Improvement in crop production

Abstract

In the past two decades scientific research has made a considerable contribution to augmenting the world’s food supplies. The greater use of fertilizers and the introduction of new varieties of crops, especially cereals led to an estimated increase in food production of at least 50 % during this period. A chain of well equipped international institutes has made a conspicuous contribution but major problems remain. Because of the rapid rise in population, food production per capita increased little in many developing countries and on average the productivity of farms is much below that which would be possible if the results of past research were more fully implemented. Some of the causes of this ‘yield gap’, and opportunities for overcoming them, are examined. It is concluded that the development of simple procedures which enable farmers to apply existing knowledge deserve high priority side by side with continued basic research.