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Crop yields: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "By increasing crop yields, we can produce more food without using more land.<br /> In other words, prevent both hunger and deforestation. ==The current situation== Crop yields are generally higher in richer countries. File: crop-yields-map.png ==Conventional agriculture== Characteristics include: * Fertilizer * Pesticides * Monoculture * Heavy farm equipment * GMOs ==Q&A== ===Unanswered=== Materially speaking, what is lacking in pla...") |
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A crop's ''yield'' is the amount of [[food]] grown ''per unit of'' [[land]]. | |||
There are 2 main reasons to want to increase crop yields: | |||
* Produce more food - which could help prevent [[hunger]]. | |||
* Use less farm land - which could help prevent [[deforestation]]. | |||
Yields can be increased through innovation, farming methods, and/or by simply [[crop choices|growing different crops]]. | |||
==The current situation== | ==The current situation== | ||
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Crop yields are generally higher in richer countries. | Crop yields are generally higher in richer countries. | ||
[[File: crop-yields-map.png]] | [[File:crop-yields-map.png|720px]] | ||
==Conventional agriculture== | ==Conventional agriculture== | ||
Characteristics include: | Characteristics include: | ||
# [[Fertilizer]] | |||
# [[Pesticides]] | |||
# [[GMOs]] | |||
# Heavy [[farm equipment]] | |||
# [[Monoculture]] | |||
The first 3 are generally considered the reason that rich countries get higher yields. Whereas monoculture might actually ''decrease'' yields due to less resiliance against pests (and the pesticides & GMOs are designed to compensate for this). | |||
There may be alternatives to conventional agriculture, which get higher yields. This wiki doesn't have enough information on this yet. | |||
==Unanswered questions== | |||
Materially speaking, what is lacking in places with low crop yields? | Materially speaking, what is lacking in places with low crop yields? | ||
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How much nitrogen can legume crops 'fix' into the soil? How does it compare to the amount of nitrogen needed to maximize grain yields? | How much nitrogen can legume crops 'fix' into the soil? How does it compare to the amount of nitrogen needed to maximize grain yields? | ||
''Join the {{talk}} and help | Some say that conventional agriculture only increases crop yields in the ''short term'', and makes them ''worse'' in the ''long term''. And that other [[farming practices]] such as [[regenerative agriculture]] are ultimately more productive. Is this true? What research/data can we gather to get a reasonably confident answer? | ||
''Join the {{talk}} and help finish building this page!'' | |||
==Other ways to improve food supply== | ==Other ways to improve food supply== | ||
* Reducing [[food waste]] | * Reducing [[food waste]] | ||
* Making diets more [[plant-based]] | * Making diets more [[plant-based]] | ||
* | * Not burning food as [[biofuel]] | ||