Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
is filled with 80 to 120 tons of only one grade of one type of grain. While waiting for an
empty grain car, an elevator owner must store grain from several farmers in large con-
crete silos holding as much as 50,000 tons of grain. It is not economical to use these
large storage bins to hold a mere 5000 tons, the yield from 1000 ha of specialty
maize. The result is that all farmers in a region grow only a few crops that the local
grain buyers can accept. Other grains must enter local, specialty markets.
When a farm supply business enters a region, it must provide fertilizer, chemicals,
and equipment that give an obvious increase in yield or income to the local farmers.
Frequently, these products are accompanied by technicians trained in their use.
These technicians set up demonstration fields and visitation days for farmers to see
the differences in productivity offered by their products. Radio and newspaper
advertisements encourage farmers to buy their products. When farmers decide to buy
the fertilizer or hybrid seed, it must be available at that moment. If the business does
not have the seed and fertilizer ready during the 2- to 3-week-long planting season,
farmers will plant other seed and their potential market is lost until next year.
Having the right product available at the right time is critical. An efficient market
system is able to provide the raw materials of agriculture when and where they are
needed. This means there must be an efficient communication system as well as a
safe and speedy transport system in the country.
11.5.3 Technology
Technology can greatly increase food production efficiency, but there are three major
problems with the wholesale application of technology or rapid changes in technology
use. First, up to 90 percent of the population of some countries are employed on the
farm or part of a farming operation. Application of technology can thus lead to
large-scale unemployment. Unemployed people cannot afford food, and thus the
general food and nutritional situation in the country is not improved and may be
gravely worsened. While the planting of a new, high-yielding variety of maize or
rice may increase a farmer's income, it may also lead to oversupply and thus a decrease
in the price the farmer gets for his produce. This is particularly the situation where it is
hard to ship the produce to distant markets.
The second major problem is that in many cases technological innovations are not
available to the farmers in a location. This could be seed but might also be any other
agricultural inputs including education and capital. It may be a relatively simple
problem such as the lack of roads or transportation or more complex infrastructure pro-
blems. As part of this problem the technology must be able to be supported locally. If
tractors are brought in to an area that does not have fuel, oil, or spare parts, then
their usefulness will be short lived. Also if the tractors are too big to fit in the fields,
they will be of limited value and may be used in very inefficient ways such
as transportation.
Technological innovations with certain characteristics can be very useful in
improving agricultural productivity. A piece of equipment that increases farmer
efficiency and is produced from locally available materials by local craftsmen, such
as the field liners used by Donio to determine plant spacing in his rice field, would
