Global Hunger By Hayleigh Colombo: Summary

In “Purdue researchers tackle global hunger through innovation,” Hayleigh Colombo discussed the effects of GPS and drones on farming in the United States and Africa. Colombo used Chuck and Brian Shelby’s farm in Lafayette, Indiana as an example of farming that used modern GPS equipment to boost the efficiency and profitability. However, in Africa the story was portrayed much differently. Farmers used hand tools to scratch at the hard, solid ground that was difficult to break through, while parasitic weeds like Striga and insects like weevils were a constant battle. The struggle that researchers at Purdue University had was how to get the equipment and training to Africa to help feed the developing nations and combat chronic hunger. Moreover, Colombo explained that in American farming GPS technology has advanced farming by allowing farm to use equipment to test soils and perform tasks virtually autonomously. Purdue researchers studied farming techniques not just to advance American farmers but to also address the far more pressing issue of world hunger. Colombo explained …show more content…
Self-steering takes the guesswork out of guiding huge machines, reducing row overlaps and cutting the time it takes to farm large tracts of land” (Colombo). This not only saved the farm money on labor and fuel costs but allowed the farm to run more effortlessly by allowing automation. In the United States, ‘[y]ield predictions are more accurate. GPS technology is better than ever at performing soil analysis and field planning. Researchers are experimenting with drones and robots to capture high-resolution images and other data about farms — even to perform tasks autonomously” (Colombo). By using GPS technology the farmer improved their functionality and may one day be able to help farms in developing nations improve their farming techniques using the same