Springer Crop Production and Global Environmental Issues

Meeting the world’s food security challenge will require a multi-national, collaborative effort to integrate the best research from science, engineering and socioeconomics so that technological advances can bring benefits where they are most needed. The present book covers the effect of major environmental problems on crop production and how to cope with these issues for sustainable agriculture and improvements of crops.  The world’s population is predicted to hit 9.6 Billion by 2050, up from today’s total of nearly 7.3 Billion, and with it food demand is predicted to increase substantially. The post-war ‘second agricultural revolution’ in developed countries, and the ‘green revolution’ in developing nations in the mid- 1960s converted agricultural practices and elevated crop yields spectacularly, but the outcome is levelling off and will not meet projected demand. Simultaneously, crop production is affected by many other factors, including industrial pollution, overuse of fertilizers and insecticides, heavy metal and radiation stresses etc. It has been noted that many pests are becoming resistant to insecticides. Estimates vary, but around 25% of crops can be lost to pests and diseases. Climate change associated with agriculture is also a global issue. Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases and is estimated to account for 10-12% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many of the issues highlighted are global problems and are addressed thoroughly in this work. From the Back Cover Agricultural production has been considered as the key sector for revitalization of the economy and well being of the people in any country. For decades, due to increasing food demand together with policies encouraging production, agricultural science has focused on boosting production through the development of new technologies. Agriculture has become increasingly intensive.  Farmers are becoming capable of producing higher yields using less labor and less land due to many factors, including use of fertilizer, and pesticides, introduction of farm machinery, development of hybrid and genetically modified strains and increased knowledge about farm management practices.  Intensification of agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing because this success has come at a high environmental cost. The damaging effects of intensification of agriculture include water, air and soil pollution, as well as the loss of wildlife, habitats and landscape features.  As agricultural sustainability means maintaining productivity while protecting the natural resource base, there is increasing general recognition of the need to improve environmental performance in agriculture, through enhancing the benefits and reducing the harmful environmental effects.   The book ‘Crop Production and Global Environmental Issues’ is  a very timely effort in this direction. It discusses the main environmental issues and challenges which affects the crop production and productivity throughout the globe, particularly in developing countries. The book also provides some solutions to cope up with such challenges.