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Mechanised agriculture or agricultural mechanization is the use of machinery and equipment, ranging from simple and basic hand tools to more sophisticated, motorized equipment and machinery, to perform agricultural operations. In modern times, powered machinery has replaced many farm task formerly carried out by
manual labour or by
working animal
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...
s such as
oxen,
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s and
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s.
The entire
history of agriculture contains many examples of the use of tools, such as the
hoe and the
plough
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
. The ongoing integration of
machine
A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
s since the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
has allowed farming to become much less
labour-intensive
Labor intensity is the relative proportion of labor (compared to capital) used in any given process. Its inverse is capital intensity.
Labor intensity has been declining since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, while its inv ...
.
Agricultural mechanization is part of this technological evolution of agricultural automation. It can be summarized as a progressive move from manual tools to animal traction, to motorized mechanization, to digital equipment and finally, to robotics with artificial intelligence (AI).
These advances can raise productivity and allow for more careful crop, livestock, aquaculture and forestry management; provide better working conditions; improve incomes; reduce the workload of farming; and generate new rural entrepreneurial opportunities.
Current mechanised agriculture includes the use of
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
s,
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
s,
combine harvester
The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...
s, countless
types of farm implements, aeroplanes and helicopters (for
aerial application), and other vehicles.
Precision agriculture even uses
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s in conjunction with
satellite imagery
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...
and
satellite navigation
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...
(GPS guidance) to increase yields. New digital equipment is increasingly complementing, or even superseding, motorized machines to automate diagnosis and decision-making.
Mechanisation was one of the large factors responsible for
urbanisation
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...
and industrial economies. Besides improving production efficiency, mechanisation encourages large scale production and sometimes can improve the quality of farm produce. On the other hand, it can cause
environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...
(such as
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
,
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
, and
soil erosion
Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...
), especially if it is applied shortsightedly rather than
holistically
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...
.
History
Jethro Tull's
seed drill ( 1701) was a mechanical seed spacing and depth placing device that increased crop yields and saved seed. It was an important factor in the
British Agricultural Revolution
The British Agricultural Revolution, or Second Agricultural Revolution, was an unprecedented increase in agricultural production in Britain arising from increases in labour and land productivity between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries. Agric ...
.
Since the beginning of agriculture threshing was done by hand with a
flail, requiring a great deal of labour. The
threshing machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out.
Before such machines were developed, threshi ...
, which was invented in 1794 but not widely used for several more decades, simplified the operation and allowed the use of animal power. Before the invention of the
grain cradle
A grain cradle or ''cradle'', is a modification to a standard scythe to keep the cut grain stems aligned. The cradle scythe has an additional arrangement of fingers attached to the snaith (snath or snathe) to catch the cut grain so that it can be ...
(ca. 1790) an able bodied labourer could reap about one quarter acre of wheat in a day using a sickle. It was estimated that each of Cyrus McCormick's horse-pulled
reapers (ca. 1830s) freed up five men for military service in the US Civil War. Later innovations included raking and
binding machines. By 1890 two men and two horses could cut, rake and bind 20 acres of wheat per day.
In the 1880s the reaper and threshing machine were combined into the
combine harvester
The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...
. These machines required large teams of horses or mules to pull. Steam power was applied to threshing machines in the late 19th century. There were steam engines that moved around on wheels under their own power for supplying temporary power to stationary threshing machines. These were called ''road engines,'' and Henry Ford seeing one as a boy was inspired to build an automobile.
With internal combustion came the first modern tractors in the early 1900s, becoming more popular after the
Fordson tractor (ca. 1917). At first reapers and combine harvesters were pulled by teams of horses or tractors, but in the 1930s self powered combines were developed.
Advertising for motorised equipment in farm journals during this era did its best to compete against horse-drawn methods with economic arguments, extolling common themes such as that a tractor "eats only when it works", that one tractor could replace many horses, and that mechanisation could allow one man to get more work done per day than he ever had before. The horse population in the US began to decline in the 1920s after the conversion of agriculture and transportation to internal combustion. Peak tractor sales in the US were around 1950. In addition to saving labour, this freed up much land previously used for supporting draft animals. The greatest period of growth in agricultural productivity in the US was from the 1940s to the 1970s, during which time agriculture was benefiting from internal combustion powered tractors and
combine harvester
The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...
s, chemical fertilisers and the green revolution.
