ENGG 2000 - Concept question 2 - Issues of sustainable engineering PDF

Preview

Summary

Assignment 2 about sustainable engineering aaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaa aaaa aa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaa...

Description

Humanitarian engineering - Appropriate technology

Mitchell Dykes – s4696710

Throughout the 1960’s, researchers were able to deduce a growing universal decrease in crop biodiversity stemming from diseases, farming practices and environmental pollution. Establishing, farming practices to safeguard biodiversity whilst increasing ecosystem productivity was at the forefront of development due to the prospect of a widespread virus destroying large quantities of the world’s food supply (United Nations, 2020). The development of high yielding crops (HYC) were then released to farmers to increase productivity and resistance to diseases. Established in 1970, the ‘Green Revolution’ was aimed to maximise rice production in Asia through the introduction of scientifically developed High-Yielding Crops (HYC) - an advanced technology, which built on the existing skills, and knowledge of traditional rice farmers (Practical Action, 2010). The HYC’s were able to create a surplus of rice preventing famine as well as establish trade opportunities. Furthermore, the human centred design and innovative solution to mitigating crop diseases for developing countries is able to deduce that genetically modified crops are an appropriate technology. Appropriate technology is based upon a multitude of criteria ranging from their core values to its key features. Genetically modified crops are an example of new-platform technology for innovation based upon progressive research with the potential to simultaneously benefit the developing and industrialised world. Advances in technology are evaluated from 4 core values to determine the appropriateness: Sustainability, user-centred, affordable as well as simple and small design but technologically sophisticated. The high yielding rice crops were developed to be sustainable yet economically feasible for small landowners, as they were the target farms in which the modified crops will thrive. The HYC version of rice utilized more fertilizer by devoting nutrients to producing grain in comparison to straw or leaf material (Evenson, 2003). Despite being technologically sophisticated, the HYC’s were not user centred as they imposed heavy demands on individual farmers, who were forced to adapt different agriculture practices including the usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides (Practical Action, 2010). Whilst increasing crop, it also amplified the risk to diseases, as traditional varieties had evolved to prevailing farming and climate conditions. Appropriate technologies have 5 attributes: sustainment and empowerment, technical requirement and innovation, socio-cultural need identification, active role of stakeholder, as well as remain environmentally friendly. With an approximate rice yield of 109% from 1960 to 2000, it is evident the HYC’s were able to drastically improve farming methods (Pingali, 2012). The sustainment of large quantities of rice and empowerment of reliable farming practices determined that HYC’s were an appropriate technology. Furthermore, HYC’s are also environmentally friendly as it was predicted that without the higher yield, approximately 25 million hectares would have to be cultivated to match the productivity (Pingali, 2012). HYC’s are an appropriate technology from a multitude of reasons such as their sustainment for malnourished countries, affordability as well as being eco-friendly. Despite forcing farmers to adopt modern farming practices, the HYC version of rice utilised less land and

Humanitarian engineering - Appropriate technology

Mitchell Dykes – s4696710

enhanced nutrients from fertilisers. Thus, HYC’s are able to maximise food production in an efficient and sustainable process benefiting multiple stakeholders. References Evenson. (2003). Assessing the Impact of the Green Revolution, 1960 to 2000. Retrieved from https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/300/5620/758.full.pdf Pingali. (2012). Green Revolution: Impacts, limits, and the path ahead. Retrieved from PNAS website: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/109/31/12302.full.pdf Practical Action. (2010). What is appropriate technology. Retrieved from https://learn-apsoutheast-2-prod-fleet01xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fd17f67f4120/7876254?X-BlackboardExpiration=1629266400000&X-BlackboardSignature=37fJffT2fbrEJktQGs6WWpzBrsMNPR051ohC0DCF%2B%2FM %3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=149017&response-cache-control=private%2C %20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename %2A%3DUTF-8%27%27what-is-appropriate-technology_PA_ %25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-AmzAlgorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210818T000000Z&X-AmzSignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-AmzCredential=AKIAYDKQORRYZBCCQFY5%2F20210818%2Fap-southeast2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-AmzSignature=3c3d89ebea13f093e014d3b6b3371fd07af58b9ad8801661b4ddd08ff906ac c0 United Nations. (2020). 1965-75 | FAO 70th anniversary | Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/70/1965-75/en/

Humanitarian engineering - Appropriate technology

Mitchell Dykes – s4696710...