2 Ecosystems: using drones for livestock management
Ensuring both environmental and economic sustainability of rural areas is highly challenging. A high number of parameters and actors are involved; sustainability requires joint and coordinated action. Adopting an ecosystem’s lens helps to understand how new technology-based solutions, such as the use of drones, can be applied to offer sustainability solutions in specific contexts.
Before you explore in detail how concerted actions of actors in rural areas can promote sustainability, you will first explore some of the challenges faced by ruminant farmers.
Activity 1
Ruminant farming lies at the heart of the economies of isolated rural areas, with oftentimes challenging landscapes. Based on your experience and knowledge of ruminant farming, reflect on the following statements and select whether you think they are true or false.
Nowadays ruminant farmers apply a wide range of technologies to support them with their livestock production processes.
Contemporary approaches to livestock farming have made this an easy profession.
Because of its proximity to nature, life in rural areas is conducive to well-being.
One of the biggest challenges of ruminant farming is the high time demands of monitoring livestock, managing grassland, and the time needed to master all the related technologies. All these make ruminant farming a very labour intensive and time demanding profession. Resorting to seasonal labour to relieve pressure from such demands is not always a readily available option to farmers. The combined impact of these factors is that ruminant farmers do not enjoy a good work-life balance. The pressures from the job can impact on farmer well-being and can also make the profession less appealing to future generations.
OpenLearn - Developing business ideas for drone technologies
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