The document discusses several challenges around global food production and security. It notes that while global food production has kept pace with population growth, poverty prevents adequate access to food in some areas. Key challenges to increasing future food production include the need to feed a growing population, avoid loss of biodiversity and environmental damage from agriculture, and work within finite water and land resources. The document also examines different systems of food production and their impacts, as well as threats to continuing increases in yields.

1. Agriculture and Food
Production
“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning
a farm. One is the danger of supposing that
breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other
is that heat comes from the furnace”
--Aldo Leopold.

2. Food Security and Nutrition
•
global food production has stayed in front of
population growth
•
poverty prevents people from buying or growing
enough food
•
India is self-sufficient in food, but 1/5 of the
population is malnourished
•
developing countries produce too little food
•
developing countries lack $ to import adequate food
•
wars and political corruption also deny people access
to food
•
poor distribution systems hinder access to food
(transportation, refrigeration, etc.)

3. Challenges to Agriculture
•
feed 8.9 billion people by 2050
•
avoid loss of biodiversity
•
work within finite water supplies
•
combat erosion and overgrazing
•
avoid pollution (i.e.- fertilizer:
eutrophication, contamination of
groundwater)
•
do so despite rising fuel costs
Sheet Erosion

4. Three systems of food
production
1.
croplands (77% of food,
11% of land)
2.
rangelands (16% of food,
29% of land)
3.
ocean fisheries and
aquaculture (7% of food)

5. Food Production
1. 30,000 edible plants in the world
2. 15 plant & 8 animal species feed 90% people
3. Wheat, rice, corn, potato are the majority, all
are annuals
4. Only 1/3 of the global population can afford
meat

6. US Agriculture
•
Huge business (only 650,000 full time
farmers, however, 2% of US population)
•
In total 9% of US population involved in
some capacity
•
Annual sales of agricultural products is
greater than auto, steel, housing combined
•
Biggest industry in US
•
Most is monoculture
•
Huge energy consumer (10 units of fossil
fuel energy/1unit of food energy)

7. World Food Problems
•
Overnutrition and undernutrition
•
From 1950-1984 world food
production tripled
•
Downside was that population growth
and distribution problems continued
unabated
•
No disagreement that we lack efficient
distribution
•
Green and Gene Revolution place $
and technology burdens on subsistence
farmers

8. Ecological effects of
agriculture
•
Agriculture has greater impact on
air, soil, water, biodiversity than
any human activity
•
Water, fertilizers, monoculture,
pesticides
•
Increasing the amount of land
under
cultivation is not sound
ecologically
•
Desert areas need too much water;
grassland and rainforest are
valuable ecologically

9. Green Revolution: Norman
Borlaug
Africa, India, Asia
•
1950-1970 First Revolution: High yield
varieties of rice, wheat, corn
•
1967-Present Second Revolution: Dwarf
varieties in tropical and subtropical countries
•
Both of above increased yields, multiple Robert
Chandler
cropping
•
Reliance on pesticides and fertilizer

10. Threats to Increasing Food
Production (Part 1)
1. Green and Gene Revolutions still result in
annual increases in overall food production
2. These increases are at a much slower rate.
3. Gene and Green Revolution focus on planting
fewer species of high-yield plants
5. Examples: India 30,000 varieties of rice.
Now 75% of crop from 10 species
6. In US 97% of plant varieties grown in 1940
no longer exist.
7. Seed banks and root repositories preserve
species not being used

11. Threats to Increasing Food
Production (Part 2)
1. UN-FAO estimates that 2/3 of all
crops in LDC’s will be uniform
strains.
2. China is reaching the limit of its
production capability
a. Scarcity of water, degradation
of cropland, erosion,
salinization and water logging
b. Poor air quality, expanding
industrialization and population
c. May need massive imports of
food