The impact of technology in agriculture Cocarlea Madalin

2. Innovation and Technology
• There is a lot of innovation in the mobile/IT and energy
spaces that have the potential to make a huge impact
on the farm. For example, smart power systems,
precision agriculture tools, farm management
software, and affordable sensors are all within reach of
even the smallest farmers today. From Nairobi to San
Francisco and from Tallin to Sydney, entrepreneurs are
taking advantage of new technology that makes these
products possible. We see potential in radio frequency
technologies (RFID, NFC, Bluetooth), the Internet of
Things and the big data that comes along with it, as
well as in clean technology advances from ambient
energy, to waste-to-energy, to renewable sources.

3. • Agriculture moved from family-owned, small farms to large,
corporate-owned farms.
• Agricultural productivity improved during this period due to internal
combustion powered tractors and combine harvesters, chemical
fertilizers, and the green revolution.
• The Cold War spurred technological innovation in the aerospace,
communications, and medical industries.
• The Soviet launch of Sputnik I led to a huge spike in American
technological and industrial productivity, including the creation
of NASA, as they sought to catch up.
• Major technological advances of the 1950s included satellites, the
hydrogen bomb, passenger jets, the discovery of DNA, the polio
vaccine, nuclear power plant, and transcontinental television
service.

4. Before and After

5. • Organic agriculture is a set of practices in which the use of
external inputs is minimized. Synthetic pesticides, chemical
fertilizers, synthetic preservatives, pharmaceuticals, GM
organisms, sewage sludge and irradiation are all excluded.
• Interest in organic agriculture has been boosted by public
concerns over pollution, food safety and human and animal
health, as well as by the value set on nature and the country-side.
Consumers in developed countries have shown themselves willing
to pay price premiums of 10 to 40 percent for organic produce,
while government subsidies have helped to make organic
agriculture economically viable.
• As a result, organic agriculture has expanded rapidly in Western
countries. Between 1995 and 2000, the total area of organic land
in Europe and the United States tripled, albeit from a very low
base.

6. • Organic agriculture offers many environmental benefits. Agrochemicals
can pollute groundwater, disrupt key ecological processes such as
pollination, harm beneficial micro-organisms and cause health hazards to
farm workers. Modern monoculture using synthetic inputs often harms
biodiversity at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels. The external
costs of conventional agriculture can be substantial.

7. • Efficient farm management and resource
efficiency –A declining percentage of farmers in
the world have to produce more for a growing
population. Fortunately, advances in technology
can have significant impact, as did irrigation
systems, tractors, and other mechanical
innovations in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Further, a “whole farm approach” optimizes the
farmer’s efficiency, including use of water, waste,
soil, energy, and most importantly, time.
Precision agriculture technologies, for example,
can optimize fertilizer applications, saving time
and money by creating a more productive field

9. • www.investeddevelopment.com
• www.useoftechnology.com
• www.http://animalsmart.org