However, the social impact of the consequential rural depopulation has not been adequately addressed. The second most important advance in technology has been the ready availability of rural electricity to power a multiplicity of items of farm equipment including lighting, heating, ventilation, milking, pumping, drying, milling, conveying and mixing. Furthermore, the automation of both mechanically and electrically powered equipment is now a dominant feature of mechanization developments in the developed regions and will inevitably impact to an increasing extent on the developing regions as labor costs increase. The rapid penetration of telecommunication and information technologies will provide a further layer of sophistication to the mechanization capability and strategies in agriculture.
It is well recognized that the selection of equipment is only the beginning of appropriate machinery management (see also, Agricultural Equipment: Choice and Operation). For example, the operation of the individual pieces of equipment must be coordinated properly in order to enhance productivity and efficiency. Another trend is precision agriculture (Figure 1), where state-of-the-art control and automation technology can be used to apply the optimum amount of seeds, water, fertilizers and pesticides to maximize economic return and minimize environmental damage. Maintaining working conditions and optimal performance of agricultural equipment is of vital importance in agricultural and food production due to the timeliness factor.

Sponsored

However, the social impact of the consequential rural depopulation has not been adequately addressed. The second most important advance in technology has been the ready availability of rural electricity to power a multiplicity of items of farm equipment including lighting, heating, ventilation, milking, pumping, drying, milling, conveying and mixing. Furthermore, the automation of both mechanically and electrically powered equipment is now a dominant feature of mechanization developments in the developed regions and will inevitably impact to an increasing extent on the developing regions as labor costs increase. The rapid penetration of telecommunication and information technologies will provide a further layer of sophistication to the mechanization capability and strategies in agriculture.
It is well recognized that the selection of equipment is only the beginning of appropriate machinery management (see also, Agricultural Equipment: Choice and Operation). For example, the operation of the individual pieces of equipment must be coordinated properly in order to enhance productivity and efficiency. Another trend is precision agriculture (Figure 1), where state-of-the-art control and automation technology can be used to apply the optimum amount of seeds, water, fertilizers and pesticides to maximize economic return and minimize environmental damage. Maintaining working conditions and optimal performance of agricultural equipment is of vital importance in agricultural and food production due to the timeliness factor.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3

Facebook Comments