Green Technology in Food Production
Human beings have needed food to survive since their existence. There has been no second alternative to it and since in the early stages, the human population was not so scattered, there was no need to focus on food processing and food storage. However, since the population has grown immensely especially in the past two decades, there has been the need for newer ways to be invented in order to harvest food.
However, since newer ways have been invented, it has also led to degradation of the planet and the environment we have lived in. To counter out this degradation, the use of Green Technology has become a recent trend in food production. In the field of agri-food, the use of Green technology is referred to as organic and environment-friendly practices for food production. In the past few centuries, green technologies have mainly kept their focus on organic production of food. In this concept, a small area of a farm is utilized for the purpose of growing crops while a specific area is dedicated for sheep, goats, and cows to gaze from. No artificial substances, like pesticides or herbicides, are used while the only fertilizer is manure. In general, the organic form has all the essence of the notion of green technology for food production.
Another positive impact of using such technology leads to the good management of phosphorus and nitrogen. They are taken through by the crops as they absorb it from the soil and are returned via manure.
No matter how much food is produced, it always has to be processed; the introduction of green technology has led to refinement of the processes that are used for food processing. There are primary, secondary, and tertiary methodologies that are in place now to convert the food to value added items. During food production, the use of enzymes is also considered a step forward in terms of technological process as enzyme catalysts speed up the process of food production which in returns saves both time and cost. The introduction of the enzyme as a catalyst during the production process has also led to more sound results as the end product is now more consistent and well-shaped. This approach also leads to the product having better flavors, having a more well-defined shape and also has a significant increase in their shelf life.
