Agri Future – Hands up agriculture

Archive for the ‘Farming’ Category

At the present growth rate of 1.1% per year, the U.S. population will double to more than half a billion people within the next 60 years. It is estimated that approximately one acre of land is lost due to urbanization and highway construction alone for every person added to the U.S. population. This means that only 0.6 acres of farmland would be available to grow food for each American in 2050, as opposed to the 1.8 acres per capita available today. At least 1.2 acres per person is required in order to maintain current American dietary standards. Food prices are projected to increase 3 to 5-fold within this period. If present population growth, domestic food consumption and topsoil loss trends continue, the U.S. will most likely cease to be a food exporter by approximately 2025 because food grown in the U.S. will be needed for domestic purposes. Since food exports earn billion for the U.S. annually, the loss of this income source would result in an even greater increase in America’s trade deficit. Considering that America is the world’s largest food exporter, the future survival of millions of people around the world may also come into question if food exports from the U.S. were to cease. University and Mario Giampietro Istituto of Nazionale della Nutrizione, Rome Indicates that the rate of America’s population growth rate is a 1.1% per year and will double to more than half a billion people within the next 60 years.  In greater Phoenix, Arizona area we see the disappearance of orange and other citrus groves, dairy farms, and farm land.  In its place housing development at a rapid rate especially near Native American reservation settings within an urban settings.  In some cases, cities and towns buffering right up to the borders of reservation settings.  From 1990 to 2000 all of Arizona nearly doubled in size and most likely with the new 2010 US Census report it will be more than doubled.

Take care of your plants this winter with heated propagators for sale from Oasis Gardening

Indicates that the rate of America’s population growth rate is a 1.1% per year and will double to more than half a billion people within the next 60 years.  In greater Phoenix, Arizona area we see the disappearance of orange and other citrus groves, dairy farms, and farm land.  In its place housing development at a rapid rate especially near Native American reservation settings within an urban settings.  In some cases, cities and towns buffering right up to the borders of reservation settings.  From 1990 to 2000 all of Arizona nearly doubled in size and most likely with the new 2010 US Census report it will be more than doubled.  In an article in Yale University’s Environment 360, Jonathan Foley, Director of the Institute of the Environment, University of Minnesota, argues that the global community now faces a “crisis in land use and agriculture that could undermine the health, security, and sustainability of our civilization.” While climate change has received enormous attention (rightfully, Foley argues), human population growth, and the corresponding rising global demand for meat and dairy products, as well as the growing need for bioenergy from corn, sugarcane, and other sources should be equal cause for concern. “We are putting tremendous pressure on the world’s resources. As the international community focuses on climate change as the great challenge of our era, it is ignoring another looming problem — the global crisis in land use. With agricultural practices already causing massive ecological impact, the world must now find new ways to feed its burgeoning population and launch a Green Revolution. With the population growth it not only has demands upon land but water and energy are impacted as well. “Water is critical for all crops which require and transpire massive amounts of water during the growing season. For example, a hectare of corn will transpire more than 5 million liters of water during one growing season. This means that more than 8 million liters of water per hectare must reach the crop.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian Economy said Mahatma Gandhi five decades ago. Even today, as we enter the new millennium, the situation is still the same, with almost the entire economy being sustained by agriculture, which is the mainstay of the villages. Not only the economy, but also every one of us looks up to agriculture for our sustenance too. Although agriculture contributes only 21% of Indias GDP, its importance in the countrys economic, social, and political fabric goes well beyond this indicator. The rural areas are still home to some 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, a large number of whom are poor. Most of the rural poor depend on rain-fed agriculture and fragile forests for their livelihoods. The sharp rise in foodgrain production during Indias Green Revolution of the 1970s enabled the country to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains and stave off the threat of famine. Agricultural intensification in the 1970s to 1980s saw an increased demand for rural labor that raised rural wages and, together with declining food prices, reduced rural poverty. Sustained, although much slower, agricultural growth in the 1990s reduced rural poverty to 26.3 percent by 1999/00. Since then, however, the slowdown in agricultural growth has become a major cause for concern. Indias rice yields are one-third of Chinas and about half of those in Vietnam and Indonesia. With the exception of sugarcane, potato and tea, the same is true for most other agricultural commodities. The Government of India places high priority on reducing poverty by raising agricultural productivity. However, bold action from policymakers will be required to shift away from the existing subsidy-based regime that is no longer sustainable, to build a solid foundation for a highly productive, internationally competitive, and diversified agricultural sector.

