State of worlds' food production

Agriculture
As per FAO- Food and Agriculture Organisation of United Naton- report on "The State of food and agriculture" 2013', 12.5% of the world's population is undernourished. Of these people, 90% people were reported to be the citizens of developing countries. According to the estimates, agriculture production would need to grow globally by 70% and more specifically by almost 100% in developing countries. This study has also found that a percentage of world GDP is being lost by way of cost incurred on treatment and medicine.

Situation in India:
Though we've made progress, our yields per hectare is far below global averages. This is because of the technology gap in agriculture sector. We lack mainly in major agriculture and horticulture crops.Our rice yield is 1/3rd of China's, and about half of Vietnam and Indonesia. Yields per hectare can be improved by investing in agriculture infrastructure, technology infusion, through attention on seeds, by adopting better irrigation methods, pest management, post harvest management and etc. Though India reached highest level of 259 MT production of food grain in 2011-2012, India is still home to some 217M undernourished people of the world. Solutions seems to be adopting better farm technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology and modern irrigation method.

Biotechnology and GM seeds:
Biotechnology could drastically change the current scenario in the world food production. It has the requisite feature to increase per hectare yield, to make crops demand less chemical fertilizers by making it virus and bacteria resistant, drought resistant is again a promising feature of GM seeds. But, unfortunately, their across the board implementation is far from offing since a section of society, namely environmentalist, are restricting their use on account of lack of scientific evidence. Biotech doesn't only increases the quality of seeds but also makes the crop robust to biotic and abiotic stress. Studies also suggest that Bt (Biotechnology) has increased the profitability of the farmers and reduced their food insecurity. For example, development of B-carotene- which is a chemical composition and a precursor of vitamin A, vitamin A is needed for healthy skin and mucus membranes, immune system, and a healthy eye and vision. It is also an antioxidant which inhibits the oxidation of other molecules and protect the body from free radicals. Development of B-carotene in golden rice is a perfect solution for the children who go blind due to it's deficiency. Different stake holder of society such as farmer, scientist, environmentalist should immediately come to an understanding on how they wish to proceed with Bt and it's integration in our farm land. It is, equally, important to understand what future implication it might have in terms of quality and quantity of food production so that it's doesn't come at the cost of an unhealthy and unbalanced environment and not ample food for the all. A balanced and non-partisan point of view is crucial to discuss all pros and cons of this technology. Above all, it shouldn't become a cause of unprecedented profit making today and a reason of unhealthy and ill-nourished health, tomorrow. Even if Bt is implemented across the board, timely review must be done about the efficiency of it's future implications.

Protected/Greenhouse Cultivation
Protected cultivation holds a promising future for horticulture, qualitative and quantitative results from past and present bode well for the future of farm sector. With Spain, Netherlands and Israel, currently, leading the tally in terms of maximum area under protected cultivation, Netherlands alone contribute to the 70% of the worlds flower exports. While India and Netherlands having more or less same land under Protected Area, former's' contribution is not even 1% to the world flower exports. Why? Because, of advanced technology of polyhouse. In Netherlands, protected cultivation covers less than 1% of farm land but accounts for 40% of the annual gross income from agriculture. Farm mechanization is imperative as far as current state of world food production is concerned. Time has come to develop integrated technologies so that multiple purpose can be served within the minumum efforts,

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