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FACULTY OF MODERN LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

PRT 2008

AGRICULTURE AND MAN

SEMESTER 1, 2012/13

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE IN IMPROVING AGRICULTURE PRODUCTIVITY

PREPARED BY:

NAME : RASHIDAH BINTI MURAT

MATRIC NUMBER : 168627

COURSE : BACHELOR OF ART (MAJOR IN ARABIC LANGUAGE)

GROUP NO : GROUP 19

PREPARED FOR:

DR. HAMDAN JOL

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TABLE OF CONTENT

2.0 ABSTRACT M/S 3

3.0 INTRODUCTION

3.1 DEFINITION AND TYPE OF AGRICULTURE M/S 4 - 5

3.2 PRODUCTIVITY OF AGRICULTURE M/S 5 - 6

3.3 TECHNOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE M/S 6

4.0 AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

4.1 GENETIC ENGINEERING M/S 7 - 10

4.2 TISSUE CULTURE M/S 11 - 12

4.3 BIOTECHNOLOGY M/S 13 - 14

4.4 CONVENTIONAL METHOD M/S 15 - 18

4.5 PRECISION AGRICULTURE M/S 19 - 21

5.0 CONCLUSION M/S 22

6.0 REFERENCES M/S 23

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2.0 ABSTRACT

There have been continuous improvement in the approach to today’s agricultural

development worldwide in the aspects of the productions methods, technology adopted to

increase the efficiency of production and input of appropriate resources such as research and

knowledgeable human capital including scientists, inventors, engineers, chemists and economists

although many have nothing to do with food production. Modern agriculture incorporates many

disciplines of sciences such as agronomy, horticulture, breeding, genetics, entomology,

pathology, soil science, environment science, livestock management, pasture management, meat

science,dairy science, aquaculture, biotechnology, engineering and many more.

There are several ways of comparing the agricultural economy of one region with that of

another. It can be done in terms of crop distributions, or relative productivity, or the effect on the

rural landscape. The method used here will be a classification of agricultural practice in terms of

the basic method or technology by which the farmer tackles the job of wresting crops from the

earth. Agricultural technology, as it functions in various natural settings, not only influences crop

patterns, productivity, and the landscape, but also affects population density, possibilities for

trade and urbanization, and social structure. If we look around the world and attempt to plot on a

map the varying techniques with which different societies face the fundamental tasks of

cultivation, we are bound to be struck by the existence, over wide areas containing many

millions of people, of relatively unsophisticated techniques that seem to be survivals from an age

which the more sophisticated societies have left far behind. There are today but few regions

where these unsophisticated techniques are entirely unaffected by new ideas that have spread

with modern trade and commerce from those countries with early experience of agrarian

revolution. The degree of penetration by these new ideas varies widely, however, from place to

place.

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3.0 INTRODUCTION

3.1 Definition and Type of Agriculture

The word agriculture is the English adaptation of Latin agricultura, from ager, means “a

field” and cultura, means “cultivation” in the strict sense of “tillage of the soil”. It is the

utilization of natural resourse systems to produce commodities which maintain life, including

food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services.

Practices in agriculture can be broadly catagorised into two types that is subsistence

farming and commercialised farming. The subsistence farming is characterized by a low input

with a resultant low yield and inter-cropping. Practices may involve slash and burn nomadic and

more progressive stationary cultivation. Subsistence farming involves working on a plot of land

to feed the family working on it to produce enough food. The one examples of the type of

farming is the shifting cultivation that is an agricultural system in which plots of land are

cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land

followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility. Once the

land becomes inadequate for crop production, it is left to be reclaimed by natural vegetation, or

sometimes converted to a different long-term cyclical farming practice. The ecological

consequences are often deleterious, but can be partially mitigated if new forests are not invaded.

Raising domesticated livestock for food and small profit, mostly limited to free-range and small

enclosures, is now practiced. Subsistence farming (as of 2006) is still practiced in many countries

in Africa, Central and South America, Polynesia an South East Asia.

