Human Progress and Agricultural Development

As humans formed communities, daily food was obtained by hunting animals and gathering plants. Therefore, when food in the area ran out, they had to move to new location. Eventually, humans discovered that new plants grew from the discarded seeds of the plants they had eaten. Learning to sow seeds and grow crops enabled them to settle in safe locations. This is said to be the beginning of cultivation.

In this way, humans acquired a means to consistently get food, and a cultivation-based society came into being. Agrarian societies are said to have lasted a long time, from several thousands of years ago through the 1800s when the Industrial Revolution arose. During those times, humans steadily developed agricultural techniques. The development of crops and agricultural techniques suited to the local climates, as well as the invention of agricultural implements that made cultivation and harvesting more efficient, increased harvest yields. By securing a stable food supply, humans settling in fixed locations developed communities rooted there.

The Industrial Revolution brought about dramatically improved technology in various fields, which rushed humans into an industrial society. The Industrial Revolution also created new value in agriculture. Farm work, which had been heavy labor, became less labor-intensive, and mass production became possible, with the advent of agricultural machinery and chemical fertilizers. As well, the shape of agriculture began to change around this time. The Industrial Revolution drove an escalation in urban population, and expanding food production to support this growing population became necessary. Farms became increasingly larger and more efficient, and produce shifted from being something farm families ate to something they sold as a commodity. Thus, subsistence farming transformed into agriculture as a primary industry, which established itself as an important food-supporting industry.

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  Testing of the HA1 Type Reaper-Binder. It took Kubota 10 years to develop the machine.

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  The Type L15R Rice-Field Rider Driven Tractor employed in a rice paddy

The popularization of information technology (IT) is what allows for our present-day information society, in which everyone can readily access all types of information. The internet has become indispensable in life, digitalized information has made all industries more efficient, and our lives have been enriched. However, at the same time, mass-production and mass-consumption societies to date have caused global environmental problems, and we are now in a period requiring a sustainable society.

In the food sector as well, there is an increasing need for sustainable agriculture in response to global issues such as food shortages caused by population growth, a declining agricultural population, and a concern for the global environment. Not only is there a call for mass production as in the past, there is also demand for agriculture that does not put a burden on Earth and that saves labor. At the same time there are also increasing needs for food diversity, including high-quality agricultural products and safe and secure food. To realize these goals, a variety of solutions and agricultural machinery utilizing IT are being developed.

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  Kubota’s Farm Management Information System , a cloud-based service supporting farm operations to help resolve agricultural management issues

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  The Kubota Agri Robo Tractor performing unmanned automatic agricultural work