It should be stated from the outset that I am generally pro technology.
While there have been missteps at times, in general technology, especially in agriculture, has taken the industry forward.
While we sometimes fail to remember, the first iron plow was a technological step forward from its wooden predecessor, and a huge step forward in terms of soil tillage.
And while I am still a huge fan of the draft horse, I in no way lament the emergence of tractor technology and what it meant in terms of farming.
The combine was a huge step forward from the stationary threshing machine, direct seeding technology was a huge step in preventing soil erosion, and geo-mapping has been an aid in the most productive applications of fertilizer.
And I do not doubt as the world population grows and land acres capable of growing traditional crops decline, we will become more reliant on technological advancements to meet our demand for food.
But there are times I admit to shuddering when I read about the cutting edge of technology and just where it is headed.
In this space in the past I have written about worldwide concerns that bee populations have appeared to be in decline.
As recently as last August, time.com wrote that the problem might be reversing itself writing in an online story; 鈥淭he number of U.S. honeybees, a critical component to agricultural production, rose in 2017 from a year earlier, and deaths of the insects attributed to a mysterious malady that鈥檚 affected hives in North America and Europe declined, according a U.S. Department of Agriculture honeybee health survey.鈥�
That has to be looked at as an immediate positive, but since we don鈥檛 seem to have an understanding of what caused the decline or more importantly how to prevent it happening in the future, it is unsettling.
The majority of crops around the world, an estimated three-quarters such as apples to canola, rely on pollination by bees and other insects.
There are concerns the pollinator insect population is 小蓝视频 negatively impacted from a wide range of things including land clearing and climate change to the use of pesticides. Severe population declines would cause problems for farmers.
One solution might be to use technology, in this case robotic drones which can pollinate flowers much as bees do.
鈥淓ijiro Miyako at Japan鈥檚 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and his colleagues have used the principle of cross-pollination in bees to make a drone that transports pollen between flowers,鈥� according to an article at www.newscientist.com
鈥淭he manually controlled drone is 4 centimetres wide and weighs 15 grams. The bottom is covered in horsehair coated in a special sticky gel. When the drone flies onto a flower, pollen grains stick lightly to the gel then rub off on the next flower visited.
鈥淚n experiments, the drone was able to cross-pollinate Japanese lilies (Lilium japonicum). Moreover, the soft, flexible animal hairs did not damage the stamens or pistils when the drone landed on the flowers.鈥�
It鈥檚 certainly intriguing tech, but the science fiction reader in me worries about a world that could become reliant on patented technology to pollinate our food supply. The potential to use the tech for financial gain with the threat to our food production a threat that would not need to be spoken to know exists is a bit too real.
While one has to marvel at the new tech, one is left hoping as much effort goes into ensuring pollinating insects prosper naturally so that the drones become a fascinating but little used.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
