot less space and resources as compared to the traditional farming method. Moreover, the problem with soil erosion is completely overruled.
Aeroponics is similar to hydroponics technology but instead of using an aggregate growth medium, the crops are cultivated in a misty environment. The roots are suspended in air, and they are continuously supplied with a nutrient-rich mist from below. Apart from this, the rest of the measures are more or less the same, including artificial lighting and temperature control systems.
Although aeroponics and hydroponics can significantly help overcome space and erosion problems, they still require a lot of water. And in areas with water scarcity or unavailability of running water supply, this could be a huge problem. However, there’s another solution that could help overcome the problem with water shortage.
Aquaponics- Farming Without Wasting Water
While hydroponics is really a great way of producing higher yields in small spaces/areas, the problem with this technique is that- it uses a lot of water. Similarly, aeroponics also makes use of a lot of water. Of course, these techniques help reduce the problems with one of the resources (the soil), they also end up stressing other resources unnecessarily.
Taking the hydroponics technology a step further, farmers can now also opt for aquaponics. The technology combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics in a recirculating system. To put it into perspective, the water from the fish tank is rich in nutrients from fish excretes. This water is circulated into the hydroponics tank, for the plants to use these nutrients. In this process, the plants actually clean the water of the components which are toxic for fishes. Then this clean water is circulated back to the fish tank. So, this creates a continuous cycle of cleaning the water for fish tanks and supplying the plants with necessary nutrients without using a lot of water. In fact, several studies reveal that using aquaponics for the cultivation of vegetables and utility crops can save up to 95% of water. Therefore, this method could effectively reduce the influence of farming activities on natural resources to a large extent, and that too without affecting any other resource in an attempt to protect one.
It needs no saying that agriculture is one of the most necessary activities that simply cannot be avoided. But at the same time, the impact that this need to meet the increasing demand for food has on the environment can also not be allowed. Innovating new technologies and adopting new methods that could help retain the quality of products along with increasing the yield is the only way forward. Moreover, the advancements in technology also need to be made keeping in mind that they do not affect the environment, otherwise.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
One Room Challenge: Teen Bedroom – Week 7
5 Qualities that Tells a Vacuum Bag is Long Lasting
The Most Important Stages of Building a Home
Spotting Real Estate Opportunities
I’d love for you to join my email list! You’ll receive a notification straight to your inbox once a week on Monday which will include links to party posts and my home project posts! Simply enter your address below.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
Aquaponics is one of my fields of interest, I have a mini water garden fish tank, and this article seems very useful for me