Farming on a Whole New Level

Farming on a Whole New Level
Although people have worked in agriculture for more than 10,000 years, advances in technology assist with maintaining and protecting land, crops, and animal. The demand to keep food prices affordable encourage those working in the agriculture industry to operate as efficiently as possible (Newman and Ruiz 33-47). Almost all people and companies in this industry have many acres of land they must maintains, and it is not always feasible for farmers to take frequent trips around the property to perform basic tasks such as watering soil in the absence of rain. The number of people - hours required to water soil manually on several thousand acres of land might result in businesses sending thousands of dollars in labor and utility costs. If the irrigation process is automated, sensors detect how much rain has fallen recently, as well as whether the soil is in need of watering. The sensors then send this data to a computer that processes in and decided when and how much to water. In addition to keeping the soil moist and reducing maintenance cost, computers also can utilize sensors to analyze the condition of crops in the field and determine whether pest or diseases are affecting the crop. If sensors detect pests and/or diseases, computers send a notification to the appropriate individual to take corrective action. In some cases, according to

Brewster, the discovery of pests might trigger a pesticide to discharge in the affected are automatically (Agriculture: Expanding and Growing). Many farmers use technology on a daily basic to regulate soil moisture and to keep their crops pest free. With technology, farming can be much more convenient and efficient.

Reference

Barton, B. (2012, Feb.). Computer in Agriculture. Agriculture Today and Tomorrow, pp. 53-86.
Brewster, L. (2012, Jan. 3). Agriculture: Expanding and Growing. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2012
Newman, A. D. (2012). The Agricultural Industry Today. New York : Alabama Press.

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[ 1 ]. Barton states that many automated home irrigation systems also are programmable and use rain sensors (67-73).