One of the things we do need to be careful of is to make sure that no one is left behind with the development of agricultural technology , as some of its participants are among the most impoverished in society .
One of the things we do need to be careful of is to make sure that no one is left behind with the development of agricultural technology , as some of its participants are among the most impoverished in society .
to predict the weather . In other places , huge greenhouses are built to control the weather .
Even in the cities , there is a growing trend in urban farming . From balconies to rooftops , many are taking to growing simple plants and herbs to reap both their benefit to our nutritional needs and also their benefit to our mental health .
Vertical farming , often coupled with aquaponics , is also on the rise with hundreds of kilos of crops harvested from very small spaces . This soil-less method of farming means that crops can now be grown anywhere , including inside malls , as we have seen in the Klang Valley .
THE MODERN FARMER ENGINEER
Given all the advancements in technology in the agriculture sector , there are still numerous serious unresolved issues for engineers and scientists to address .
Despite the benefits of the genetic modification of food , its ethical debate remains a hot potato topic . It is practically unpredictable to say if genetically modifying a banana or tomato will have adverse effects on humans in the long term .
What is clearer is how making some crops resistant to pests , has altered the delicate biodiversity of our natural ecosystems . The insect population , in particular , have been inadvertently affected by the engineering that we have done . There is a rising concern in some countries that the local bee population is dwindling to a point where it is affecting pollination among crops .
Other sectors have also started to look into agriculture as a means of obtaining their resources . The development and production of biofuels , in particular , has been quite controversial over the last few years with its competition against food sources .
And then there are the robots . It is an ongoing debate if robots are going to replace farmers in the fields even as they have replaced many workers in other sectors . It used to be that families would encourage their children to pursue higher education so that they could get nice jobs in the city and not need to do the backbreaking work of taking care of farms in the kampungs .
It does seem , however , that increasingly one needs to have at least an IT degree to be able to keep up with all the technology that is flooding the agriculture sector today . With dashboards and robots and all sorts of tools , farmers these days have so much information available to them at their fingertips , from the pH of the soil to weather forecasts for the next three weeks .
With so much investment made into farms these days , there is a worry that small farms will not be able to keep up with those who can afford expensive technology . One of the things we do need to be careful of is to make sure that no one is left behind with the development of agricultural technology , as some of its participants are among the most impoverished in society .
Climate change is also an issue that the agricultural sector needs to be mindful of and be adaptive to . In many parts of the world , extreme weather , such as flash floods , has annihilated whole farms in a matter of days , wiping out the crops that farmers have worked so hard to cultivate . Extreme heat experienced in parts of the world has also made it unhealthy for farmers to stay out in fields for long hours .
As Malaysians , food plays a central role , not only in providing us nourishment but also as an integral part of our culture and our way of life . For this reason , we will always be curious about and interested in where our food comes from . As one of the primary industries in our country , the doors of innovation in the agriculture sector are wide open , and it is truly exciting to see what will come through them .
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