Although U.S. farmers of corn, wheat, soy, and other commodity crops had replaced most of their workers with harvesting machines and combines by the 1950s enabling them to efficiently cut and gather grains, growers of produce continued to rely on human pickers to avoid the bruising of the product in order to maintain the blemish-free appearance demanded by customers.
The continuous supply of undocumented workers from Latin America that harvest the crops for low wages further suppressed the need for mechanisation. As the number of undocumented workers has continued to decline since reaching its peak in 2007 due to increased border patrols and an improving Mexican economy, the industry is increasing the use of mechanisation.
Proponents argue that mechanisation will boost productivity and help to maintain low
food prices
Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food.
Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...
while farm worker advocates assert that it will eliminate jobs and will give an advantage to large growers who are able to afford the required equipment.
Motorized mechanization adoption trends
Motorized mechanization has increased substantially worldwide, although its adoption has been uneven and particularly limited in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mechanization is limited to a range of operations including harvesting and weeding and is rarely used for fruit and vegetable production across the globe.
Wide-scale adoption started in the United States of America, where tractors replaced about 24 million draught animals between 1910 and 1960 and become the main source of farm power. Tractors were first adopted in the United Kingdom in the 1930s, but the transformation of agriculture in Japan and some European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and former Yugoslavia) was delayed until about 1955. Thereafter, the adoption of motorized mechanization happened very quickly, totally replacing animal traction. The use of tractors as farm power allowed, and even triggered, innovations in other agricultural machinery and equipment that significantly eased the drudgery associated with agriculture and allowed farmers to perform tasks in a more timely manner. At a later stage, motorized machinery also increased in many Asian and Latin American countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where adoption of motorized mechanization has stalled over the past decades.
A recent study in 11 countries confirms this low level of mechanization in the region, finding that only 18 percent of the sampled households have access to tractor-powered machinery. The remaining households use either simple hand-held tools (48 percent) or animal-powered equipment (33 percent).
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]
Employment impact
Since at least the early nineteenth century there have been widespread concerns about the possible negative socioeconomic impacts of labour-saving technological change, in particular job displacement and consequent unemployment. However, fears that automation increases labour productivity to the extent that it causes massive unemployment are not borne out by historical realities. Instead, innovation and adoption of labour-saving technologies tends to be a long process, and automation of one task often spurs increases in the demand for workers to perform other tasks. The direct impact of automation on employment will depend on the factors driving its adoption.
If rising wages and labour scarcities drive the adoption of automation then it is unlikely to create unemployment. Automation can also stimulate agricultural employment. For example, it can enable farms to expand their production in response to growing food demand. Automation in agriculture is part of the process of structural transformation of societies whereby increased agricultural labour productivity gradually releases agricultural workers, allowing them to take new jobs in other sectors such as industry and services. On the other hand, automation that is forcibly promoted, such as through government subsidies, could lead to rising unemployment and falling or stagnant wages.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) advises against governments implementing distortive subsidies for automation because doing so risks increasing unemployment. FAO also advises against restricting automation on the assumption that this will preserve jobs and incomes, because it risks making agriculture less competitive and productive. Instead, the recommendation is to focus on creating an enabling environment that ensures the full involvement of women, youth, small-scale producers, and other vulnerable and marginalized groups in order that they all benefit from automation.
Applications
Preparing land for planting
Seed drilling, planting
It is done by the seed drill. The plantation of seeds depends upon the season.
Weeding, crop spraying
Harvesting
Asparagus are presently harvested by hand with labour costs at 71% of production costs and 44% of selling costs. Asparagus is a difficult crop to harvest since each spear matures at a different speed making it difficult to achieve a uniform harvest.[Vegetable Growers News: "Mechanical Asparagus Harvester Almost a Reality"]
December 21, 2009 A prototype asparagus harvesting machineusing a light-beam sensor to identify the taller spearsis expected to be available for commercial use.
Mechanization of Maine's blueberry industry has reduced the number of migrant workers required from 5,000 in 2005 to 1,500 in 2015 even though production has increased from 50–60 million pounds per year in 2005 to 90 million pounds in 2015.
As of 2014, prototype chili pepper
Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
harvesters are being tested by New Mexico State University. The New Mexico green chile crop is currently hand-picked entirely by field workers as chili pods tend to bruise easily. The first commercial application commenced in 2015. The equipment is expected to increase yield per acre and help to offset a sharp decline in acreage planted due to the lack of available labour and drought conditions.
