Agricultural Technology; Its meaning, types, advantages and disadvantages (Club5050)

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Introduction

Agriculture as defined in layman's understanding is the act of clearing land for the purpose of raising crops and animals. Agriculture can be well defined as the **discipline of cultivating land with the aim of growing crops and breeding livestock such as cattle, cows, snails, chickens rabbit, etc.

Agricultural technology in my own understanding involves the use of heavy machinery to assist in the growth and cultivation of cash crops and livestock. It is used mainly by farmers for commercial purposes. Machines are used to prepare the land for cultivation and weeding out unwanted plants that might destroy the crops.

Tillage is a term often associated with agricultural technology. It deals with creating a desirable soul condition suitable for planting. To achieve this; the ph level of the soil has to be tested to know the kind of crop that can grow in that soil condition, remove weeds (unwanted plants), and use natural fertilizers such as animal waste products.

In some parts of Nigeria such as the eastern region, some crops cannot survive the water condition. Cash crops such as Yam, Potatoes, Fruits, Tomatoes are mostly grown in the Northern states ad transported to other parts of the country. The weather there especially in Plateau, Jos is always cool year-round and the soil is sufficient for growing crops.

Types of Agricultural Equiment

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There are various types of equipment used for the cultivation, planting, irrigation, sorting, harvesting, and packaging of agricultural end products. They are included in the table below.

Soil Cultivation	Planting	Harvesting
Cultivator	Transplanter	Bean harvester
Chisel plow	Precision drill	Conveyor belt
Harrow	Seed drill	Corn harvester
Plow	Plastic mulch layer	Cotton picker
Spading machine	Fertilizer spreader	Sickle
Subsoiler		Huller
Walking tractor		Potato harvester

Fertilizer and Pest Controller	Power	Haymaking
Cultivator	Tractor	Bale mover
Terragator	Caterpillar tractor	Hay rake
Harrow		Mower
Sprayer		Conditioner

Advantages of Agricultural Technology

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There are so many advantages of applying agriculture in our modern-day farming some of which includes;

• Improved Cash Crop Production

Farmers can now increase the production quantity of their crops this involves commercial agriculture. They can sell their crops for cash which can be used to solve other problems such as education for their children, hospital expenses, machine maintenance. The selling of these crops can serve as a source of income for them and their family.

• Increased demand for the products

Once start producing commercially through the use of this agricultural equipment, there is an increase in the demand for their end products which makes them the center of attraction for retail traders and marketers.

• Improved and safe food production

The quality of food produced at this point because the type of equipment deployed for production will be able to reach all growing crops to help them grow effectively and efficiently. Fruits and vegetables grown can be directly eaten from the farm because it is healthy and well taken care of.

• Lesser work hazard on the farmers

Farmers at this point don't need to cut through thick buses with a cutlass which is quite dangerous para venture he loses its grip on the cutlass. There are heavy machines available to clear the bushes and also to plant and water and harvest the crops. More than half of the work is reduced. What is left by the farmers is supervision of the crops against theft and attack and also employing those that will make use of the machines.

• Lesser time spent on the field

Agricultural technology reduces the time farmers spend on the field planting the same amount of crops a day. More can be planted at an even lesser time.

Disdvantages of Agricultural Technology

As there are advantages, it is worthy to note that there are also disadvantages of agricultural technology explained below.

• Too much in the use of chemicals

Excessive use of chemicals can damage the soil and render it useless for future farming purposes. The amount of chemicals is not controlled as its being used to reach a wider range of crops. Farmers at this point are advised to rotate the planting of crops bi-annually to enable the land to resuscitate naturally.

• Illiteracy on the part of the farmers

Sometimes heavy machines are handed over to farmers who have little or no knowledge on how to operate them causing a setback in the use of the machines.

• High maintenance cost of the machines

The cost of maintaining these machines is very high and at times there will be little or no profit left as everything is channeled into maintaining the machine and workers involved.

• Overutilization of the machines in use

Due to the lack of knowledge on how the machine operates, the farmers might overwork the machine. This can lead to early damage and low production in the long run.

Conclusion

Summarily, it is worthy to note that the benefits of agricultural technology outweigh the others and therefore it is still in vogue. There is also a constant revolution in how this technology operates to further reduce its disadvantages.

Thank you for reading