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Food in a future of 10 billion
Affiliated with
Agriculture & Food Security20154:11
DOI: 10.1186/s40066-015-0031-7
© Fedoroff. 2015
Received: 26 March 2015
Accepted: 31 July 2015
Published: 21 August 2015
Abstract
Over the past two centuries, the human population has grown sevenfold and the experts anticipate the addition of 2–3 billion more during the twenty-first century. In the present overview, I take a historical glance at how humans supported such extraordinary population growth first through the invention of agriculture and more recently through the rapid deployment of scientific and technological advances in agriculture. I then identify future challenges posed by continued population growth and climate warming on a finite planet. I end by discussing both how we can meet such challenges and what stands in the way.
Keywords
Population growth Agriculture Domestication Genetic modification Technology
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