Each spring we marvel as the grass shoots up, flowers bloom and trees burst into life. It's a miracle of nature. Plants produce fruit, seeds and tubers – and all without our help. So you’d think it would be possible to produce the food we eat in a more natural way: with more biodiversity, fewer pesticides and fertilisers, and less human intervention – in other words, less technology. After all, this works in our gardens.
No agriculture without technology
But gardening and agriculture are two very different things. Agriculture without the aid of technology is almost inconceivable in industrialised countries – for it’s only by using ploughs, harrows, field sprayers, drag hose distributors and fertiliser spreaders that most agricultural products can be produced economically and in sufficient quantity.
With crops such as potatoes, cereals, apples and grapes, most of the technology is for spraying the leaves to prevent pests and fungal diseases. And the same goes for organic potatoes and apples. But the copper-containing preparations commonly used here are by no means ecologically harmless. It’s crucial that these and other additives are applied as sparingly as possible.
Precision rather than poison
It’s quite clear to me that innovative agricultural technology must avoid excessive application. And this is where precision farming
1
comes in, with the potential to reduce application quantities by 90 percent or more, depending on their purpose
2
. It does this, for example, by portioning fertiliser, crop protection products and watering according to the vegetation status, and optimising this for each application.
Hands-on research shows that particularly those looking to practise organic farming will need to deploy sophisticated technology
3,4
– be it for thoroughly loosening the soil for sowing and growing crops, or mechanically keeping unwanted competitors for light and nutrients in check
5
.
Equipping tomorrow’s farms
