In the meantime, it is imperative that human and animal powered mechanization is made as efficient and attractive as possible to eliminate some of the drudgery associated with it. Substantial investment in research and development by governments, industry and international agencies is required to achieve this goal. For example, it has been proposed that state-of-the-art precision farming technologies could be integrated with animal powered mechanization to enhance land productivity through precise application of crop nutrients and environmentally sensitive tillage systems. The substantial range of tillage and seeding equipment is outlined in Tillage and Seeding Machines, EOLSS on-line, 2002) and summarized in Tables 5 and 6. Broadcast seeding and seed drilling are classical methods that are popular for sowing cereals (wheat, barley and oats) into cultivated soil.
Researchers in California have demonstrated the feasibility of a selective field lettuce harvester where mature lettuce heads are identified by an X-ray signal through the lettuce head, which then instructs the harvester accordingly. The mechanization of farming in developing countries has been very uneven. In certain parts of Africa, in Java, and in many hilly regions, farmers still till their fields with hand tools even though animal tillage has been common in other parts of the world for thousands of years. While draft animals have completely disappeared in North America, Europe, and Japan, they have been widely accepted in Senegal only in the past few decades.
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