Adapting and improving crops: the endless task

The Malthusian prognosis has been undermined by an exponential increase in world food supply since 1960, even in the absence of any extension of the arable area. The requisite increases in yield of the cereal staples have come partly from agronomic intensification, especially of nitrogenous fertiliz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 1997-07, Vol.352 (1356), p.901-906
Main Author: Evans, L. T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Climate and Potential Crop Productivity
Corn
Crop production
Crops
Fertilizers
Food crops
Food production
Rice
Sustainable agriculture
Wheat
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Summary:The Malthusian prognosis has been undermined by an exponential increase in world food supply since 1960, even in the absence of any extension of the arable area. The requisite increases in yield of the cereal staples have come partly from agronomic intensification, especially of nitrogenous fertilizer use made possible by the dwarfing of wheat and rice, in turn made feasible by herbicide development. Cereal dwarfing also contributed to a marked rise in harvest index and yield potential. Although there is still scope for some further improvement in harvest index and environmental adaptation, it is not apparent how a doubling of yield potential can be achieved unless crop photosynthesis can be substantially enhanced by genetic engineering. Empirical selection for yield has not enhanced photosynthetic capacity to date, but nitrogenous and other fertilizers have done so, and there is still scope for agronomic increases in yield and for new synergisms between agronomy and plant breeding.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.1997.0069