As of 2010, approximately 10% of the processing orange acreage in Florida is harvested mechanically, mainly with citrus canopy shaker machines. Mechanization has progressed slowly due to the uncertainty of future economic benefits due to competition from Brazil and the transitory damage to orange trees when they are harvested.
There has been an ongoing transition to mechanical harvesting of cling peaches (mostly used in canning) where the cost of labor is 70 percent of a grower's direct costs. In 2016, 12 percent of the cling peach tonnage from Yuba County
Yuba County (; Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 81,575. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is included in the Yuba City, California Metropolitan Statistical A ...
and Sutter County
Sutter County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,633. The county seat is Yuba City. Sutter County is included in the Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Sacra ...
in California will be mechanically harvested. Fresh peaches destined for direct customer sales must still be hand-picked.
As of 2007, mechanised harvesting of raisins is at 45%; however the rate has slowed due to high raisin demand and prices making the conversion away from hand labour less urgent. A new strain of grape developed by the USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
that drys on the vine and is easily harvested mechanically is expected to reduce the demand for labour.
Strawberries
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
are a high cost-high value crop with the economics supporting mechanisation. In 2005, picking and hauling costs were estimated at $594 per ton or 51% of the total grower cost. However, the delicate nature of fruit make it an unlikely candidate for mechanisation in the near future. A strawberry harvester developed by Shibuya Seiki and unveiled in Japan in 2013 is able to pick a strawberry every eight seconds. The robot identifies which strawberries are ready to pick by using three separate cameras and then once identified as ready, a mechanised arm snips the fruit free and gently places it in a basket. The robot moves on rails between the rows of strawberries which are generally contained within elevated greenhouses. The machine costs 5 million yen.Japan Times: "Latest robot can pick strawberry fields forever"
September 26, 2013 A new strawberry harvester made by Agrobot that will harvest strawberries on raised, hydroponic beds using 60 robotic arms is expected to be released in 2016.
Mechanical harvesting of
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es started in 1965 and as of 2010, nearly all processing tomatoes are mechanically harvested.
[University of California Davis Migration Files: "The Status of Labor-saving Mechanization in Fruits and Vegetables" By Wallace E. Huffman]
May 25, 2010 As of 2010, 95% of the US processed tomato crop is produced in California.
Although fresh market tomatoes have substantial hand harvesting costs (in 2007, the costs of hand picking and hauling were $86 per ton which is 19% of total grower cost), packing and selling costs were more of a concern (at 44% of total grower cost) making it likely that cost saving efforts would be applied there.
According to a 1977 report by the California Agrarian Action Project, during the summer of 1976 in California, many harvest machines had been equipped with a photo-electric scanner that sorted out green tomatoes among the ripe red ones using infrared lights and colour sensors. It worked in lieu of 5,000 hand harvesters causing displacement of innumerable farm labourers as well as wage cuts and shorter work periods. Migrant workers were hit the hardest.
To withstand the rigour of the machines, new crop varieties were bred to match the automated pickers. UC Davis Professor G.C. Hanna propagated a thick-skinned tomato called VF-145. But even still, millions were damaged with impact cracks and university breeders produced a tougher and juiceless "square round" tomato. Small farms were of insufficient size to obtain financing to purchase the equipment and within 10 years, 85% of the state's 4,000 cannery tomato farmers were out of the business. This led to a concentrated tomato industry in California that "now packed 85% of the nation’s tomato products". The monoculture fields fostered rapid pest growth, requiring the use of "more than four million pounds of pesticides each year" which greatly affected the health of the soil, the farm workers, and possibly the customers.
See also
*
Farm equipment
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
*
Industrial agriculture
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and far ...
*
List of agricultural machinery
Agricultural equipment is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. The best-known example of this kind is the tractor.
Tractor and power
*Tractor / Two-wheel tractor
*Tracked tractor / Caterpillar tractor
Soil cultivat ...
*
Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil, ...
*
Agricultural drones An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle used in agriculture operations, mostly in yield optimization and in monitoring crop growth and crop production. Agricultural drones provide information on crop growth stages, crop health, and soil ...
Sources
References
{{Authority control
Agricultural machinery
Intensive farming