Steps Towards Feeding the Ten Billion: A crop physiologists view

The crop sciences hold the key to feeding the 10 billion people on earth by the middle of the 21st century and to doing so sustainably and in the face of climatic changes which may adversely affect food production, particularly at low latitudes. Increased food production will have to come mainly fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant production science Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 3 - 9
Main Author: Lloyd T. Evans
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 1999
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Summary:The crop sciences hold the key to feeding the 10 billion people on earth by the middle of the 21st century and to doing so sustainably and in the face of climatic changes which may adversely affect food production, particularly at low latitudes. Increased food production will have to come mainly from greater yields per crop, especially of the staple cereals, given the continuing loss of prime arable land to urbanization. Advances and innovations in agronomy, and the extension of irrigation, have made major contributions to the yield increases since 1960, and must be maintained. Plant breeding has played a key role, partly through improved resistance to pests and diseases and tolerance of various stresses, and partly through raising the yield potential. Among the small grain cereals the rise in yield potential has largely been due to increase in the harvest index associated with dwarf stature, made necessary by cheaper nitrogenous fertilizers and made possible by effective herbicides. In maize, on the other hand, the route to higher yield potential has been quite different. But in both cases synergistic interactions between plant breeding and agronomic advances have been a crucial element. Looking to the future, agronomic intensification and innovation will doubtless continue, and protective plant breeding will become more closely targeted and effective, but for how much longer yield potential can be raised is uncertain, especially for those crops in which the rise in harvest index has been the main component so far.
ISSN:1343-943X
1349-1008
DOI:10.1626/pps.2.3