<
https://theconversation.com/australia-has-relied-on-agricultural-innovation-to-farm-our-dry-land-well-need-more-for-the-uncertain-years-ahead-188597>
"Since European colonisation, Australia’s farmers have had to pioneer new
technologies to adapt agriculture to this dry land.
Think of innovations such as the world’s first mechanical grain stripper, which
saved workers from the tedious task of stripping wheat from the stalk, or the
stump jump plough, invented to avoid ploughs constantly breaking when they hit
mallee roots on newly cleared ground.
The pace of innovation hasn’t slowed, and has led in part to Australia becoming
an agricultural powerhouse. We produce enough food for 75 million people,
according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council, and export around 70% of
the food we produce.
We will need more innovation to cope with the changing climate – which will
make water supplies more uncertain and add heat stress to livestock – as well
as other environmental issues such as nutrient runoff from too much fertiliser.
In future, expect to see farmers go high-tech, relying more on drones to
optimise fertiliser and water use, on harvest robots to tackle challenges with
labour shortages, and on sensors to measure the health of the soil."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
