We know of agriculture as growing crops, rearing animals, and processing and selling agricultural products to benefit humans and society at large. There are tons of components of agriculture. Here are some of the major parts of agriculture in general. First, people have to grow and plant crops. Tons of foods exist by people and machines planting rice, bean, yarn, cocoa, bananas, etc. Food crops are made up of grain, legumes, vegetables, fruits, and seeds. They are produced for immediate consumption. Grain crops are maize, guinea corn, millet, etc. Legume crops are soybean, pea, peanut, cowpea, etc. Vegetable crops are tomato, cabbage, pepper, okra, onions, carrot, etc. Fruit crops are orange, mango, pawpaw, apple, pineapple, banana, etc. Cash crops are economic crops. These crops require more processing before consumption. Cocoa, sugarcane, cashew, groundnut, etc. are examples of cash crops. They are grown for commercial purposes. In rearing of animals, people have domestic and wild animal rearing. Rearing animals have been used by farmers for generations worldwide. Many of our relatives and ancestors are expert farmers of animals. When you have domestic animals, these animals are reared at home or on farmland like sheep, goats, chicken, birds, fish, horse, etc. Wild animals like lions, tigers, elephants, sharks, crocodiles, alligators, etc. are meant to live in their natural environments. Processing agricultural products requires technological knowledge, determination, hard work, economic understanding, and great expertise in diverse areas. Many agricultural products are not in their final state. So, they are processed by packaging, branding, and rebranding as found in fish, sardine, meat, corned beef, cocoa, milo, bourvita, groundnut, ground oil, cotton, cloth, shoes, belts, bags, wheat bread, etc. Farmers readily sell their agricultural products to corporations, businesses, and other entities regularly. In agriculture, experts have to study soil sustainability, conservation, and environmental impacts over the course of years, so production of supplies is consistent and thorough. That is why manure, biofertilizers, animal husbandry, biological management, and crop rotation are crucial in organic farming and in agriculture in general.
What is Big Agra or Big agribusiness. Big Agra is about multinational corporations owning a high percentage of the agriculture business in general. Many large corporations deal with natural resources, biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber. Many of us talk about corporations involving Wall Street, political institutions, and other entities. Yet, it's an underrated topic to talk about how big agribusiness has this large influence on world markets spanning centuries in this world alone. Agribusiness relates to farming, marketing, entrepreneurship, value-addition, microfinancing, and agricultural extension. A lot of resources are spread in exports and imports in dealing with the global agricultural market. Agriculture is heavily a business. Businesses and other corporations have to deal with inputs, production, bulking, trade, processing, packaging, and retail all of the time. From the farm to the consumer, everything involving the value chain concept is interrelated. Large agricultural corporations don't just own farms, but the fertilizer, patents, mechanization of resources (especially in the reality of a declining American population involved in farming), distribution companies, supermarket chains, and even water supplies. So, this is a big reality that people have to comprehend. Like anyone with power, power must be handled right if everything can move properly. Yet, history teaches us about the imperfections of human beings, so some in Big Agra have been involved in documented corruption for years. Agriculture also deals with environmental issues like the health effects of pesticides, valley fever, irrigation, immigration, labor rights, economic justice matters, and climate change. The vast majority of people in the agriculture market system do the right thing and seek to make a living. Yet, we have issues in the world like the reality of monopolies owning a disproportionate amount of the food supplies on Earth. Many farmers in the world are prevented from using diverse crops. Now, only four corporations (Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina, and Limagrain) control more than 50 percent of the world's seeds. "Seeds are ultimately what feed us and the animals we eat," Jack Kloppenburg, a rural sociologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. "Control over seeds is, in many ways, control over the food supply. The question of who produces new plant varieties is absolutely critical for the future of all of us." Another problem is that seeds are becoming less diverse. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 75 percent of the world's crop varieties disappeared between 1900 and 2000. Bayer and Corteva have strict regulations on how farmers can use their seed varieties by signing agreements. That is why seed sovereignty activists want more ownership of seeds and farming in general.
Urban farming or urban agriculture has been popularized more in the 21st century during the acceleration of climate change, gentrification, and the growth of the environmental movement in general. More human beings want to set up institutions that they own and control for the benefit of the community. There is nothing wrong with that sacrosanct aim. In urban areas from Virginia, Chicago, New York City, California, etc. have tons of urban farming communities flourishing. One major purpose of urban farming is the cultivating, processing, and distributing of food in or around urban areas. We have a food insecurity crisis in many parts of the world, and urban farming has helped to bridge the gap in supplies of necessary foods to human beings. Urban farming is complex too. It relies on animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture. There have been peri-urban areas and peri-urban agriculture too. Urban farming is diverse. Some urban farmers want to directly help their urban communities. Some want sustainable communities, some people want to promote food security, and other urban farmers want to advance nutrition or healthy eating among people. The advancement of a healthy eating culture involving fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat products via urban agriculture can improve food safety and food security. Years ago, Persia had oases to feed people via aqueducts carrying water to help people. In Machu Picchu, water was conserved and reused to help grow vegetables. Allotment gardens emerged in Germany in the early 19th century as a response to poverty and food insecurity. In 1893, citizens of a depression-struck Detroit were asked to use vacant lots to grow vegetables. They were nicknamed Pingree's Potato Patches after the mayor, Hazen S. Pingree, who came up with the idea. He intended for these gardens to produce income, food supply, and boost independence during times of hardship. Victory gardens sprouted during WWI and WWII and were fruit, vegetable, and herb gardens in the US, Canada, and UK. This effort was undertaken by citizens to reduce pressure on food production that was to support the war effort. During the Great Depression, tons of plots of growing food existed to help people eat food during harsh times.
