4. Agriculture
• Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the
cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for
food, fiber, biofuel, drugs and other products used to sustain
and enhance human life.
5. Technology
• The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes,
especially in industry.
• Machinery and equipment developed from the application of
scientific knowledge.
• The branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied
sciences.
8. History
• Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers, pesticides and the
domestication of livestock were developed a long time ago, but have made great progress in
the past century.
• When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families,
others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition.
• Till the modern age the use of cattle and animals became predominant and also the
production of hand tools, horse shoes and ploughs led to the development in agriculture.
9. Modern developments
• In the 20th century through mechanization self-propelled mechanical harvesters,
planters and other equipment were developed, further revolutionizing agriculture.
• These inventions allowed farming tasks to be done with a speed and on a scale previously
impossible, leading modern farms to output much greater volumes of high-quality
produce per land unit.
10. The
Haber–Bosch Process
• In 1909 the Haber-Bosch method to synthesize ammonium nitrate was first
demonstrated, it represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to
overcome previous constraints.
• Nitrogen is a critical limiting mineral nutrient in plant growth. Carbon and oxygen are
also critical, but are easily obtained by plants from soil and air. Even though air is 78%
nitrogen, atmospheric nitrogen is nutritionally unavailable because nitrogen molecules
are held together by strong triple bond
11. • Nitrogen must be 'fixed', i.e. converted into some bioavailable form, through natural or
man-made processes. It was not until the early 20th century that Fritz Haber developed the
first practical process to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, which is nutritionally
available.
• N2 + 3 H2 → 2 NH3 (ΔH = −92.4 kJ·mol−1)
• Fertilizer generated from ammonia produced by the Haber process is estimated to be
responsible for sustaining one-third of the Earth's population.
12. Green Revolution
• Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer
initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1960s, that increased agriculture
production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the
late 1960s.
• The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the "Father of the Green Revolution" credited with
saving over a billion people from starvation, involved the development of high yielding
varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of
management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides
to farmers.
13. Mechanized Agriculture
• Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize the
work of agriculture, greatly increasing farm worker productivity.
• In modern times powered machinery has replaced many jobs formerly carried out by
men or animals.
14. Commonly used agricultural machinery
Tractor:
• The most common use of the term "tractor" is for the vehicles used on farms. The farm
tractor is used for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, tilling,
disking, harrowing, planting, and similar tasks.
• Specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the
purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture.
15. Cultivator
• A cultivator is any of several types of farm implement used for secondary tillage. One sense
of the name refers to frames with teeth (also called shanks) that pierce the soil as they are
dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of
disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result.
• Cultivators were originally drawn by draft animals (such as horses, mules, or oxen) or
were pushed or drawn by people.
• Cultivators stir and pulverize the soil, either before planting (to aerate the soil or after the
crop has begun growing to kill weeds.
16. Seed drill
• A seed drill is a sowing device that precisely positions seeds in the soil and then covers them.
Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by hand.
Besides being wasteful, planting was very imprecise and led to a poor distribution of seeds,
leading to low productivity. The use of a seed drill can improve the ratio of crop yield by as
much as nine times.
17. Potato planter:
• A potato planter is a farm implement for sowing seed potatoes. A manual planter is sometimes
called a bell planter, which may have two farm hands sitting on the back whilst taking potatoes
from a hopper. The length between potatoes is tolled by a bell, at the sound of which potatoes
are thrown down tubes. An automatic planter is hitched behind a farm tractor with a three-
point linkage and towed. Cups lift seed potatoes from a hopper and drop them in tubes,
planting up to eight drills at a time.
18. Rice Planter: A rice trans planter is a specialized transplanter fitted
to transplant rice seedlings onto paddy field.
Broadcast spreader : A broadcast seeder, alternately
called a broadcast spreader, is a farm implement
commonly used for spreading seed, lime, fertilizer,
sand, ice melt, etc., and is an alternative to drop
spreaders/seeders
19. Drip irrigation
• Drip irrigation, also known as
trickle irrigation or micro
irrigation or localized irrigation,
is an irrigation method that saves
water and fertilizer by allowing
water to drip slowly to the roots
of plants, either onto the soil
surface or directly onto the root
zone, through a network of
valves, pipes, tubing, and
emitters. It is done through
narrow tubes that deliver water
directly to the base of the plant.
20. Baler
• A baler is a piece of farm machinery used to
compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay,
cotton, straw, or silage) into compact bales
that are easy to handle, transport, and store.
Several different types of balers are
commonly used, each producing a different
type of bales – rectangular or cylindrical, of
various sizes, bound with twine, strapping,
netting, or wire. Industrial balers are also
used in material recycling facilities,
primarily for baling metal, plastic, or paper
for transport
21. Livestock trailer
• A trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle
pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly,
the term trailer refers to such vehicles used
for transport of goods and materials. The
most common is the stock trailer, a trailer
that is enclosed on the bottom, but has
openings at approximately the eye level of
the animals to allow ventilation
22. Milking machines
• Milking machines are used to harvest milk from cows when manual milking becomes
inefficient or labor intensive. Milking machines work in a way that is different from
hand milking or calf suckling. Continuous vacuum is applied inside the soft liner to
massage milk from the teat by creating a pressure difference across the teat canal (or
opening at the end of the teat). Vacuum also helps keep the machine attached to the
cow.
