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  • Feeding the World
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North-South innovation transfer

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages BV11–BV12 (1999)Cite this article

The 7.7 billion people living on this planet in 2020—3.5 billions living in urban areas—will only be fed if we can raise the production of food substantially. Cereal production needs to increase 41%, meat by 63%, and roots and tubers by 40%1. Eighty percent of additional food will have to be produced in developing countries1. However, in next 20 years only 5.5% more virgin soils will be plowed. The inevitable conclusion is, that in order to satisfy demand, humankind will have to raise yields from areas planted with cereals (representing two-thirds of all energy in the human diet) to a mean world level of four tons per hectare, approximately double its current value.

There is no rational alternative other than to design, with scientific inputs, new agricultural systems that are sustainable but still intensive (refs.1 and 2; see also "Intensification for the nine million," p. 33).

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References

  1. Pinstrup-Andersen, P. et al. The world food situation: recent developments, emerging issues, and long-term prospects. 2020 Vision Food Policy Report (Washington, DC, December 1997).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Köln, D-50829, Germany

    Francesco Salamini

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  1. Francesco Salamini
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Salamini, F. North-South innovation transfer. Nat Biotechnol 17 (Suppl 2), BV11–BV12 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/7153

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