Food Management for Protection of Consumer Interests

Since 1950, world food output has more than doubled, but in many cases this impressive gain has been achieved by the adoption of agricultural practices that lead to an excessive rate of soil erosion. At least one-fifth, and perhaps as much as one-third, of the global cropland base is losing soil at a rate that is undermining its long-term productivity. World food production per person will eventually begin to decrease if the loss of topsoil continues at current rates. In view of this, there is an urgent need to realign national priorities everywhere in order to get the brakes on world population growth and to finance the adoption of agricultural practices that will preserve the cropland base.

U-Pb ages of secondary silica at Yucca Mountain, Nevada: implications for the paleohydrology of the unsaturated zone

Dramatic increases during the 1980s in agricultural production, particularly in the developing world, are due to both the increased area under cultivation and growth in yields per unit area. However, growth in food production has failed to keep pace with population growth in the majority of countries surveyed, and especially in Africa. Changes in rural infrastructure, agricultural technology, environmental management and government policy will influence food production in the future, while food consumption patterns in developing countries will change as a result of population growth, urbanization and changing lifestyles. Shortfalls are likely to occur, especially in Africa, where the availability of new land for cultivation is declining. The pressures on food production will rise, unless efforts are increased to reduce population growth.

Food industry and engineering—Quo vadis?

Spatio-temporal transferability of environmentally-dependent population models: Insights from the intrinsic predictabilities of Adélie penguin abundance time series

The world’s population has doubled since 1960. Currently, the developing world accounts for about 95% of the population growth with Africa as the world’s fastest growing continent. The growing population has many implications but most of all it requires an increase in agricultural production to meet food demand. Soil science has a long tradition of considering the growth in food production in relation to the increasing human population. This paper reviews some of the major developments in these subjects from a soil scientist’s perspective. It starts with the work of Thomas Malthus and various subsequent studies relating population growth and food production. Population growth and projections up to the year 2050 are discussed. The main soil studies since the 1920s are reviewed with a focus on those conducted in the Dutch East Indies and the UK. The productivity of soil science measured by the number of publications and soil scientists has kept pace with the increasing population. Although the number of undernourished people in the world is on the decline, it is concluded that continued efforts from soil scientists remains needed particularly now the focus of attention in the USA and Western Europe moves from population growth per se to population ageing and obesity.

Chapter Two - Impacts of Changing Climate and Climate Variability on Seed Production and Seed Industry

An analytical method for large-scale evaluation of recovery factors for natural gas reservoirs is presented. The effects of simplifying assumptions are discussed, in particular the effect of neglecting changes in 'reservoir flow turbulence. The possible effects of improved economics on recovery factors are discussed. A simplified method for determining the coefficients of the Katz quadratic reservoir" flow equation is introduced. Introduction THE CALCULATION of reserves of natural gas in a reservoir includes an estimate of the portion of the in-situ gas which will ultimately be produced. This is normally expressed in terms of a " recovery factor"; Le. the ratio of the ultimate raw gas production to the initial raw gas-in-place. In addition to this " ultimate" recovery factor, the " cumulative" recovery factor can be calculated at any time. It is the ratio of the cumulative raw gas production to the initial raw gas-in-place. Any discussion of recovery factors without consideration of gas-in-place estimates is academic. Only when both these parameters are well defined can raw gas recovery be accurately determined. Unfortunately, both parameters are subject to varying degrees of uncertainty - greatest in the early stages of the productive life of a reservoir and least during the latter stages. Two basic approaches to predicting recovery factors have evolved. They are:statistical empirical correlations relating abandonment conditions to reservoir parameters;analysis of physical, regulatory and economic factors affecting production. Stoian and Telford presented, in 1966, a statistical analysis of abandonment conditions. A useful equation was derived by regression analysis for estimating abandonment pressure from formation depth. This relationship was based on a study of 158 Alberta gas pools with an average ultimate recovery factor of 85.2%. This compared favorably with the average ultimate recovery factor of 84.6% for 76 depleted pools in the U.S. The majority of the 76 depleted pools were abandoned in the 1940's. Stoian and Telford's correlation should provide good average estimated ultimate recovery factors consistent with conditions at that time. The analytical method incorporates mathematical relationships of pressure, cumulative production, production rate and facility requirements (e.g. infill drilling, compression) with the economic parameters and regulatory guidelines that govern the productive life of a reservoir. It is technically more sophisticated than the statistical method, allows assessment of the effect of changes in individual factors on the production cycle and permits better analysis of pool production performance for unusual pools with 'Para-meters which deviate considerably from the average. However, because it reflects only certain basic elements of the production system and requires simplifying assumptions, care must be exercised in the absolute use of predicted results. The trends in two economic indices are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 shows the semi-logarithmic relationship between an index of the average Western Canada Wellhead Natural Gas Price and time. Figure 2 shows the semi-logarithmic relationship between the Nelson Refinery Operating Cost Index and time. The long-term average growth rate in both these indices are in the range of 3% to 4% per year, up to and including 1972.

