Agriculture in the next 30 years Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Agriculture in the next 30 years - Assignment Example For quite a long time, researchers have ranked agriculture as the major source of income globally. In this regard, as the main economic activity and many countries’ economic backbone, speculations have always been made in fear of what might happen the next minute.A renowned scholar, Glen Hiemstra, of futurist.com once noted that any individual who does not emprise technology that comes along with agriculture remain a stumbling block to countries economic progress. In support to Hiemstra words, every individual’s effort towards agriculture helps to boost country’s GDP and per capita income.As an activity drawing scholarly interest, several definitions have been brought forth all inclined towards recognizing agriculture as farming or husbandry, a way of animal cultivation, plants and fungi production as well as production of foods and fiber all geared towards human life sustainability (Rosner, 2009). As a study majorly phrased as agricultural science refers to huma n activities. This paper gives an in-depth analysis of the future expectations of agriculture, drawing argument from past and present happenings. Agricultural activities date back thousands of years and it has developed tremendously due to different climates, cultures, and technology. Being the backbone of human life, agriculture had to be developed continuously to sustain the needs of the people in the world. In confirmation of the importance of the activity in generating income, most of the industries worldwide deal with agricultural product in their operations (Li, Liu, & Chen, 2011). Agriculture is thus a core activity to the world and people cannot live without it. The economy has to grow through the help of agriculture as the main activity. In general, as years go by, the need for foods, feed, fibers, biofuels, and fishing will increase significantly thus the need to develop and diversify agricultural sector. This will greatly be attributed by the desire to feed the constantly growing population, creation of employment activities to the citizens, need for a source of income and due to the fact that it is a source of foreign exchange. As such, every individual expects positive development of agriculture in the future. This is from the understanding of the impact it has to a county’s development. Agriculture is a very costly exercise in terms of cost and involvement, like for instance, buying of pesticides, nutrient runoff, excessive water usage and many more. Furthermore, pesticide poisoning, pollution of environment through chemicals emitted by agricultural activities are the major negative impacts by agriculture. Pollution of water by biofuels emitted from industries causes water scarcity hence increased the challenge of producing enough food for the growing population. Thus, the need to fulfill agricultural needs results to environmental degradation and negative implications on peoples lives in terms of high costs and their health and therefore the need for stern measures to be taken to counter the effects. It is expected therefore that in the future, having in mind the increasing living standards, the cost of all the above-mentioned will increase notably (Hiemstra, 2000). However, other scholars are for the opinion that better and cheaper means of farming might be initiated cutting down much of the expenses and hence bettering and increasing the production. The presently initiated biotechnological products will in the future, if not well handled expose human beings to dangerous infections such as cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks. People infected with such disease may even end up dying or developing lifetime complexities (Mundlak, 2000). The need to feed the growing population has called for swift development in crop production and pest control. In future, it is expected that technological advancements will be developed swiftly to curb food shortage and various pest control techniques. Disease prevalence in crops has ho wever remained constant despite all the

Genetically Modified Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Genetically Modified Food - Essay Example Other studies resist wide spread and implementation of the technology because of concerns that GMO foods can cross biological boundaries and cause harm to humans and the environment. Besides safety and environmental aspects, the topic draws a lot of socio-economic concerns, public knowledge and attitude, confidence in decision-making institutions and ethical concerns that shape consumer perceptions of the risks posed by GM foods. Public opinion is a force that should have been taken into account if gene engineering needed to be successful in developing new product especially the controversial GM foods. The issue of GM food is made complex by the various interested groups, the different perceptions of risk and reward as well as the conflicting perceptions regarding the benefits and costs associated with the controversial products. The answers behind the controversy are complicated ranging from ethical to religious to even potential health and safety impacts posed by the technology in GM foods. Supporters of the genetic modification in foods highlight the premise that the technology is capable of meeting not only the basic food needs of the society but also achieving nutritional, environmental and economic benefits to the consumers. Sceptics of GM foods consider this to an unnecessary interference with nature that poses unknown and potentially catastrophic consequences. According to Hossain et al (2003), regardless of the potential of GM foods, they have received mixed regulatory and public acceptance within the US and other parts of the world. Moreover, regardless of the prevailing technological challenges, consumer acceptance of GM foods remains an essential factor that determines the future of the technology. This stems from the scarcity of reliable information regarding consumer awareness and perception concerning the significant subject. Based on a sample population of students, Hossain et al (2003) found the students were reluctant to consume food with GM