Besides, the commercialised farming also can be characterisedby monoculture or a

cultivation of a combination of a few crops. It entails the usage of high yielding modern

varieties, large chemical input (pesticides and fertilizers and animal feeds), high technology and

extensive mechanization. The examples of the commercial that are discussed is tropical

plantation agriculture that solely a monocropping system dominated by perennial crops which

include rubber, oil palm, cocoa, coffee, coconut and tea. Second, the vegetable farming that is

the labour intensive and involves specialized cultivation in rows and blocks (beds) open or

enclosed. Third, the organic farming that involves crop rotation where dissimilar crops are grown

on the same plot in sequential seasons to avoid building up of pests and diseases. Next, the

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hydroponics that is the technique of growing plants with taking advantage of the fact that plants

absorb nutrients as simple ions in water. Then, the aquaculture that is a purposeful cultivation of

aquatic organisms as opposed to simple catching them from the wild. The livestock farming

involves raising livestock (domesticated animals intentionally reared in agricultural setting) to

make products such as food or fibre, or for its labour. Last but not at least, the new products and

future industries as envigased in the Third National Agricultural Policy (NAP3), the

development of biotechnology poducts, extraction of specialty natural chemicals from biological

resources and utilization of oil palm biomass are emphasized to create new higher value

industries.

3.2 Productivity of Agriculture

The primary products from the agricultural industries can be specifically into two part

that food products (animal and plant origin) and non-food products animal and plant origin).

Many of these raw agricultural products undergo further processing usually on industrial scale to

produce varieties of products for human (food and non-food) and animal (as feed) use.

Therefore, the finished products are primarily sourced from either plants and animals. In the

plant origin for the food processing, fruits are processed for their juices, cordials, jems and jelly,

herbal and health products an as pickled and dehydrated ware. Other sources processed include

rice, sugar, spices, cereals, tomatoes, chillies and cocoa. Foods could be packed, canned or

bottled as in the case of candies, ketchup, cookies and crips. For the non-food products or

industrial processing, timber can be processed into furniture and building materials; rubber latex

can be turned into tyres, gloves, shoes and condoms; palm oil is used for making margarines,

toiletries, cosmetics, carotenes and biofuel; cotton and linen are processed into apparels. Besides,

in the animal origin for food processing, meats are processed into burgers, sausage and nuggets.

Fish are dried, slated or canned such as sardines. Dairy produced can be processed as powders,

canned milk, cheeses and fermented beverages. For the industrial processing, leather and silk are

made into apparel, footwear, belts, handbags and wallets.

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3.3 Tecnology of Agriculture

There are several challenges in agriculture such as labour, price, crop choice, resources

and agricultural technology but the focus here is the agricultural technology and similarly with

the main idea of this title. Agricultural technology is the application of the principles of

mathematics and natural sciences in order to be economically efficient use of agricultural

resources and natural resources for human welfare. The types of agricultural technology are the

genetic engineering, tissue culture, biotechnology, conventional method, and precision

agriculture. The benefits from prospecting and developing the potentials and applications of new

and frontier technologies are yet to be realized.

Among these are the use of plant cell and tissue culture techniques as well as genetic

engineering to complement conventional plant breeding in developing new crop varieties.

Second, the use of plant cell cultures to enhance the development of new and innovative products

including metabolites such as pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals and food additives. Third, the

application of embryo manipulation technology and the use of genetically engineered vaccines to

strengthen existing technologies for existing technologies for increasing animal productivity.

Next, the incorporation of robotics and artificial intelligence as well as computer modeling,

including expert systems and computer simulated scenario analysis and microprofessor control in

machinery and automation equipment to reduce labour. Lastly, the application of advance

processing and packaging systems to strengthen and enhance conventional and traditional

techniques for better post-harvest handling and storage and longer shelf-life of agricultural

products.