This paper presents a broad diagnostic of the level of institutional development in Portugal in the legal, corporate governance and financial systems. A comparative assessment suggests that Portuguese institutions are less developed than their European Union and East Asian counterparts, more developed than Greek institutions and on a level similar to that of Spanish institutions. We use data for a wide cross-section of countries since 1960 and correlate indicators of institutional development with the long-term average growth rate, identifying issues where reform is likely to significantly affect economic growth. We construct three new indices that measure the potential of institutional reform - the impact of reform on growth, the required reform effort and the efficiency of reform index - by taking into consideration the institutional “distance” between Portugal and the European Union. These indices measure, respectively, which reforms have the most payoff in terms of growth, which are “less costly” to undertake and which deliver the most growth per required effort. Our results strongly suggest that in a large number of issues, institutional reform may translate into substantially higher rates of economic growth. Of the ten most promising reforms, six are in the legal area, irrespective of which of the indices is considered. Whereas legal reform is promising at the aggregate and the microeconomic levels, in the financial sector aggregate indicators offer the wider scope for productive reform, while in the corporate governance area it is indices at the micro level that hold the most promise. These results support the view that a comprehensive reform effort is likely to deliver higher rates of growth in Portugal, allowing faster real convergence with the rest of the European Union.

These eight essays from Cambridge University describe clearly, without oversimplification, the fundamental factors governing food production and population growth. They emphasize that increasing cost, rather than productive capacity or distribution, limits food production throughout the world. Arable land can not be increased appreciably because the irrigation of deserts and the conversion of rain forests to rice paddies is very expensive. Increased food supplies depend, therefore, primarily upon the increased productivity of land now under cultivation, and this requires costly machines and fertilizers. Thus, food becomes progressively more expensive. Only through industrial growth, increased wealth per capita, and a sound economy can poorer countries produce, or buy, more food. The rich countries can assist, but not support, the poor ones. The United States, short of water and doubling its population within 50 years, is no longer a world granary. Increased food production, made possible by comparably increased industrial wealth, could supply

In the past two decades, the performance of agricultural production within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was characterized by sluggish growth rates. Cross-sectional time-series data of 1974 to 1990 were used to examine the factors that determine total agricultural and food production growth in the region. The results show that agricultural workers, cropped land, fertilizer and use of tractors had significant effects on the regional total agricultural and food production growth. These factors together accounted for between 37 and 41% of the total variation in food and agricultural production growth. This suggests that other variables, not included in the models due to data problems do play a very crucial role. These findings have important implications for improving food and agricultural performance in the region. In promoting food and agricultural growth, SADC governments should not only concentrate on improvements in the productivity of the four conventional factors of production, also on other parameters. Other policy-related variables such as producer prices, weather factors, and irrigation and land degradation indices should be given due consideration.

The paper is about change in food production and consumption pattern in Pakistan. Food availability per capita per annum in Pakistan increased from 298.1 kg in 1979 to 1980 to 414.8 kg in 2007 to 2008 at a rate slower than Population growth (from 85.09 million to 163.8 million over the same period) (Government of Pakistan, 2010). Food consumption pattern in Pakistan are exception and changing by weight nearly three quarters of the diet is made up of cereals and milk product. In addition over half of the expenditure for major food items is on cereals, and milk products (Walters and Mehmood, 1990). The food production (Cereals, Gram, Pulses, Vegetables, Potatoes, and Fruits, Animal product Poultry Product, Sugar and Veg.Ghee) was increased by 52% in 1990 to 2000 over the 1979 to 1990 and by 34.9% in 2000 to 2010 over the 1990s. The annual rate of growth in overall food production rose to 3.9, 4.2 and 2.8% in the 1980s, 1990s and last recent decade against 3.1, 2.4 and 1.9% growth of population in same time period. Food grain production was increased by 32.8 to 29.5% during last thirty years. Key words: Food production, food consumption, food consumption statistics, food grains, population growth, Cobb Douglas type production function.

