Are Farmbots the Future of Agriculture? Lots of people think that farming has gotten too industrialized. But there are others who believe it’s not nearly industrialized enough—such as the Iowa inventor who envisions armies of robots growing our food in the future.
In the investigative documentary Food, Inc. viewers learn that corporate agriculture harasses and intimidates farmers who try to save patented soybean seeds. This makes it difficult for local growers to develop their own crops, which requires that seeds from the strongest plants are saved year to year. As if in response, a small number of public libraries around the country are beginning to do for seeds what they have long done for books.
Whatever you call it—“agricultural urbanism,” “new ruralism,” or one of the dozen other alternate labels—the concept of carefully planned agrarian suburbs sounds like utopia. Protecting land while permitting growth, “agriburbia” is a farm-friendly anecdote to the eat-it-up philosophy of consumerist suburban sprawl.
When populations encroach into the countryside, we sacrifice more than pastoral vistas, says Jonathan Lerner in Miller-McCune.“The steady loss of farmland and natural habitat to sprawl-pattern development endangers food supplies and other resources, as well as the health, wealth and survival prospects of individuals and even whole communities,” he explains.
In an effort to combat drought conditions, some farmers in Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, have adopted a simple technique known as “micro-dosing,” which involves the application of a small bottle cap full of fertilizer directly to the roots of crops, and spares farmers the time and expense of fertilizing an entire field. According to the October 2010 issue of New Internationalist, micro-dosing can increase crop yields by as much as 55 percent. In addition, it’s estimated that if even a quarter of Niger’s farmers micro-dosed, the savings in food aid costs in 2010 would have been greater than $60 million. Read more …