These efforts helped raise spirits and boost economic growth. Over 2.8 million dollar's worth of food was produced from the subsistence gardens during the Depression. By World War II, the War/Food Administration set up a National Victory Garden Program that set out to systematically establish functioning agriculture within cities. With this new plan in action, as many as 5.5 million Americans took part in the victory garden movement, and over nine million pounds of fruit and vegetables were grown a year, accounting for 44% of US-grown produce throughout that time. By the 21st century, community gardening is very common. Citizens work in community gardens to help advance horticulture. Some grow plants for aesthetic purposes, and other people grow foods. The community gardening program of P-Patch in Seattle is very successful. City farms are found everywhere, including on top of buildings in New York City. City farms vary in size from small plots in private yards to larger farms that occupy a number of acres. In 1996, a United Nations report estimated there are over 800 million people worldwide who grow food and raise livestock in cities. Although some city farms have paid employees, most rely heavily on volunteer labor, and some are run by volunteers alone. Other city farms operate as partnerships with local authorities. In 2010, New York City saw the building and opening of the world's largest privately owned and operated rooftop farm, followed by an even larger location in 2012. Both were a result of municipal programs such as The Green Roof Tax Abatement Program and the Green Infrastructure Grant Program.
In Singapore, hydroponic rooftop farms (which also rely on vertical farming) are appearing. The goal behind these is to rejuvenate areas and workforces that have thus far been marginalized. Simultaneously top-level pesticide-free produce will be grown and harvested. Urban farming is very necessary with food resources in urban areas being less accessible than in rural areas in many cases. We know that statistics and reality outline that poorer communities have a lack of food access and an increased risk of malnutrition (which lead to socioeconomic inequities). That is why I'm a progressive on economic issues because you must address poverty in order to liberate human beings. Food deserts are a phenomenon in many poor communities where healthy food choices are lacking in their communities. There is also racial discrimination that causes the urban poor communities to have issues of unemployment, poverty, struggles to access health care, educational issues, and social resource access issues. We have to fight gentrification and other oppressive policies (like rising rent and rising mortgage prices). Urban farms also provide unique opportunities for individuals, especially those living in cities, to get actively involved with ecological citizenship. By reconnecting with food production and nature, urban community gardening teaches individuals the skills necessary to participate in a democratic society. To run the farm, decisions must be made on a group basis. Most effective results are achieved when residents of a community are asked to take on more active roles in the farm Everyone deserves access to adequate food. We already know that highly processed fast food or convenience store foods (that are high in calories and low in nutrients) may lead to elevated rates of diet-based illnesses like diabetes. Fighting institutional racism means promoting food justice and economic justice too along with abolishing inequalities in our society. Similarly, in a study by Marc Xuereb and Region of Waterloo Public Health, it was estimated that switching to locally grown food could save transport-related emissions equivalent to nearly 50,000 metric tons of CO2, or the equivalent of taking 16,191 cars off the road. Urban farming helps to reduce a city's carbon footprint. The reason is that plants absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and release breathable oxygen (O2) through photosynthesis. The process of Carbon Sequestration can be further improved by combining other agricultural techniques to increase removal from the atmosphere and prevent the release of CO2 during harvest time. However, this process relies heavily on the types of plants selected and the methodology of farming. Specifically, choosing plants that do not lose their leaves and remain green all year can increase the farm's ability to sequester carbon. Reducing these particulates and ozone gases could reduce mortality rates in urban areas along with increasing the health of those living in cities. A 2011 article found that a rooftop containing 2000 m2 of uncut grass has the potential to remove up to 4000 kg of particulate matter and that one square meter of green roof is sufficient to offset the annual particulate matter emissions of a car. Urban gardens of fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Urban agriculture also provides quality nutrition for low-income households. Studies show that every $1 invested in a community garden yields $6 worth of vegetables if labor is not considered a factor in investment. Many urban gardens reduce the strain on food banks and other emergency food providers by donating shares of their harvest and providing fresh produce in areas that otherwise might be food deserts. The supplemental nutrition program Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have partnered with several urban gardens nationwide to improve the accessibility to produce in exchange for a few hours of volunteer gardening work. Urban farmers still need to deal with space, pose land being contaminated with lead and insect pests. Likewise, urban gardening has enriched millions of lives worldwide.
