Many years ago, our predecessors used crude tools to cultivate their lands, they worked so hard that the effects were seen on their bodies physically. Sometimes, nature favors them with high yield, other times it doesn't.
But one thing was sure, they were healthier, their foods were more nutritious and their environment was safe.
Fast forward to our day, technology brought rest to man, work that would ordinarily take two days to complete can be done within a few hours.
Lands that are barren are given life again unless one doesn't have the resources, if not getting a high yield from any kind of land is certain.
There are fertilizers that replace manure, highly effective. In terms of weed, chemicals are now available to clear them off completely. All one needs is just money.
Making ridges that our predecessors beat their bodies so hard to do, which eventually leaves them with backaches can now be done by machines.
Agriculture has recently been made so easy and productive. Technology in agriculture is like magic, it is doing what looks so impossible.
I don't want to go into the area of improved breeds of animals and seeds. It is now like anything you imagined can be made real. If you see the sizes of some animals and fruits you will be amazed. Everything looks excellent.
One magic I still find marvelous is how they managed to improve chicken. In my home, before we consume any of our local chickens previously, it has to be around a year old. But the improved chicken can be consumed within three to four months and funny enough the meat is more fleshy and softer.
They also lay eggs early and they are bigger and more attractive than that of the local ones. This makes the supply of chicken meat and eggs high. Interesting right?
However, with all these advantages come disadvantages as well. The chemicals applied to the soil to destroy weeds and pests also destroy some important soil organisms thereby reducing soil value, some of them even poison the food we eat.
The machines we use for farming and harvesting contribute to soil erosion as their weight loosens the soil. The smoke and oil from the machines pollute our environment.
These ones are not even my concern, my major concern is with the fertilizer and some special treatments that are usually administered in the name of improving the crops and animals.
Those chemicals no doubt improve them, but they also make them unnatural, the original content of those crops and animals gets tempered.
This is why people are no longer healthy even after consuming the right things. The contents that we ought to enjoy from our foods have been corrupted.
Food that is supposed to build our bodies is now what is killing us. I got watermelon from the market recently, and I was surprised at how it tastes. It looks so fresh and mature but it doesn't taste like what I used to know. Kudos to fertilizers.
Science and technology have brought help to mankind but honestly, it is also contributing to some of the health challenges we are facing.
I don't see this kind of evolution as something we should celebrate, if it would be possible for us to adjust the way we use these chemicals or even stop completely, I think it will do us good.
I love technology but in this regard, seriously, I think we have to think twice. The earlier we return to natural agriculture, with at least minimal support from machines, the better for all of us.
