Soil and the intensification of agriculture for global food security
Agriculture and Food · University of Queensland · +2 more institutions
Abstract
Soils are the most complex and diverse ecosystem in the world. In addition to providing humanity with 98.8% of its food, soils provide a broad range of other services, from carbon storage and greenhouse gas regulation, to flood mitigation and providing support for our sprawling cities. But soil is a finite resource, and rapid human population growth coupled with increasing consumption is placing unprecedented pressure on soils through the intensification of agricultural production - the increasing of crop yield per unit area of soil. Indeed, the human population has increased from ca. 250 million in the year 1000, to 6.1 billion in the year 2000, and is projected to reach 9.8 billion by the year 2050. The…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 46.11
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 54
Authors
5Topics & keywords
- Environmental science
- Soil retrogression and degradation
- Population
- Food security
- Agriculture
- Soil water
- Land degradation
- Environmental protection