ICTs play a key role in improving the availability of agricultural production and market information in developing countries. ICT-based market information systems have a proven track record for improving rural livelihoods in middle income developing countries where they have been introduced. However, these systems are generally limited in scale and have not been effectively replicated beyond the local level. This paper attempts an analysis of the ICT play an important role in bringing about sustainable agricultural development and future perspectives in agriculture and ICT. It is recommended that, in drought-prone and less endowed areas, future ICT initiatives provide information services such as facilitation of access to land records, question-and-answer services, information on rural development programmes, weather forecasting, marketing information, best package of practices for dry land agriculture, information on crop insurance and post- harvest technology. It is also recommended that, before ICT services are set up in a region, efforts are made to develop among the farmers both a satisfactory level of faith in the intentions of the ICT staff and a firm commitment to the goals of the proposed project. It is also suggested that participatory and rapid rural appraisals are carried out to ascertain what information the farmers need. In the process, the farmers’ self-fulfilling faith in the information services provided should be enhanced. It is further recommended that the farmers be instructed in how to get the best possible use out of the services provided. Today a new paradigm of agricultural development is fast emerging: in both developing and developed countries the overall development of rural areas is expanding in new directions; old ways of delivering important services to citizens are being challenged; and traditional societies are being transformed into knowledge societies all over the world.  ICTs play a key role in improving the availability of agricultural production and market information in developing countries. ICT-based market information systems have a proven track record for improving rural livelihoods in middle income developing countries where they have been introduced.

The total power of China’s agricultural machinery was 525.7 million kW in 2000, 684.0 million kW in 2005, 821.9 million kW in 2008, and 875.0 million kW in 2009. In the meantime, the ownership of large and medium-sized tractors increased from 975,000 sets in 2000 to 5.019 million sets in 2009, while the ownership of combine harvesters rose from 235,000 sets to 847,000 sets, at a CAGR of 20.2% and 15.3% respectively. With the growth in both the subsidy for and the total number of agricultural machinery, China’s agricultural machinery structure has been continuously improved. On the one hand, agricultural machinery power per hectare had increased gradually to 7.2kW in 2009, up 22.0% compared to 5.9kW in 2007. On the other hand, the large-power, high-performance and compound machinery had witnessed rapid growth. In 2007, the general agricultural mechanization level, and the ratio of agricultural labor force to total social employment respectively reached 42.5% and 38%, indicating that China’s agricultural mechanization had entered into the intermediate period. In 2009, the general agricultural mechanization level reached 48.8%, and the mechanization of plowing, sowing and harvesting respectively achieved 64%, 40% and 37%. Meanwhile, China’s three major crops also achieved rapid development in terms of mechanization level. Wheat production has almost achieved complete mechanization, and the production of both rice and corn achieved over 54% of mechanization. In 2009, the general agricultural mechanization level of wheat, rice and corn was respectively 89%, 54.9% and 54.8%. After the launch of agricultural machinery subsidy policy, the total number of China’s agricultural machinery cooperative organizations and large agricultural machinery owners increased to 39 million in 2009 from 30.818 million in 2003, and agricultural mechanization income also rose to RMB380 billion in 2009 from RMB226.96 billion in 2003. Besides worldwide and China’s agricultural machinery development, the report also makes an in-depth analysis of six agricultural machinery products, six key provinces and municipalities, as well as 15 major companies.By product, tractor, harvesting machinery, field machinery and agricultural transport machinery except pump all witnessed rapid growth in output in 2009.