There are new agricultural technologies in the 21st century. We see the advancement of autonomous devices in farming. There are now smart irrigation systems. Some of these systems use sensors paired with a customized Internet of Things (IoT) platform to detect weather conditions and soil moisture. They use this date to determinate the landscape's irrigation needs of an area. Sensors collect field data stored in a cloud framework and can be accessed at any time and from any location. These systems can find humidity and temperature readings. Smart irrigation systems have helped to conserve resources, lower operational costs, and stop weed growth. They use the information to be placed in smart mobile devices in causing farmers to minimize water supply utilization (increasing effectiveness and efficiency). Agricultural drones help to survey large and small farms. They can collect field information and capture field footage. Drones and UAVs use sensors to help field map elevation data too. We see robotic harvesters that help to optimize harvesting. This autonomous farming robot can use crop sensing technology to collect tons of crops. There are autonomous tractors can it expected to be worth $11.58 billion by 2030. One single person can control a fleet of tractors from outside the field via smart devices. These machines can work in diverse weather conditions.
Smart agriculture systems with cloud, AI, big data, IoT, and robotic engineering are futuristic in our modern times. These devices can increase productivity and reduce previous time-consuming tasks. Used in the right ways, these new devices can improve sustainable farming practices. Still, labor shortages, climate change, and rising production costs must be addressed too. One great piece of advice for men and women in life is to cultivate comprehensive knowledge in book smarts, emotional intelligence, and diverse trades (like electricians, plumbers, farmers, carpenters, construction, HVAC workers, real estate, etc.). These trades help people with pensions, health care, and other benefits that develop generational wealth. Saving and investing in your resources makes perfect sense. Plus, you will live longer by reducing stress, eating healthy, and exercising. Being multifaceted in action and thinking reap great benefits in life literally.
Recently, Ancestry.com mentioned that Tariq Adams is related to me via my 2nd great grandfather Adam D. So, Tariq Adams genetically and genealogically is my 3rd cousin. Also, Tariq Adams genetically (as proven by Ancestry.com) are related to my cousins like Renna Spencer, Delores Major, Alicia Gatling-Sweat, etc. First, Adam D. married Georgianna Tillery, and they had a child named Arthur Lawarence D. (1889-1944). Arthur Lawrence D. married Alvania Staton (1895-1996), and had a child named Georgianna D. (1926-2018). She married John Rufus Davis (1925-2005) on September 2, 1948, in Halifax, North Carolina. Their children are McArthur D. (b. 1943), Dorothy Jean Davis (b. 1949), Joan Carolyn Davis (b. 1951), Fraddie Yvonne Davis (b. 1954), Starlette Edmonds, Valerie Chase, Pamela Scott, and Eric Victor Davis Sr. (1948-2021). Eric Victor Davis Sr.'s nickname was affectionately called "Beaver." He was born on March 12, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York City. He was raised in Scotland Neck, North Carolina where he attended The Brawley High School. He worked in Mutts Funeral Home when he was in high school. After high school, Eric Davis Sr. was in the Marine Corps for 9 years, and he completed two tours in Vietnam (during the Vietnam War). He moved to Trenton, New Jersey where he served two years in the New Jersey National Guard. Eric Davis Sr. was employed by Starr Bus Tours for 17 years before he retired, he formed his own trucking business and was employed by Capitol City Trucking for 8 years. He was a heart transplant survivor for 14 years. He lived in New Jersey and visited Scotland Neck, North Carolina (the ancestral home of many of my paternal ancestors) constantly. His wife is Panthea Davis. So, Tariq Adams is the child of Eric Victor Davis Sr. and Phfedra A. Adams.
There is information about the late James Wilson Peeples (1940-2022), and he was my late 2nd cousin. We share the same common ancestors as Charles Peeples and Fannie Brown, who lived over 100 years ago. James Wilson Peeples was born on August 3, 1940. His first wife was Dorothy Mae Harris (1944-2019), in Portsmouth, Virginia on July 24, 1961. Their children are Faruq Abdul Razzaq (b. 1960), Jacqueline Denise Peeples Orton (b. 1962) of Las Vegas, Nevada, Anita Cheryl Peeples Cassell (b. 1966) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Keith Wilson Peeples (b. 1968) of Portsmouth, Virginia, Delicia Yolande Peeples (b. 1973) of Portsmouth, Virginia, and Alonzo Peeples of Portsmouth, Virginia. His second wife was Barbara Ann Davis Sawyer (James Peeples married her on September 14, 1984, in Norfolk, Virginia. James Wilson Peeples's parents were Vernell Franklin Peeples (1912-1987) and Bettie Wilkerson (1918-2003). Vernell Franklin Peeples's parents were Ralph Charles William Peeples (1884-1967) and Mattie Annie Barrett (1890-1985). Ralph Charles William Peeples's parents were Charles Peeples and Fannie Brown. James Wilson Peeples attended Portsmouth Public Schools and retired from Norfolk State University after 35 years as a police officer. People know him as having a great sense of humor and a very caring person. James Wilson Peeples had nine grandchildren. My 3rd cousin Jacqueline Denise Peeples had these children (or my 3rd cousins) with Anthony Orton (b. 1961): Antoine Lorenzo Orton (b. 1980) and Antoinette Natasha Orton (b. 1984. She studied at the Master of Science-Nursing/Family Practitioner at Old Dominion University).
By Timothy
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