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4.0 AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

4.1 Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an

organism's genome using biotechnology. New DNA may be inserted in the host genome by first

isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using molecular cloning methods to

generate a DNA sequence, or by synthesizing the DNA, and then inserting this construct into the

host organism. Genes may be removed, or "knocked out", using a nuclease. Gene targeting is a

different technique that uses homologous recombination to change an endogenous gene, and can

be used to delete a gene, remove exons, add a gene, or introduce point mutations.

One of the best-known and controversial applications of genetic engineering is the

creation and use of genetically modified crops or genetically modified organisms, such as

genetically modified fish, which are used to produce genetically modified food and materials

with diverse uses. There are four main goals in generating genetically modified crops. One goal,

and the first to be realized commercially, is to provide protection from environmental threats,

such as cold (in the case of Ice-minus bacteria), or pathogens, such as insects or viruses, and/or

resistance to herbicides. There are also fungal and virus resistant crops developed or in

development. They have been developed to make the insect and weed management of crops

easier and can indirectly increase crop yield. Another goal in generating GMOs, is to modify the

quality of the produce, for instance, increasing the nutritional value or providing more

industrially useful qualities or quantities of the produce. The Amflora potato, for example,

produces a more industrially useful blend of starches. Cows have been engineered to produce

more protein in their milk to facilitate cheese production. Soybeans and canola have been

genetically modified to produce more healthy oils. Another goal consists of driving the GMO to

produce materials that it does not normally make. One example is "pharming", which uses crops

as bioreactors to produce vaccines, drug intermediates, or drug themselves; the useful product is

purified from the harvest and then used in the standard pharmaceutical production process. Cows

and goats have been engineered to express drugs and other proteins in their milk, and in 2009

the FDA approved a drug produced in goat milk.

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Another goal in generating GMOs, is to directly improve yield by accelerating growth, or

making the organism more hardy (for plants, by improving salt, cold or drought tolerance). Some

agriculturally important animals have been genetically modified with growth hormones to

increase their size. The genetic engineering of agricultural crops can increase the growth rates

and resistance to different diseases caused by pathogens and parasites. This is beneficial as it can

greatly increase the production of food sources with the usage of fewer resources that would be

required to host the world's growing populations. These modified crops would also reduce the

usage of chemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, and therefore decrease the severity and

frequency of the damages produced by these chemical pollution. Ethical and safety concerns

have been raised around the use of genetically modified food. A major safety concern relates to

the human health implications of eating genetically modified food, in particular whether toxic or

allergic reactions could occur. Gene flow into related non-transgenic crops, off target effects on

beneficial organisms and the impact on biodiversity are important environmental issues. Ethical

concerns involve religious issues, corporate control of the food supply, intellectual property

rights and the level of labeling needed on genetically modified products. Here is the photo of one

of the peanut leaves that applied from this technology:

Bt-toxins present in peanut leaves (bottom image)

protect it from extensive damage caused by European corn borer larvae (top image).

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TABLE 2Genetic variation in concentrations of iron,

zinc, beta-carotene and ascorbic acid found in germplasm of fivestaple foods, dry weight basis

(mg/kg)

Iron Zinc Beta-carotene1 Ascorbic acid

RICE

  Brown 6-25 14-59 0-1 -

  Milled 1-14 14-38 0 -

CASSAVA

 Root 4-76 3-38 1-242 0-38020

  Leaves 39-236 15-109 180-9602 17-42002

BEAN 134-1111 21-540 0 -

MAIZE 10-63 12-580 0-10 -

WHEAT 10-993 00028-1772 0-20 -

1 Range for total carotenoids is much greater.2 Fresh weight basis.3 Including wild relatives.Source: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), 2002.

Genetic engineering can be used when insufficient natural variation in the desired

nutrient exists within a species. Box 9 describes the debate surrounding a project to enhance the

protein content of potato using genetic engineering. The well-known transgenic Golden Rice

contains three foreign genes - two from the daffodil and one from a bacterium - that produce

provitamin A . Scientists are well on their way to developing transgenic “nutritionally

optimized”' rice that would contain genes producing provitamin A, iron and more protein

(Potrykus, 2003). Other nutritionally enhanced foods are under development, such as oils with

reduced levels of undesirable fatty acids. In addition, foods that are commonly allergenic

(shrimp, peanuts, soybean, rice, etc.) are being modified to contain lower levels of allergenic

compounds.

