Since mankind's earliest beginnings, man has had to deal with the basic need of providing himself with food. From the simplest means of accomplishing this goal, which include hunting and gathering and nomadic herding, to the complex farms of today which employ highly developed fertilization, irrigation, and cultivation systems, man has relied on technology, whether in the form of a spear and basket or a John Deere tractor, to assist him in his quest for food. History further records that the degree of agricultural productivity a society is ....