23. Bulk tank
• In dairy farming a bulk milk cooling tank is a large storage tank for cooling and holding
milk at a cold temperature until it can be picked up by a milk hauler. The bulk milk cooling
tank is an important piece of dairy farm equipment. It is usually made of stainless steel and
used every day to store the raw milk on the farm in good condition. It must be cleaned after
each milk collection. The milk cooling tank can be the property of the farmer or be rented
from a dairy plant.
24. Genetically modified crops
• To produce genetically modified food and materials with
diverse uses.
• To provide protection from environmental threats, such
as cold (in the case of Ice-minus bacteria), or pathogens,
such as insects or viruses, and/or resistance to
herbicides. There are also fungal and virus resistant
crops developed or in development.
• To modify the quality of the produce, for instance,
increasing the nutritional value or providing more
industrially useful qualities or quantities of the produce.
The Amflora potato, for example, produces a more
industrially useful blend of starches. Cows have been
engineered to produce more protein in their milk to
facilitate cheese production.
25. • Another goal in generating GMOs is to directly improve yield by accelerating growth, or
making the organism hardier (for plants, by improving salt, cold or drought tolerance).
Some agriculturally important animals have been genetically modified with growth
hormones to increase their size.
• These modified crops would also reduce the usage of chemicals, such as fertilizers and
pesticides, and therefore decrease the severity and frequency of the damages produced by
this chemical pollution.
• Ethical and safety concerns have been raised around the use of genetically modified food.
A major safety concern relates to the human health implications of eating genetically
modified food, in particular whether toxic or allergic reactions could occur.
• A long-term study (2002 through 2008) on the economic impacts of Bt cotton in India,
showed that BT cotton increased yields, profits, and living standards of smallholder
farmers. However, recently cotton bollworm has been developing resistance to Bt cotton
and the Indian Agriculture Ministry linked farmers' suicides in India to the declining
performance of Bt cotton for the first time. Consequently, in 2012 the state of
Maharashtra banned Bt cotton and ordered a socio-economic study of it’s use.
26. • These fuels are produced from living organisms. These fuels are made by a biomass
conversion (biomass refers to recently living organisms, most often referring to plants
or plant-derived materials). This biomass conversion can result in fuel in solid, liquid,
or gas form.
• Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for
vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of
particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles.
27. • . In 2010, worldwide biofuel production reached 105 billion liters and biofuels provided
2.7% of the world's fuels for road transport, a contribution largely made up of ethanol
and biodiesel. The International Energy Agency has a goal for biofuels to meet more
than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 to reduce dependence
on petroleum and coal.
30. • Crop-duster: Targeting: Insects don't attack
a field with a uniform distribution. Instead
outbreaks of insect activity are concentrated
in certain areas. Workers strolling the crops
can use a GPS to record the locations of
insect problems. The data can then be used
by crop-duster pilots to selectively target the
problem areas instead of treating an entire
field. This method results in a savings of
time, fuel, and insecticide and crop exposure
to chemicals
• Tractor Guidance: Farmers can put their
tractors on auto-pilot. If they plough their
fields with a recording GPS system the
tractor can then be programmed to follow
the same route - for cultivating, fertilizing,
pest control and harvesting. The
programming of tractor routes has the
potential to save a lot of money.
31. • Tracking Livestock: The location of valuable animals on a large farm can be monitored by
GPS transmitters attached to the animals collar. When the animals are sent to market GPS
transmitters can also be used to track their location.
• Yield Monitoring: Estimates of yield variations across a property can be made using GPS.
To do this the property is divided into zones and the yield of each zone is estimated and
plotted on a map. The map can then be used to better understand the property and for
decision-making in regard to the next planting.
• Soil Sampling: Collecting soil samples across a large property can be organized using GPS
and mapping software. The sample locations can be way pointed in the field and those
waypoints marked on the mapping software. Then, when the laboratory results are
returned the data can be plotted on the maps and decisions for soil treatment can be made
for various parts of the property. The locational information can save money and time by
allowing variable rate applications and treating only those areas with a documented need.
32. IMPEDIMENTS IN MODERNIZING AGRICULTURE
• Increase in Unemployment: In the poor countries the rate of unemployment is already high. So
the use of machinery in agriculture has increased the rate of unemployment in the country. It is
useful in those countries where labor is not available or labor is costly.
• Not Suitable for Small Holding: The use of machinery is not profitable for small holdings. The
majority of the farmers in underdeveloped countries is the owner of small holdings. For
instance, owner of a 5 acre land cannot purchase tractor.
• Costly Machinery: In the poor countries farmer is unable to purchase the expensive machinery
due to poverty. While labor is cheap in the poor country. Costly machinery increases the cost of
production.
33. • Lack of Technical Knowledge: In the underdeveloped countries majority of farmers are
uneducated and they cannot handle the machines. So misuse of machinery causes a great loss
to the farmer.
• Lack of Foreign Exchange: Foreign exchange is required to make payments for imported
machinery. There is a shortage of foreign exchange in poor countries. So it becomes difficult to
import the machinery.
• Preparing Facilities: In most of developing countries maintenance and repairing facilities are
not available in the rural areas. The break down of the machinery will cause delay in
agricultural operation.
• Lack of Energy Resources: Oil, Gas, and Electricity are the main source of energy. These are
essential for the farm mechanization but there is shortage of these resources in the most of
underdeveloped countries. Prices of oil are increasing day by day.