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A major technical factor limiting the application of genetic modification to forest trees is

the current low level of knowledge regarding the molecular control of traits that are of most

interest. One of the first reported trials with genetically modified forest trees was initiated in

Belgium in 1988 using poplars. Since then, there have been more than 100 reported trials

involving at least 24 tree species, primarily timber-producing species. Traits for which genetic

modification has been contemplated for forest trees include insect and virus resistance, herbicide

tolerance and lignin content. Reduction of lignin is a valuable objective for species producing

pulp for the paper industry because it would enable a reduction in the use of chemicals in the

process.

Growth in adoption of genetically engineered soybean, cotton, and corn in the United States,

1996-2009. HT = Herbicide-tolerant crops; Bt = Insect-resistant crops containing Bacillus

thuringiensis genes. Each category includes crops with both traits.

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4.2 Tissue Culture

Just as every person is different and unique, so is each plant. Some have traits like better

color, yield, or pest resistance. For years, scientists have looked for methods to allow them to

make exact copies of these superior individuals. Plants usually reproduce by forming seeds

through sexual reproduction. That is, egg cells in the flowers are fertilized by pollen from the

stamens of the plants. Each of these sexual cells contains genetic material in the form of DNA.

During sexual reproduction, DNA from both parents is combined in new and unpredictable

ways, creating unique plants. This unpredictability is a problem for plant breeders as it can take

several years of careful greenhouse work to breed a plant with desirable characteristics. Many of

us think that all plants grow from seeds. However, researchers have now developed several

methods of growing exact copies of plants without seeds. They also are now doing this through a

method called “tissue culture”.

Tissue culture (TC) is the cultivation of plant cells, tissues, or organs on specially

formulated nutrient media. Under the right conditions, an entire plant can be regenerated from a

single cell. Plant tissue culture is a technique that has been around for more than 30 years. Tissue

culture is seen as an important technology for developing countries for the production of disease-

free, high quality planting material and the rapid production of many uniform plants.

Micropropagation, which is a form of tissue culture, increases the amount of planting material to

facilitate distribution and large scale planting. In this way, thousands of copies of a plant can be

produced in a short time. Micropropagated plants are observed to establish more quickly, grow

more vigorously and are taller, have a shorter and more uniform production cycle, and produce

higher yields than conventional propagules. Plant tissue culture is a straightforward technique

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and many developing countries have already mastered it. Its application only requires a sterile

workplace, nursery, and green house, and trained manpower. Unfortunately, tissue culture is

labor intensive, time consuming, and can be costly. Plants important to developing countries that

have been grown in tissue culture are oil palm, plantain, pine, banana, date, eggplant, jojoba,

pineapple, rubber tree, cassava, yam, sweet potato, and tomato. This application is the most

commonly applied form of traditional biotechnology in Africa.

High Yield

Yields of adherent cells grown in Millicell HY cell culture flasks are linearly proportional to

surface area and closely match theoretical yields. CHO-k1 cells seeded at 40,000 cells/cm2,

propagated with 0.2 mL/cm2 culture medium and incubated for 48 hours at 37 ºC, 6% CO2, 95%

relative humidity. Cells were washed with 0.02% EDTA followed by harvest via enzyme

dissociation for 10-15 minutes at 37 ºC. Cell counts were normalized to average cell yield from

T75 flasks and reported as T75 flask equivalents. Perfectly uniform cell growth on each layer for

results we can count on:

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Theoretical cell yield = (total surface area in cm2) divided by 75 cm2. Separating the layers of a

5-layer Millicell HY cell culture flask shows perfectly uniform cell growth across all 5 layers.

Adherent cells were stained prior to flask disassembly.