Investment in R & D in the agricultural sector is one of the means to propel the growth of the sector, but failure to ensure the efficient use of resources allocated to agricultural R & D would lead to wastage and underproduction. Based on this, the paper seeks to look at the efficiency of investment in agricultural R& D in relation to the food production index in the West Africa sub-region. To achieve this objective, the number of full-time researchers and spending in terms of percentage of the share of agriculture to GDP were treated as inputs and the food production index as an output (agriculture output). The study used panel data from 2009 to 2014. The Malmquist index approach was adopted to measure the efficiency of food production in selected West African countries. The mean Malmquist index of 0.991, 1.032, 0.976, 0.995, 1.051, 0.908, 0.966, and 0.961 for Ghana, Benin, Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo, respectively, were recorded. Benin and Niger experienced growth in food production within the period. The remaining countries, however, did not experience growth in food production as their respective means were less than 1 (Mi <1), which was an indication of inefficiencies in the application of investments committed to agricultural R & D. To help identify the role played by various components, technical efficiency change and technological progress change for the respective countries were also calculated. The results of the study show the need to go beyond mere allocation of resources to the agricultural sector and push towards efficient use of resources. The allocation of resources without measures to ensure their proper use would not yield the desired outcome. Various countries exhibited some levels of inefficiency across the dimensions assessed. This, therefore, calls for close attention to the use of agricultural resources. There is a need to ensure efficient use of resources committed to agricultural research and development across respective countries. Measures should be put in place to reduce wastage and redundancy in the allocation of resources for agricultural research and development, to improve efficiency and productivity in the agricultural sector.

In diesem Beitrag werden die Bestimmungsfaktoren der Entwicklungen auf den Weltagrarmarkten untersucht und deren Auswirkungen auf die EU Landwirtschaft fur den Zeitraum 2003/05 - 2013/15 quantifiziert. Dabei zeigt sich, dass die weltweite Nachfrage nach Agrargutern starker steigt als das Angebot, so dass der Trend der Weltagrarpreise positiv ist. Die gegenwartig (Mai 2008) sehr hohen Preise werden indes nicht von Dauer sein. Vielmehr ist mittelfristig mit einem eher moderaten Preisanstieg von etwa 15-30 % im Untersuchungszeitraum zu rechnen. Bei Weizen und anderem Getreide (auser Mais) wird die Europaische Union wieder zu einem Nettoimporteur. Die zu erwartenden Entwicklungen auf den Weltagrarmarkten und die dadurch steigenden Preise fur Nahrungsguter werden zu einer ernsthaften Verscharfung der Welternahrungslage fuhren. Da die Flachen, die weltweit fur die Nahrungsguterproduktion verfugbar sind, begrenzt sind, muss die Steigerung des Angebots, die notwendig ist, um die rasch wachsende Weltbevolkerung in hinreichendem Umfang mit Nahrungsgutern zu versorgen, weitgehend uber eine Steigerung der Produktivitat derjenigen Flachen erreicht werden, die bereits heute landwirtschaftlich genutzt werden. Eine Steigerung der Produktivitat in der Weltlandwirtschaft fuhrt zu geringeren Nahrungsguterpreisen. Sie verringert daher auch die Anreize auf dem Weg der Brandrodung zusatzliche landwirtschaftliche Nutzflachen zu erschliesen. Gegenwartig tragen diese Brandrodungen 18 % zum anthropogenen Klimawandel bei. Dies ist mehr als der Klimaeffekt der weltweiten Industrieproduktion. Damit ist das landwirtschaftliche Produktivitatswachstum nicht nur zentral im Kampf gegen den Hunger auf der Welt, sondern es leistet auch einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Verringerung des Klimawandels.

ABSTRACTThis article compares recent development in sub-Saharan Africa to other regions, particularly Southeast Asia. Structural change in the former resulted in deindustrialisation, whereas structural change in the latter involved rapid expansion in labour intensive manufacturing. Though this contrasting experience is related to how resource dependent these economies are, this article argues that the critical factor in the lack of manufacturing growth in sub-Saharan Africa is the lack of growth in food productivity. The experience of Indonesia is used to illustrate how a resource abundant nation can industrialise, as rapid growth in staple food production resulted in economically cheap labour.