Searching for the disadvantages of modern agriculture? With every evolution and development to time, trend, and age, there will come unavoidable changes for the greater good and so it is with the introduction of modern agriculture. This doesn’t mean that it is a welcome development to rip nature and “Man” of the many good things and resources.
Modern agriculture will open the way for some extensive environmental aftermaths but will repair to a greater extent what has been damaged and give back what it has taken.
Modern agriculture will introduce technology into the agro space and thus affect all aspects of agriculture in diverse ways. The disadvantages of modern agriculture might be severe or minute depending on what practice led to such a situation.
These disadvantages of modern agriculture can be a result of wrong uses of technology and the mismanagement of modern agricultural tools and machines. Poor training of personnel, miscalculations in plotting the farm location, and failure to properly acknowledge the side effects of substances used in the farm through overuse and also any form of wrong usage.
Also, modern agriculture is ever dynamic making it unable to remain with an old method of agriculture thus it discards old apparatuses for farming, it’s methodology and environment may become irrelevant so while discarding these, it might cause or trigger some harm that affects humans and their businesses, affect the soil and look for another that fits its practice and leaving the soil almost irreparable, though in very few instances.
The List of Disadvantages of Modern Agriculture
In this section, we’ll be discussing briefly, some of the 7 disadvantages of modern agriculture and how it affects nature and man the most.
High Cost Of Maintenance
Maintenance of machines and other advanced equipment for agriculture can be very expensive, especially for small businesses and enterprises.
Because the old ways of farming are gradually going extinct, the availability of the tools and equipment can be very tasking thus leaving poor farmers with little to no options as to how to continue their practice as it is the sole source of income for many families and individuals.
Also while its maintenance is hard for some, the rest are either unable to buy at all or unable to maintain these machines, equipment, and tools for a long period.
Loss of Soil Fertility
The overuse of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals gradually depletes the soil and causes the soil to lose its fertility. Many more farming technologies have been developed to foster growth and secure adequate production but then when used over a while or overused, it starts to show heavy side effects.
Although the practice of using fertilizers to make plants grow well has proven to be very rewarding, it can also make farming a very tiresome, unproductive, and frustrating experience as it harms the soil when applied in the wrong ways.
Damage Of Soil Structure
Intensive Tillage has a lasting impact on our soil’s productivity in the long term. It increases the loss of Organic matter, exposes the surface of the soil to plant residue, and speeds decomposition. The soil structure is damaged by the destruction of its framework for good water infiltration and also increases runoff
Machine Complexity
Machines from when they were invented and introduced into farming systems have been complex to handle. Farmers with little or no formal education find it to be worse because they do not have the basic educational standings to learn and understand as swiftly as those with education.
Even for graduates and those with formal education, modern farming machines can be very complex to handle and would naturally require specific and adequate knowledge of how it works for anyone to be able to operate them.
Unemployment
With the adoption of modern technologies in agriculture, the use of machines and other human-aiding equipment is being employed in almost all farming practices. These machines make the use of human service less visible and almost irrelevant.
This will most probably trigger unemployment on a large scale and make the use of manpower on the farm nothing but a lost concept with time. Human employees will be let go as time goes on, the rate of unemployment will unavoidably shoot up because of the relevance of agriculture in society and the aftermath will be nothing but an ugly experience.
Health Hazards
Remember that all these disadvantages will most likely form from overuse, abuse, or any wrong use of machines, chemicals, and substances.
Some of the fertilizers and pesticides will irritate the skin when in close contact while some might cause breathing issues if accidentally inhaled overly.
There are wears available to avoid these accidents like masks but then an accident isn’t planned and if it occurs, the only remedy is to find a solution to it. This is a part that is never to be neglected as it has to do with the health of workers.
Environmental Damages
Technical types of machinery are now becoming pollutants in the environment as they operate in mass and release harmful fumes in the environment. Tractors, big trucks, and many other gigantic machines release Carbon dioxide gasses into the air in our environment while doing their work.
This causes the release of toxic substances into the environment and even if the farm is not around residential areas, the release sometimes is so much that it travels very far distances, contaminating the atmosphere in causing severe health challenges with time, to living things.
Modern Farming Equipment And Their Uses
Balers
Uses:
The round, square and large square balers help in the collection of straws, hay, and stalks. These have almost similar functions and vary in size and shape.
Sprayers
Uses:
Sprayers are attachments that can be used for the spraying and sprinkling of water, fertilizers, pesticides, and many other substances and are most especially used in large land areas.
Transplanters
Uses:
Transplanters are attachments that ensure easy transplanting by using machinery functions to dig up plants growing in large quantities, making new spots, and placing them for continued growth.
Plows
Uses:
A plow is one of the large attachments dragged behind tractors used for cutting furrows in the soil. This helps to kill off weeds and loosen the soil. The disc, chisel, and moldboard plow are all types of plows and are used for different functions.
Harrows
Uses:
Spring, roller, chain and disc harrows are types of harrows used for different functions like breaking down soil clumps, redistribution of weed and crop residue for easier plant growth, leveling of the soil surface, and distribution of manure and fertilizers.
What is modern agriculture?
Modern agriculture is the use of modern and recent farming strategies, methods, techniques, machines, and technologies that increase productivity in the farming practice. This type of farming involves intensive farming, agribusiness, sustainable agriculture, and organic farming.
The cultivation of domestic, wild, and aquatic animals, birds, plants, and crops for food, clothing, and transportation for human sustainability wouldn’t have served us well in our time without the introduction of modern agriculture, thus the need for it.
Importance Of Technology In Agriculture?
Technology has helped farmers in diverse ways and has proven over time to be of great importance to the agro sector.
Technology has been changing the narrative of farming and has so far influenced agriculture compared to the method of farming decades ago.
The conventional methods of farming were dependent on practices that did not involve the use of moisture sensors, aerial images, temperature sensors, and GPS technologies, thus the introduction of modern farming practices.
Impact Of Modern Agriculture?
Modern farms and agriculture in general, have very little use for the former methods of farming and usually opt for the modern methods of agriculture.
The impact of modern agriculture can never be overemphasized as its impact cuts across our environment, the methods of farming, the food we eat, transportation, clothing, etc.
These impacts might be positive and they also might be negative but they share a common identity which is, the impact they have on things
Conclusion on Disadvantages of Modern Agriculture
Modern agriculture has its pros and also does it have its cons which is why both sides should never be neglected.
The disadvantages of modern agriculture are usually a result of the overuse or misuse of what modern agricultural practices have to offer. meaning that originally, modern agriculture was not introduced to damage but to repair, replenish and improve all sorts of farming practices.
When weighing their impact, effects, advantages, and disadvantages, more focus should be on the good whichever part is offering more than the bad that accompanies its accomplishment. What are your thoughts about these disadvantages of modern agriculture? Please leave a comment below.
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References:
cropwatch.unl.edu-Soil & Water Management: Soil Structure – UNL CropWatch
bscholarly.com-Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in Agriculture
www.syngenta.com– Challenges For Modern Agriculture