4.3 Biotechnology

Biotechnology has many applications in agriculture, including diagnostics, vaccines and

therapeutics for animal health; DNA fingerprinting for managing animal stocks and identifying

specific plant varieties, animal and plant propagation; and the use of marker assisted selection,

intragenics and genetic modification (GM) to develop improved plant and animal varieties. The

term agricultural biotechnology encompasses a variety of technologies used in food and

agriculture, for a range of different purposes such as the genetic improvement of plant varieties

and animal; genetic characterization and conservation of genetic resources; plant or animal

disease diagnosis; vaccine development; and improvement of feeds (FAO,2009a). Some of these

technologies may be applied to all the food and agricultural sectors, such as the use of molecular

markers or genetic modification, while others are more sector-specific, such as tissue culture (in

transgenic crops and forest trees), embryo transfer (livestock) or sex-reversal (fish).

Biotechnology has the potential to increase crop and animal productivity to improve

nutritional quality, broaden tolerance of crops for drought, salinity, and other environment

related stresses and increase resistance of crops to pests and diseases. Malaysia has a long

tradition as a leader in tropical plantation technology. Agriculture is still the backbone of the

Malaysian economy, the nation has moved from traditional agriculture toward a modern outlook

of the sector. Agricultural biotechnology answers the drive to ensure sample food supply and a

sustainable production of food for Malaysia.

Biotechnology is already being applied to increasing yield in the region by

• Minimizing pre- and post-harvest losses

• Increasing actual yields closer to the current production potential; and

• Increasing the production potential.

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Examples include the use of in-vitro culture techniques in potatoes, cassava and

plantation crops, haploids in rice, diagnostic kits for disease identification, new and recombinant

vaccines and embryo transfer. Other examples are, transgenic fish through chromosome set

manipulation for polyploidy induction, and improved breeding induction and hypophysation,

hybridization, for example, of catfish, use of probiotics in feed, fish pond and fish health

management. In some countries in the region, commercial production of transgenic cotton and

soybean is increasing fast. These techniques provide opportunities for refining, standardisation

and efforts to increase cost-effectiveness to improve their transfer to and adoption by the

majority of small farmers. Biotechnology also has been recognized as one of the new high

technologies that will bring about desired changes in the agricultural sector. The sector aims to

increase productivity and yield of agriculture produce; the diagram below shows the aspiration of

production of key agriculture produce under the 3rd National Agriculture Policy and the 9th

Malaysia Plan. It is also a revolutionary technology which employs advanced processing

methods and genetically modified organisms to improve yield and quality. It provides new food

materials for consumers and environmentally friendly ways of pests and disease control.

Examples can be seen in the production of high yielding clones, fast and frozen foods,

dehydrated fruits, nutriceuticals, antioxidants, vitamins, cosmetics and enzymes.

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Cell Growth curves of the highest producing (C148, C160), and lowest producing (C150 and

C160), clones as compared to the parental cell population (Parent). Average cell counts of

duplicate cultures per clone at 24 h intervals are shown. The low yielding clones grew faster and

to a higher cell density than the control and high yielding clones. Error bars for cell counts

(typically 15%, Nielsen et al., 1991), are not shown for clarity.

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4.4 Conventional Method

It is hard to put a single definition to conventional farming, as the term is used to describe

a wide range of agricultural practices. In general it is assumed to be any type of agriculture that

requires high external energy inputs to achieve high yields, and generally relies upon

technological innovations, uniform high-yield crops, and high labor efficiencies. Many view

conventional agriculture less as a defined practice and more as a philosophical idea based on

industrial agriculture. Conventional agriculture typically has strong impacts on the diversity,

structure, and roles of small mammal populations. Overall, conventionally managed agricultural

fields have lower a lower biodiversity of small mammals than sustainably managed fields Also, a

lower abundance of small mammals is often prevalent; a study of bats showed that abundance

decreased with the increase in agricultural intensity This is often due to the high use of pesticides

and herbicides, which can eliminate essential habitat (ground cover) and food sources (green

vegetation or insects). Dietary shifts to lower quality food, dispersal to new areas, and lowered

reproductive success have also been noted in certain small mammals.

