Defying Malthus
Rice and wheat productivity went from one (metric) tonne per hectare to four, five, even six times that. In the case of millet, we’re still talking about going from a tonne to maybe two.
Asterisk Magazine Issue 02 Food
The Rockefeller Foundation invested in research on improving agricultural productivity in the developing world, which is now commonly believed to have been the catalyst for a “Green Revolution” that Wikipedia states is “credited with saving over a billion people from starvation.” (The Wikipedia article discusses the role of the Rockefeller
CGIAR isn’t just focused on new seeds. Its scientists have also created a smartphone app that allows farmers to use the camera on their phones to identify specific pests and diseases attacking cassava, an important cash crop in Africa. It’s also created programs for using drones and ground sensors to help farmers determine how much water and
... See moreBill Gates • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
Scientists Say We Could Feed 1 Billion More People With One Change to the Global Food System
cnet.com
But increasing agriculture output further was no trivial feat. The key limitation that farmers had faced throughout history was nitrogen in the soil. Plants require nitrogen for growth, the element is a significant component of chlorophyll and amino acids. Soil nitrogen, however, is produced at the whim of nitrogen-fixing microbes that live in the
... See more