Seven to eight thousand years ago, nomadic people were hunters and gatherers. They were constantly moving from location to location - wherever animals were hunted and fruits and vegetables to be picked.  However, this changed with the discovery of farming. Early humans learned to plant seeds for food, giving them a stationary food source to stay put and establish settlements. They also learned to improve the efficiency of agriculture through things like basic farming tools and animal labor. The Industrial Revolution also helped with increasing efficiency through more productive farming tools, like the plow, seed drill, and threshing machine, instead of hoes and farm animals like cattle and buffalo.

Today, we have learned to integrate science (specifically, environmental engineering) to maximize efficiency regarding resource usage and crop yield. Things like more efficient water management, waste management, soil conservation, and climate change adaptation are all possible because environmental engineering unlocks the solutions to many problems that farmers face. For example, precision agriculture uses GPS, sensors, and drones to provide farmers with real-time data about their fields. This allows farmers to make better, informed decisions about resource usage. There is also biochar, which is a charcoal-like substance produced by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen. Not only does biochar enhance soil structure, which helps to reduce soil erosion, but it also increases water retention capacity, reduces irrigation requirements, and acts as a carbon sink, which helps with climate change. While many of the problems mentioned above are big and can be seen by the human eye, more issues lie beneath the surface at a micro-level.

A huge problem farmers face is crop infestation (when parasites wreak havoc on fields, hurt crop yields, and cause substantial economic loss). Specifically, root-damaging nematodes (roundworms that live freely in soil or water or as parasites in plants or animals) devastate crops at the root level. According to fao.org, “annual crop losses due to nematode damage have been estimated to average 12.3 percent, amounting to some … $77 million annually.” Regular pesticides cannot reach the nematodes, and farmers will apply excessive amounts of pesticide and water to the crops to fight off the infestation. However, this method is ineffective and not sustainable because farmers have to use more resources than is necessary, and the pesticides cannot sink into lower soil layers and could cause damage to the produce.  Fortunately, engineers at UCSD have developed a solution to combat this problem: nanoparticles. Researchers have found a way to take pesticides to the suitable soil layer and effectively combat the nematode problem by modifying virus nanoparticles and mixing them with pesticide solutions in water. This is highly effective because the pesticides can kill off the nematodes and prevent crop infestation if they are placed at the proper soil level.

Suppose environmental engineers can develop solutions to agricultural problems like nematodes. In that case, we can completely transform and revolutionize farming by improving pest management and resource management techniques and making tailored solutions to complicated agricultural problems. Things like automation (the use of robots, drones, and autonomous technology to make farming more efficient) and precision farming (which involves applying irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides at changing rates depending on the need of crops) have already started positive trends in agriculture and food production.  The sustainability and efficiency of agriculture will skyrocket in future years, and one day, research and technology together may ensure food security for the growing human population while minimizing environmental impact on the rest of the planet. 

In conclusion, environmental engineering is challenging to implement in terms of the broader scope of agriculture. Although labs everywhere are coming up with unique solutions to problems, these solutions are difficult to implement because they require a lot of risk-taking from the farmers’ perspective. Many solutions are great on a small scale but tend to be challenging to incorporate at larger scales. Despite these issues, environmental engineers strive to come up with more solutions to revolutionize farming.