Feeding The World While Protecting The Planet

An international team of researchers has designed the world for sustainable agriculture

The problem is clear: One billion people on Earth do not have enough food at this time. It is estimated that by 2050 more than nine billion people live on this planet.

Meanwhile, current agricultural practices are among the greatest threats to the global environment. This means that failure to develop more sustainable practices, the world will be increasingly unable to feed its growing population today.

But now a team of researchers from Canada, USA, Sweden and Germany have devised a plan to double global food production and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. Their results were recently published in the journal Nature.

By combining data collected from the harvest and store satellite images from around the world, were able to create new models of agricultural systems and their environmental impact, which are truly global.

Professor of Geography at McGill University, Navin Ramankutty, a team leader in the study, credits collaboration among researchers to achieve these important results. "Many other researchers and thinkers have proposed solutions to global environmental problems and food. But they were often fragmented, without looking at one aspect at a time. And they often do not have specific numbers and save them. This is the first time obtained a series of data within a common framework, enabling us to see some clear trends. This makes it easier to develop practical solutions to the problems we face. "

A five-point plan to feed the world, while protecting the planet

The researchers recommend:

Stop the expansion of agricultural land and land clearing for agriculture, especially in the rainforest. This can be achieved by using incentives such as payments for ecosystem services, certification and ecotourism. This change would allow huge environmental benefits without drastically reducing agricultural production or economic well-being.

Improved crop yields. Many agricultural regions in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe do not live to their potential to produce crops - something known as "spreads". Better use of existing varieties, better management and better genetics can increase food production now for almost 60 percent.

Completing March strategically. The current use of water, nutrients and agricultural chemicals are affected by what the research team calls the problem "Goldilocks" "too many places too little in others rarely just the strategic reallocation could significantly benefit from the support We received valuable inputs ..

Shifting diet. Forage or biomass in the best agricultural land, no matter how well it is a leak in the human food supply. Sell ​​crops for direct human consumption may increase the calories produced per person by almost 50 percent. Even change for edible such as animal feed or biofuel production away from prime arable land could make a big difference.

To reduce waste. A third of the food produced on farms end up destroyed or eaten by pests, spoiled. Mess on the road that takes food from the field in the mouth may increase the food available for consumption in the other 50 percent.

The study also presents the approaches to this problem to help policymakers make informed decisions about the choices facing agriculture. "For the first time, we have shown that it is possible both to feed a hungry world and protect an endangered planet," said lead author Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota Institute on the environment. "It will take serious work. But we can not do it."

The study was funded by NSERC, NASA, NSF

The study solutions of a planet has been cultivated in the journal Nature. To read a summary: http://www.nature.com/nature/