Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century

This Book Differs From Other Books On The World Food Situation In Its Consideration Of The Complete Food Cycle, From Agriculture To Post-harvest Losses And Processing To Eating And Discarding. Taking A Scientific Approach, Smil Espouses Neither The Catastrophic View That Widespread Starvation Is Imminent Nor The Cornucopian View That Welcomes Large Population Increases As The Source Of Endless Human Inventiveness. He Shows How We Can Make More Effective Use Of Current Resources And Suggests That If We Increase Farming Efficiency, Reduce Waste, And Transform Our Diets, Future Needs May Not Be As Great As We Anticipate.--jacket. 1 Reasons For Concern 1 -- Demographic Imperatives 6 -- Dietary Transitions 8 -- End Of An Era? 11 -- 2 Appraising The Basics 23 -- Photosynthesis And Crop Productivity 25 -- Land, Water, And Nutrients 30 -- Agroecosystems And Biodiversity 52 -- 3 Environmental Change And Agroecosystems 65 -- Changing Soils 67 -- Environmental Pollution 80 -- What Could Climate Change Do 90 -- 4 Toward Higher Cropping Efficiencies 105 -- More Efficient Fertilization 108 -- Better Use Of Water 125 -- Precision Farming 135 -- 5 Rationalizing Animal Food Production 141 -- Feeding Efficiencies And Resource Claims 145 -- Opportunities In Milk And Meat Production 163 -- Aquacultural Possibilities 171 -- 6 Consuming The Harvests 181 -- Harvests And Postharvest Losses 182 -- How Much Food Do We Have? 188 -- How Much Food Do We Eat? 196 -- 7 How Much Food Do We Need? 211 -- Human Energetics 215 -- Protein Needs 227 -- Comparisons And Implications 235 -- 8 Searching For Optimum Diets 249 -- Nutritional Transitions 250 -- Nutrition, Health, And Disease 264 -- Optimized Diets 276 -- 9 If China Could Do It ... 291 -- China's Predicament 292 -- Available Resources And Existing Inefficiencies 299 -- Realistic Solutions 309. Vaclav Smil. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.