Scope of bio-diversity in farm mechanization

Abstract

From the products we buy to the food we consume, agricultural production is an integral part of everyone’s life. Agriculture provides humans with food and raw materials for goods—such as cotton for clothing, wood for shelter and fuel, roots for medicines, and materials for biofuels—and with incomes and livelihoods, including those derived from subsistence farming. Biodiversity has enabled farming systems to evolve ever since agriculture was fi rst developed some 10,000 years ago in regions across the world including Mesopotamia, New Guinea, China, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. Worldwide there is now a huge diversity of agricultural systems ranging, for example, from rice paddies of Asia, to dryland pastoral systems of Africa, and hill farms in the mountains of South America. Biodiversity is the source of the plants and animals that form the basis of agriculture and the immense variety within each crop and livestock species. Countless other species contribute to the essential ecological functions upon which agriculture depends, including soil services and water cycling. However, the Earth’s biodiversity is being lost at an alarming rate, putting in jeopardy the sustainability of ecosystem services and agriculture, and their ability to adapt to changing conditions. Th e conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is essential for the future of agriculture and humanity. At the same time, since agricultural lands extend across such a considerable proportion of the Earth’s surface and harbour signifi cant biodiversity, the conservation of biodiversity within agricultural landscapes must play an important part in global conservation strategies.