Feeding a world of six billion
There has been a massive increase in food production in the past few decades - not only in the world's granaries like the United States (U.S.), Canada or Australia, but also in China and India. This increase has been spurred by science-based crop improvement programs, along with improved access to irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides, better credit; and also as a result of better market policies. International agricultural centers, such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and the International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) in Mexico have helped increase grain yield several fold, especially in the poor countries. Scientists have made our crops more productive, more resistant to pests and helped them to grow faster and with enhanced nutritional benefits. But we need to do more.
AgBioForum 2(3&4) 1999: 223-225.