As the world population continues to grow the need for food climbs with it. The world is in need of solutions to help increase food production without using more land then what is already in use. In the article by Knvul Sheikh posted in the NY Times, we are introduced to the TerraSentia and many other devices like it. The TerraSentia is a robot that goes across rows of crops and measure various parts of the crops which is called Phenotyping. The process has been used for hundreds of years in order to help farmers grow better crops that help produce more output.
The world is going to be put in a situation where innovations to agriculture will need to be made in order to keep up with the ever growing population but will tech ideas like the TerraSentia be a piece to solving the puzzle or just another failed idea? Revolutionary ideas and products like the TerraSentia would not only help farmers, but would also push the robotics/tech industry forward in more sectors of the market. How do you see it? Will ideas like this be the change needed to push the agricultural sector forward? or is this just another false hope that will likely fail?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/science/farm-agriculture-robots.html
3 comments:
I think the agricultural and manufacturing sectors both have become heavily automated in the last 20 years. As we discussed in class, the output in these sectors is increasing heavily due to this very reason, and they are now capital intensive and hardly employ labor at a large scale. Technological innovations like the TerraSenita, Rosphere and Robot Milkers are now becoming increasingly popular, and there will be failed prototypes that might not initially work out and will require further trial stages, but I think they definitely push the sector forward.
Over the years advances in technology have helped to push the agricultural sector forward. Work that used to be done completely by workers is now being aided and taken over by machines. In my opinion, technological advancement such as TerraSentia are likely to continue to grow in the future in order for countries to increase both their agricultural and technological industries. However, there may be conflict that arises on a more political scale as agricultural workers' jobs are being replaced.
I think technology will be a major presence in agriculture in the future to keep with the increasing demand of food. We are constantly finding ways to become more efficient in not only agriculture, but also manufacturing. As we discussed in class, most jobs done by humans will be services, while robots will handle manufacturing of goods.
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