Conventional agriculture can also aid more disturbance-adapted species, such as deer

mice and house mice. These species can often be more beneficial as insect pest and weed seed

predators than detrimental as crop pests. Furthermore, known agricultural pest species such as

meadow voles and prairie voles are not well adapted to living in conventional fields. Their

presence, if any, will be at the uncultivated edges of the fields, leading to virtually no detrimental

impact on agricultural yields.

Example of a tilled field near Northfield, MN

While the tillage system is not necessarily exclusive to this type of agriculture, tilled fields are

more often found in conventional agriculture than sustainable agriculture, and impose many of

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the same effects on small mammal populations as conventional agriculture does. Tillage is when

the soil in a field is ploughed in order to reduce weed species and aid in planting. Tilled fields

typically have lower species diversity, but with higher abundances of disturbance adapted

species, such as the deer mouse, than do no-till fields. Similar to conventional agriculture, these

species can often be more beneficial as pest and weed species controllers than detrimental to

crops. Tilling also helps keep down pest species, such as prairie voles and meadow voles, which

rely upon thick ground cover. These two species, if in large enough numbers, can cause serious

economic problems .

Photo by: Rashidah Murat

Organic farming is the process by which crops are raised using only natural methods to

maintain soil fertility and to control pests. The amount of crops produced by conventional

farming methods is often larger than that of organic farming. But conventional farming, with its

heavy use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides (agrochemicals), has a greater negative

effect on the environment. In comparison, organic farming produces healthy crops while

maintaining the quality of the soil and surrounding environment.

Animal Husbandry

In conventional farming, livestock animals are generally kept together under extremely

crowded and foul conditions. Because of this, they are highly susceptible to diseases and

infections. To manage this problem, conventional farmers rely on antibiotics, which are given

not only when animals are sick but often on a continued basis in the animals' feed. Since the mid-

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1990s, however, scientists have known that this practice has led to the development of new

strains of bacteria that are resistant to the repeated use of antibiotics. These bacteria are not only

harmful to the animals but are potentially harmful to the humans who consume the animals.

Organic farmers might also use antibiotics to treat infections in sick animals, but they do not

continuously add those chemicals to the animals' feed. In addition, many organic farmers keep

their animals in more open and sanitary conditions. Animals that are relatively free from

crowding and constant exposure to waste products are more resistant to diseases. Overall, they

have less of a need for antibiotics.

Intensively managed agriculture (left) compared with organic farming (right).

Some conventional farmers raising livestock use synthetic growth hormones, such as

bovine growth hormone, to increase the size and productivity of their animals. Inevitably, these

hormones remain in trace concentrations, contaminating the animal products that humans

consume. Although risk to humans has yet to be scientifically demonstrated, there is controversy

about the potential effects. Organic farmers do not use synthetic growth hormones to enhance

their livestock.

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4.5 Precision Agriculture

The term precision agriculture is applicable to any form of information gathering,

management, planning, or field operation that improves the understanding and management of

soil and landscape resources so that cropping inputs or management practices are utilized more

efficiently than with conventional “one -size-fits-all”strategies. Essentially, precision agriculture

involves the management of spatial and temporal variability associated with all aspects of

agricultural production in order to improve crop performance and environmental quality this is

strategically achieved by matcing agricultural inputs and practices to localized conditions within

a field (site-specific management).

Precision agriculture has three fundamental requirements, which are

i) ability to identify each field location

ii) ability to capture, interpret and analyze agronomic data at an appropriate scale

and frequency

iii) ability to adjust input use and farming practices to maximize benefits from each

field location

A suite of technologies such as Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), Geographical

Information System (GIS), remote sensing, Variable Rate Technology (VRT),on-the-go

sensors, grid sampling, and yield monitors is used to fulfil these requirements. Protocols

for precision agriculture implemention are:

i) gathering information about variability

ii) processing and analyzing information to access the significance of

variability

iii) implementing change in the management of inputs

Precision agriculture subscribes to a cyclic process that is typified by a system

that gets smarter every year a field/farm operator uses it.

