Tropical Soils and Food Security: The Next 50 Years

An appreciation of the dynamism of the links between soil resources and society provides a platform for examining food security over the next 50 years. Interventions to reverse declining trends in food security must recognize the variable resilience and sensitivity of major tropical soil types. In m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2003-11, Vol.302 (5649), p.1356-1359
Main Author: Stocking, M. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural development. Rural area planning
Agricultural management
Agricultural Occupations
Agricultural soils
Agriculture - methods
Agriculture - trends
Agrology
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Conservation (Environment)
Crops
Crops (Plants)
Crops and soils
Crops, Agricultural
Ecosystem
Environmental aspects
Farmers
Food safety
Food security
Food Supply
Forecasting
Forecasts and trends
Forest soils
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping
General agronomy. Plant production
Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Humans
Indigenous Knowledge
Land Use
Market trend/market analysis
Medical sciences
Nutritional survey. Food supply and nutritional requirement
Organic Chemistry
Public safety
Quality management
Soil
Soil conservation
Soil erosion, conservation, land management and development
Soil quality
Soil resources
Soil Science
Soils
State of the Planet
Sustainable agriculture
Tropical Climate
Tropical soils
Tropical zones
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Description
Summary:An appreciation of the dynamism of the links between soil resources and society provides a platform for examining food security over the next 50 years. Interventions to reverse declining trends in food security must recognize the variable resilience and sensitivity of major tropical soil types. In most agro-ecosystems, declining crop yield is exponentially related to loss of soil quality. For the majority smallholder (subsistence) farmers, investments to reverse degradation are primarily driven by private benefit, socially or financially. "Tragedy of the commons" scenarios can be averted by pragmatic local solutions that help farmers to help themselves.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1088579