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Agriculture can be defined as the science or practice of farming for growing crops and rearing animals to produce useful products for humans. Due to the exponential increase in population over a small span of time, and the development of several different industries, people started to move from the rural areas where agriculture was practiced, to places where these industries were situated in. This led to the formation of cities where other such industries were started, and this phenomenon termed as urbanization led to several people practicing tasks other than agriculture. Due to this, subsistence agriculture was no longer sufficient in supporting the population. This led to the development of industrial agriculture, where farmers who lived in the rural areas grew and harvested surplus crops not only to support themselves but also support the urban population who had other means of livelihood. Thus the agriculture industry developed and is now considered as the backbone for the economy of a country. Our motivation lies in improving the yield and quality of agricultural produce through the use of modern technology and research. Orthodox farming only allows limited control in the environment and conditions where the crops are produced. Due to the presence of pests it is necessary to use pesticides and other chemicals to ensure that the crops aren’t compromised during their growth, but these chemicals have been shown to have detrimental effects on their consumers. Also uncontrollable factors such as the weather that year, unexpected natural disasters and so on has the potential to destroy the produce of that year, which can lead to a potential food shortage.
Due to the rapid increase in population, the common techniques of farming may not be able to produce sufficient yield in the near future, leading to a potentially disastrous food shortage. Modern research has shown that the produce of crops can be exponentially increased by providing the optimum conditions and essential nutrients, which differs for each type of crop. Seasonal crops which can only be grown during a particular time of the year can now be grown at any time. It has been shown that storing produce over a long period of time leads to a loss in the nutritional value of the food.
Our proposed product is a food server, which can be imagined as a box which provides a controlled environment and nutrients for crops to be grown. By providing different conditions, not only can we increase the yield and quality of the produce, we can also alter features of the produce such as taste and texture by providing different conditions. We will obtain real time data about the continuous changes in the environment and perform actions accordingly. Our product looks to grow fresh, great tasting, pesticide-free produce all year round using modern technology.
Some of the problems are been identified.
Industrialization and urbanization led to rapid development in fields such as technology, automobiles, medicine, and so on. This led to a huge improvement in the standard of living in a short period of time. As a result the life expectancy of human beings also increased, leading to an exponential increase in human population, from approximately 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion at present. While there was drastic development in these fields, there was not much development done in the field of agriculture. As the population continues to grow, the current farming techniques may not be adequate to produce enough yield for everyone, leading to potential food shortages in the near future. Seasonal crops can only be grown during their respective season, as a result of which they are grown in bulk and stored for use throughout the whole year. This results in the loss of nutritional value. The use of pesticides is necessary to prevent damage to crops by pests, but affects the consumer’s health. Current agricultural techniques require the use of excessive amounts of water, which doesn’t help the water crisis being faced in several parts of the world.
Agricultural produce grown in farms situated in rural areas is transported to urban areas for the consumption of the residents of the city. But there is no assurance that the produce available for consumers is of high quality. Let’s consider buying products such as electronics and clothes. Most people look to buy branded products because they are assured of their reliability and quality. Can the same be said for agricultural produce? There is no method for the consumer to ensure that the agricultural produce he buys is of high quality and has high nutritional value. In other words, there is a lack of transparency with respect to these attributes of the produce. It is the consumer’s right to know about the quality of the produce he is consuming for the benefit of his health.