Musings on Conservation Agriculture
Journal Title: Current Investigations in Agriculture and Current Research - Year 2018, Vol 1, Issue 5
Abstract
The dawn of the 21st century has witnessed an explosion in the already increasing advances in technology and knowledge; observation of the Higgs particle in the large Hadron collider, determination of the age and size of the universe by the Hubble telescope and the amount of transistors that can be placed on a single chip, amongst others. Thus, it is very easy and convenient to measure the advancement of the human race on these achievements alone, ignoring other important aspects that equally contribute to our survival: Agriculture. Homo sapiens sapiens was predominantly hunter-gatherers during the first few hundred years. As time went on, the mobile lifestyle of hunting, gathering and scavenging gave way to a more sedentary one; agriculture. Since then, majority of the human needs for food have been largely derived from cultivating the field. We tinkered with agriculture and developed tools, primitive as they might be, to improve crop production. We used sticks to bore holes for seed incorporation. This led to the development of the plow and later the heavy tillage equipment that we are currently familiar with. We studied soil microorganisms and can now use them to boost crop productivity. We are now able to breed needed traits into cash crops to improve productivity on less productive soils. All these efforts are also indicators of human advancement. Despite this technological, medical, and agricultural advancement, we are still faced with certain problems. Not too long ago, 99% of humans were involved in agriculture. Currently, an approximated 1% of humans are responsible for feeding and nourishing the remaining 99%. This huge demand for food, feed and fiber naturally puts pressure on farmers and producers alike. This is further exacerbated by the rising human population and the increasing average age of farmers. How do we, as specie, respond to these challenges?
Authors and Affiliations
Samuel I Haruna
Keywords
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- EP ID EP570268
- DOI 10.32474/CIACR.2018.01.000125
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