Right now, we’re entering what many consider to be their favorite time of year: the holidays. During this season, people often take the time to reflect on what they have to be grateful for, such as food on the table and loved ones to share it with. They also might use these months to consider those who are less fortunate, wondering what we can all do as a global society to help those in need. In other words, it’s perhaps the time of year when the benefits of agrochemicals are most apparent. Though it may not be the type of subject people typically think about all that often, for those in the industry, it’s clear why the holidays might inspire this kind of thinking. Holiday Traditions Are Important to SocietyIf you step back from your own personal traditions and take a look at human culture as a whole, it’s obvious that people celebrate holidays in a variety of ways. Religions have their specific rituals. Regional influence also plays a role in determining how a certain group of people may observe this time of year. Even within individual families, there are differences. Some people place an emphasis on giving gifts to those close to them. Others focus more on charitable outreach. Some take this opportunity to embrace the spiritual element of their lives. Others celebrate in a secular manner. And yet, it seems that nearly all of us make food a key element of the holidays. It’s not just the indulgence of a meal that we enjoy. It’s the way in which coming together to eat gives us a chance to remember how fortunate we are to have family and friends. Without agrochemicals, this would not be easy. Agriculture and Agrochemicals Are Also Vital to SocietyAlthough humankind has made tremendous strides over the course of history, we still rely on agriculture to feed us. Without farms, we would have never made it beyond the hunter-gatherer stage. However, simply planting crops isn’t enough to supply the world’s population with food. Those crops can’t thrive if pests attack them, disease kills them, or competing plants deprive them of nutrients. That’s why agrochemicals have played such an important role in all human societies. They protect our crops from these dangers, allowing farmers to grow more food for the people of the world. Because agrochemicals also maximize the crop yield of a given farm, they make agriculture a much more financially stable industry to work in. This doesn’t merely benefit farmers. The more of a crop they are able to grow, the lower the price of that crop. Without agrochemicals, a food source might be considered too rare to price affordably. Farmers simply wouldn’t be able to grow enough to charge lower prices. Thanks to pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and similar products, this isn’t a problem. Because of this, people across the world are able to spend the holidays with the ones they love, enjoying a meal and each other’s company. Solving World Hunger through Technology and GenerosityOf course, we must also recognize that we haven’t yet solved the problem of world hunger. Again, the holidays are a time when we frequently display gratitude for what we do have in life, while looking for ways in which we can help those who are not so fortunate. As an individual, there’s plenty a person can do, from donating items to their local food banks to volunteering at homeless shelters. These are certainly fantastic ways to contribute to making the world a better, safer place for all people. However, as a society, we should also remember the role that agriculture has played in alleviating hunger. While there are still populations throughout the world experiencing a lack of food, there are far fewer now than there once were. This is largely thanks to the numerous advances in agriculture technology that have been made over the years. Even now, we’re seeing how techniques like precision farming and tools like unmanned drones can help farmers grow even more food. Instead of treating these innovations as niche interests, we should see them for what they truly are: powerful methods to combat world hunger. Agrochemicals have already played a tremendous role in helping to solve this problem, and they will continue to do so. In order to maximize their effectiveness in this regard, we must keep looking to new ways in which we can use them, improve on them, and spread them. Doing so will help to feed the world, and that’s the type of goal we should always keep in mind, not merely during the holidays, but every day of the year. Comments are closed.
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