A startup is rolling out automated weed cutters at a moment when COVID-19 has made farm work more dangerous for human beings.
Why it matters: Robots in all fields have received a lift from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and farming is no different. One of the oldest occupations in the world could be the next to be automated.
HEALTHY CROPS OUT-COMPETE WEEDS, resist parasitic fungi and are indegestible by insects.
The need for agricultural poisons was largely created by Haber-Bosch synthetic Nitrogen fertilizer plus mined Phosphate and Potash. NPK fertilizer disrupts the soil elemental balance and the soil eco-system, killing beneficial micro-organisms, earthworms, etc.
Further, the inherent soil depletion by any and all agricultural sales is not sustainable. As soon as you start moving the crops away from the cropsoil to markets or feedlots, the soil is DOOMED. Reduction in trace elements gives weeds competitive advantages as crop immunities decline, and that is ACCELERATED by chemical fertilizers.
Humans have de-forested and desertified half of the productive arable land we inherited. Half of the rest has soil thinned and simplified until it is too stupid to grow crops without the crutches of artificial fertilizer and hundreds of products ending in -cide.
At the least, soil enriching nitrogen fixing plants should be planted in between the rows. Bare soil is un-natural and causes cascading problems.
Besides, jobs sitting in chairs and staring at screens disrupt our bodies and senses, and have been clinically proven to shorten lives. See how infections travel indoors and indoor workers are immuno-suppressed. Blue zones are predominantly people who had subsistence farming or fishing and worked manual labor.
Tending crops in the fresh air and sunshine is good for your health, happiness and long life - but not the long hours it takes to feed OTHER PEOPLE. The ratio of agricultural workers to factory, white collar and service industry jobs is so inverted it is ruining the planet and reducing health. If you look at the percentage of income paid into health care and the life expectancy from age 6, we are paying more each year for declining results!
looking forward to talk about agriculture with you friend
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