Pros and Cons of Agriculture Technology — Honest Pros and Cons

5 min readOct 3, 2019

Before mechanization took over the manual agricultural processes, it used to depend on internal resources, recycling of organic matter, built-in biological control mechanisms and rainfall patterns.

Understanding the Agriculture Technology

Agricultural yields were modest but stable. Agriculture depends on resources beneath the ground and above it, recycling of organic matter, rainfall patterns.

Science-based varieties of seeds helped increase global yields for all cereals, the grains that are grown on 45 percent of the world’s cropland.

Cereal yields went up by 126 percent between 1961 and 1998 (FAO 2001). In sum, there simply isn’t enough productive land worldwide to support today’s world population using yesterday’s technology. But the help of the technology where uncultivable and drylands are converted to suitable conditions have made it possible.

Thus, farmers take a risk to choose agriculture technology for the pros of it as well as accepting the cons like the GMOs — A technological method of enhancing the the food production .

Pros Of Agriculture Technology

The climate is the main factor where it’s unpredictable, sometimes everything goes well and the crops are finest at its peak and sometimes full drought and climate seem to be the obstacle itself. Without the right tools and knowledge, productivity can be hampered and farmers left counting losses.

Agriculture technology has provided farmers with many applications such as herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer and improved seed. Nowadays farmers are able to grow crops in the areas where they could not grow and the climate is not getting any ways to hamper as we have the backup plans provided by agriculture technology.

This increases the profitability of farmers with the production rate doubled and improve production costs, avoid losses and ensure stable production.

Harvesting is the vital factor for agriculture, to plant early, harvest in time, as well as ensure that the yield is stored within the right time.

Soil monitoring and testing techniques identify potential defects and nutrient deficiencies in soil, and the amount of supply water according to the requirement of crops.

Software algorithms that correlate particular foliage patterns with certain soil defects, plant pests and diseases. With the use of agriculture technology, plants such as potatoes and cassavas that are genetically produced are usually resistant to droughts, pests, and diseases. Such crops ensure good yields for farmers who would otherwise experience losses due to changing weather patterns.

3. Centre Pivot Irrigation

The pivot is one of the modern irrigation systems used in agriculture to make better use of water resources, particularly in arid regions of high culture. They are capable of operating on more uneven terrain than are most other irrigation systems.

The amount of water applied can be adjusted by changing the speed of the system and pivot center systems can also be used to apply types of fertilizers and pesticides, a relatively small amount of work is required.

Pivots allow good watering. The device works automatically and maintenance is low, hence almost non-existent labor costs.

4. Safer Growing Conditions And Safer Foods

Control pests with the help of synthetic chemicals (Pesticides, Insecticides, etc). Through the use of satellite imagery and drones, agriculture technology is adding value to farming through the use of hyperspectral imaging used to detect diseases, pests, and weeds.

Timely response enables farmers to mitigate losses that may result from such diseases and pests, thus improving yields. Decreased use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides, which in turn keeps food prices down as well as means healthy food.

Low run of chemicals and also waste materials into seas and water. Reduce the impact on the ecosystem. Mass production brings down the price of the product with easy availability in the market.

Spraying pesticides and fertilizer through drones cuts a large amount of manual work. It reduces costs and increases the farmer’s safety. Machines that can pick the crops and vegetables without damaging them.

It helps provide fresh products to the customer giving rise to the increase in demands. Transportation systems have enabled the farmers to transport their crops to the market within a short period.

This way the authenticity of the harvest is also maintained. Crops are no more damaged during transportation, and fresh products are available for the consumers.

One of the challenges that farmers face nowadays is the need to satisfy labor. There is an increasing cost of labor, which calls for better approaches to ensure less cost on labor.

The introduction of combined harvesters and planters simplifies the process. Production and time are some of the important elements of agriculture. Thus increasing the profit of farmers and reducing the cost of operation

Cons Of Agriculture Technology

When irrigated soils do not have sufficiently good drainage, they become waterlogged and when the water evaporates, the salts contained in the soil are dragged to the surface.

Almost half of the world’s irrigated land has lost its productivity for this reason and about 1.5 million hectares are lost each year. In addition to adding pollutants to water, soil, and air, modern agriculture technology practices can cause soil disturbance by using heavy machines and tilling equipment.

This, in turn, creates soil erosion and degrades the quality of surrounding farmland.

Agriculture technology has created substantial environmental effects, such as adding toxins and pesticides to water that leaches into rivers, lakes and the atmosphere. It may have benefits for crop production and farmers, they come at the cost of a negative impact on the environment.

Reports and studies reveal that farming affects and alters the environment in multiple ways. Forests are destroyed to create large open fields, and this could lead to soil erosion. It affects the natural habitat of wild animals.

The use of chemical fertilizers contaminates soil and water bodies, which invites various diseases to the society as well as plants living in the environment.

3. Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides

Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides to yield more and fast crops before time. It not only affects the crops but also the people and surrounding as it pollutes water and damage human health.

Pesticides sprayed on crops not only destroy pests and contaminate the crops but also kill beneficial insects. Fruits and vegetables purchased are covered with invisible pesticides. These cannot be washed off easily.

Exceeding the use of pesticides affects the health of human beings severely, leading to skin allergy, physical deformity, and congenital disease. The livestock and poultry are injected with hormones and other chemicals to increase the yield.

Due to lack of education farmer are unable to run the machine properly. Excessive use of fertilizer without knowledge may harm the crops as well as the environment.

Lack of practical knowledge the farmers cant handle the machines properly. As advancement is rapid in agricultural technology, updating the knowledge and demonstration of the new methods should be done in the areas where the need is the must.