Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture

Our world is changing on an everyday basis. And with each day passing, technology is advancing. People try their best to make machines and equipment that make human work easy. In earlier times, all the work was done by the farmers from their hands but now hardly you will find one farmer who is doing all the work by hand. And this is not a bad thing as by using machines and equipment, a lot of time is saved. The farmers who were able to grow one crop in a year are growing two or more by this advancement i,e., modern-day farm equipment.

The simplest example of the fact that people are benefitted from the modern farm machines is that earlier farmers used to own cows and buffaloes and with the help of them, they used to plough the field. But now they just need a tractor or some simple ploughing machine and their work is done. The work that used to take several hours is now done in no time.

How modern farm equipment became an important industry?

During the mid-17th and late 19th centuries, due to increased labor and agricultural productivity in Britain, there was an extraordinary increase in agricultural production. That period was called the Agricultural revolution and the Agricultural revolution gave birth to the Industrial revolution. With the Industrial revolution, there came more and more industries of agricultural machinery. As farmers in Europe and United States were shifting from hand production methods to machines, chemical manufacturing, and also many other ways. All this was done to increase the food supply, save time and effort, and produce the best quality crop.

But at the time of the industrial revolution, all the machines and equipment were of high price. So, all the farmers were not able to afford it. Then for some more years, the traditional method of farming was used in many parts of the world. But then as the population was increasing, the need for a constant food supply was a necessity. And to have more food, the prices of those machines and equipment went on subsidized rates. That was also the time when women were considered to just take care of the family and kids and not to work on farms. But to have more and more food production, women were also brought to the fields to work. But it was being very difficult for them as they have to also take care of the kids, cook food, and do other household chores also. So they were given free equipment just to lure them out of their house and work at farms.

If we have a look at statistics, in the last 10-15 years agriculture technology has been a huge investment. Around $6.7 billion was invested in agricultural technology in the last 5 years. So now let’s have a look at some modern farm equipment used in agriculture.

Some Modern farm equipment and farm tools

• Tractor: This is considered the most important and essential machine for farming worldwide. Tractors are put on the top of farm essential lists. The reason behind this is that it is a very versatile machine and can be used in many ways even on rough terrain. Tractors are mainly used to pull farm equipment but modern day tractors are upgraded and many attachments can be done on tractors to fulfil any farm needs.

There are several types of tractors but some of them are:

1. Compact tractors: As the name suggests, they are small but very high-powered that can help with all basic functions happening on the farm. They are perfect for working in small spaces for material handling where traditional tractors can’t fit.
2. Wheeled tractors: They are general-purpose tractors and can be used for variety of tasks such as tilling, material handling and equipment pulling. There are many ways of wheeled tractors and you can choose between them according to your convenience. Types of wheeled tractors are horsepower, lifting capacity, control and cab style.
3. Track tractors: They are the one which has rubber tracks instead of tires to have more power while ploughing the fields and they leave a very smooth ride for the operator.

• Motocultor: It is agricultural machinery with a single axis. It is hold from the handles. This is a tilling tool that produces a medium pow
  er for carrying out agricultural and ornamental duties.

• Rake: This is a very common tool used in every farm and is used to loosen and level the ground. They have long tooth and comes in several types.

• Combine harvester: This is a very helpful machine that helps the farmers to harvest their crops efficiently. Harvester is a very powerful machine which uses a complex system of gears, blades, belts and wheels to convert cereals crops into grains.

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Combines fulfill the task by using the following three basic processes:

1. Reaping: This is the process to cut the crop. The header, reel and cutter bar on the combine is used in this process. Header is used to gather the crop while the reel the reel pushes it towards the cutter bar which actually cuts the crop from its base. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture
2. Threshing: This is the process to separate the edible parts of the crop from the non-edible parts. This is done by threshing drum, which beats the cut crops to separate the edible grain from their stalks. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture
3. Winnowing: It is process of removing light weight chaff from the grains. This is done by the help of threshing drums. But usually chaff is removed by the process of sieving. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture

• ATVs or UTVs: ATV stands for All Terrain Vehicles and as the name suggests, they are suitable for every terrain including the rough one. They come in all sizes and UTV stands for Utility Vehicles. Much type of attachments can be used for these vehicles like small trailers, spreaders and mowers. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture

• Sprinkler: In the process of irrigation, sprinkler is used to water the farm products, yards and the crops. Sprinkler is a very useful tool to cool and control the air bone tidy the farm. Sprinkler work more or like natural rain. Sprinkler is connected to the ground through pipes to have a constant flow of water. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture

• Seeder and fertiliser: This modern day equipment is used to place the seeds in ground at a proper distance; the work which was earlier done manually with lot of precision gets done in no time. And in the same way adding fertiliser properly on every part of the farm is also done by this machine. The main part of this machine is a happer or a tank. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture

• Agricultural drones: This is a very useful device for people who are into organic cattle farming or agricultural operations. This machine looks like a bird which is surveying the land unarmed. It is used to monitor livestock and crops. By using this device, you can easily find out if the crops are damaged or have some fungal or irrigational problem. And can also be used to find damaged crop and sick animals somewhere in the farm.

So, these were some of the modern equipment used in the agricultural sector to make the daily work simpler. There are more numerous devices that are there in the world which are important in the field and make the work easier. And also many more such new equipment will be invented in the coming time as agriculture is an ever-increasing sector. And the need for food supply would never end. Modern Farm Equipment in Agriculture.