Tomorrow World...

Ever since the Industrial revolution technology has moved forward at an incredible pace as we seek more labour-saving ways of doing things.  Often the pace and types of changes have been unsettling to many.  

When I went to University over 20 years ago there was no internet to turn to for information and my University main computer took the whole ground floor of one building.  What's more, much of what I learnt then is of no practical value now!!  At a similar age my Mother saw the old faithful carthorse, Dinah replaced with a modern tractor and this sparked the start of a huge revolution on the farm.

But what of the future of our modern day farms?

There is no getting away from the fact that in the future the world is going to need to be less resource hungry than it has been in recent times.  This Earth has limited resources and we've been a bit like stroppy teenagers trampling heavily on Mother Earth.  It is time for us to now knuckle down and become more responsible.  Also the public's faith has been tested through the poor traceability of food sold through some national supermarkets.  

There is presently a branching of opinions on the way forward.

There are many who are looking to science to guide them.  Focussing on the need to increase productivity by embracing modern technology such as "precision farming".  This involves the complete analysis of the farm's requirements, feeding it all into a computer and allowing the computer to guide the farming.  This can even go right down to GPS guided tractors driving themselves and fertilising the fields to mm precision.   This can have the advantage of a reduction in wastage caused by human error, together with increased yields.  However the weight of enormous modern tractors compacts the ground and the sustainability of primarily relying on artificial fertilisers in agriculture is questionable and it can be a polluter of our drinking water.

Scientists are also looking into developing  Robotic bees in response to the decline in the bee population.  The technical side of me would love to see one, but not to replace the real thing!

On the other side is a focus on our present wastefulness, and the need to act more sustainably.  The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released figures in 2011 showing  approximately one third of the world's total food production is lost each year.  With our present weather you can see how some of this can happen, however a large amount of this could be reduced.  The desire to do things sustainably is also seeing the revival of many old practices.  In certain niche roles the working horse is proving very cost effective.  Their high manoeuvrability has made them ideal to work in woodlands, logging trees.  They do far less damage than any machinery could and are quick and efficient, making them perfect especially in ecologically sensitive areas. 

All Muddy Carrot's producers tread very lightly on the soil, including Chris from Heavenly Hedgerows who forages for her key ingredients.

I'm old enough to remember the TV programme Tomorrow's World and the many incredible ideas that we were expected soon to be using, though I believe that Star Trek has been a better predictor of the future with sliding doors, and mobile phones! Time will tell the way we go, but I feel that the primary tester should be sustainability and this could mean embracing the best of both worlds and caring about the roots of all our food.

What do you think?