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Implementing practices to address variability

New information and communication technologies (NICT) make field-level crop

management more operational and easier to achieve for farmers. Application of crop

management decisions calls for agricultural equipment that supports variable-rate technology

(VRT), for example varying seed density along with variable-rate application (VRA) of nitrogen

and phytosanitary products.Precision agriculture uses technology on agricultural equipment (e.g.

tractors, sprayers, harvestors, etc.): positioning system (e.g. GPS receivers that use satellite

signals to precisely determine a position on the globe); geographic information systems (GIS),

i.e., software that makes sense of all the available data; variable-rate farming equipment (seeder,

spreader).

False-color images demonstrate"Precision Farming : NDVI image taken with small aerial system Image of the Day” Stardust II in one flight. (299 images mosaic)

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Gains in irrigated rice yield and the agronomic efficiency of fertilizer-N (kg grain yield increase per kg fertilizer-N applied) through site-specific nutrient management in Nueva Ecija province, Philippines. Values shown are means and standard errors of the same 27 fields managed from 1997 to 2001, including wet (WS) and dry (DS) season rice (Source: RTOP Project database, IRRI).

Yara N-Sensor ALS mounted on a tractor's canopy – a system that records light reflection of crops, calculates fertilization recommendations and then varies the amount of fertilizer spread

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5.0 CONCLUSION

Agricultural technologies and knowledge have, until recently, largely been created and

disseminated by public institutions. But over the past two decades, biotechnology for agricultural

production has developed rapidly, and the world economy has become more globalised and

liberalised. This has boosted private investment in agricultural research and technology,

exposing agriculture in developing countries to international markets and the influence of

multinational corporations. But the public sector still has a role to play, particularly in managing

the new knowledge, supporting research to fill any remaining gaps, promoting and regulating

private companies, and ensuring their effects on the environment are adequately assessed.

If the public sector focuses on these four topics that knowledge management, gap-filling

research, promoting and regulate the private sector, and lastly environmental impact analysis, it

will continue to support relevant transfers of agricultural technology. In particular, public sector

organisations need to join forces with the private sector to provide reliable funding and sources

of trained personnel to improve agricultural technology policy in developing countries. This

should occur in cooperation with international mechanisms, like CGIAR, and research

institutions in the developed world. Agricultural innovation has always come from collaborations

between public institutions, the scientific community and agriculturalists themselves. Now, with

the private sector's growing importance in the innovation process, the challenge facing the public

sector is to bridge the gap and work with these new players.

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6.0 REFERENCES

1) Agriculture, Technological Change, and the Environment in Latin America: A 2020 Perspective by Eduardo J. Trigo, 1995

2) Africa’s Changing Agricultural Development Strategies: Past and Present Paradigms as a Guide to the Future, by Christopher L. Deldago, 1995

3) Lecture Notes PRT2008 Agriculture and Man by Professor Dr Rita Muhamad Awang (Chairman/ Coordinator PRT2008), Professor Dr Khanif Yusof, Professor Dr Zainal Aznam Mohd Jelan, Associate Professor Dr Ridzwan Abd Halim, Associate Professor Dr Muta Harah Zakaria, Dr Norida Mazlan (Secretary), September 2011

4) http://www.scienceclarified.com/Oi-Ph/Organic-Farming.html#b

5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_Agriculture

6) http://www.healthyag.com/alter_conser.html

7) http://www.extension.org/pages/26967/genetically-modified-organisms-for-bioenergy- systems

8) http://www.millipore.com/cellbiology/flx0/cc_grow_cultureflasks

9) http://www.google.com.my/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF- 8&q=agricultural+biotechnology

10) http://fazlisyam.com/2008/03/26/pertanian-dan-bioteknologi-di-malaysia/

11) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166093411002096

12) http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/terms/srb9902.shtml

13) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_agriculture

14) http://fftc.imita.org/library.php?func=view&id=20110725110920