Plants Genes Agriculture Sustainability Through Biotechnology Chrispeels All Chapter

Plants, genes & agriculture:
sustainability through biotechnology

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Plants,
Genes &
Agriculture
Sustainability through
Biotechnology
Plants,
Genes &
Agriculture
Biotechnology
Maarten J. Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego
Paul Gepts
University of California, Davis
SINAUER ASSOCIATES
NEW YORK OXFORD

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chrispeels, Maarten J., 1938- editor. | Gepts, Paul L., editor.
Title: Plants, genes & agriculture : sustainability through biotechnology /
editors: Maarten J. Chrispeels, Paul Gepts.
Other titles: Plants, genes and agriculture : sustainability through
biotechnology
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017045697 | ISBN 9781605356846 (paperbound)
Subjects: LCSH: Crops--Genetic engineering. | Plant breeding. | Sustainable
agriculture. | Genetic transformation.
Classification: LCC SB123.57 .P588 2017 | DDC 631.5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045697
987654321
Printed in the United States of America
Brief Contents
Chapter 1 The Human Population and Its Food Supply in the 21st Century 2
Chapter 2 A Changing Global Food System 32
Chapter 3 Plants in Human Nutrition, Diet, and Health 62
Chapter 4 Genes, Genomics, and Molecular Biology 96
Chapter 5 Growth and Development 136
Chapter 6 Converting Solar Energy into Crop Production 176
Chapter 7 The Domestication of Our Food Crops 208
Chapter 8 From Classical Plant Breeding to Molecular Crop Improvement 236
Chapter 9 Plant Propagation by Seeds and Vegetative Processes 268
Chapter 10 Innovations in Agriculture 294
Chapter 11 Soil Ecosystems, Plant Nutrition, and Nutrient Cycling 320
Chapter 12 Biotic Challenges: Weeds 352
Chapter 13 Plant Diseases and Strategies for Their Control 374
Chapter 14 Biotic Challenges: Pests 404
Chapter 15 Abiotic Stresses and How They Affect Crop Yield 434
Chapter 16 Introduced Traits That Benefit Farmers and Industry 466
Chapter 17 Introduced Traits That Benefit the Consumer 488
Chapter 18 Food Safety 508
Chapter 19 Challenges and Solutions for Subsistence Farmers 528
Chapter 20 Plants as Chemical Factories 558
Chapter 21 Plants as Factories for the Production of Protein Biologics 584
Chapter 22 Sustainable Food Production in the 21st Century 604
Contents
1
CHAPTER
The Human Population and Its Food Supply in the 21st Century 2
Maarten J. Chrispeels and Hanya E. Chrispeels
1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist in a World of BOX 1.1 Food Deserts in America 18
Plenty 4
1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles in
1.2 Human Population Growth Is Slowing 6 Global Food Production 19
1.3 By How Much Does the Food Supply Need to 1.8 Agricultural Research Is Vital If We Are to
Increase to Satisfy Future Demand? 9 Maintain a Secure Food Supply 20
1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable BOX 1.2 International Agricultural Research
in the Future 11 Institutes of the CGIAR Consortium 21
1.5 An Uncertain Climate Presents Challenges to 1.9 Can Other Agricultural Methods and Policies
Food Production 13 Contribute to Feeding the Population? 23
1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards 1.10 Biotechnology Is Crucial for the Future of
Are Changing the Demand for Agricultural Food Production 27
Products and the Way They Are Brought to
Market 16
2
A Changing Global Food System
One Hundred Centuries of Agriculture 32
CHAPTER H. Maelor Davies and Paul Gepts
2.1 Hunting and Gathering Were the Methods BOX 2.2 Some Inventions and Innovations
of Food Procurement for Much of Human through the History of Agriculture 47
History 34
2.6
Farming and the Postharvest Food Delivery
2.2
Agriculture Began in Several Places Some Pathway Combine to Provide Consumers
10,000 Years Ago 35 with an Abundance of Different Foods 51
2.3 Plants Are the Principal and Ultimate Source BOX 2.3 Agricultural Intensification and New
of All Our Food 38 Business Opportunities: The Pacific
Fruit Express 53
2.4 Crop Production Today Takes Several Forms
That Differ Dramatically in Productivity 41 2.7 Agriculture and Food Production Are
BOX 2.1 Intensification of Agricultural Significant Players in the Economic
Productivity in the Brazilian Systems of Developed Countries 55
Cerrado 44 2.8 Intensive Agriculture Has Environmental
2.5 Science-based Agricultural Practices Effects That May Limit Its Long-term
Have Led to Significant Increases in Sustainability 57
Productivity 46
CONTENTS vii
3
CHAPTER
Plants in Human Nutrition, Diet, and Health 62
3.1 Animals Are Heterotrophs, Plants Are 3.7 Minerals and Water Are Essential for
Autotrophs 64 Life 82
3.2 Carbohydrates Are the Principal Source of 3.8 Plants Produce Bioactive Molecules that Can
Energy in the Human Diet 65 Affect Human Health 85
BOX 3.1
Lactose Tolerance: A Case of Human 3.9 The Consequences of Nutritional
Evolution in Action 68 Deficiencies Can Be Severe and Long
Lasting 87
3.3 Fats Are a Source of Energy, Structural
Components, and Essential Nutrients 70 BOX 3.3 Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac
Disease 87
3.4 Diets High in Energy Are Linked to Major
Diseases 74 3.10 Millions of Healthy Vegetarians and Vegans
Are Living Proof that Animal Products Are
3.5 To Make Proteins, Animals Must Eat
Not a Necessary Component of the Human
Proteins 76
Diet 88
3.6 Vitamins Are Small Molecules That Plants
Can Make, but Humans and Other Animals 3.11 Are Organically Grown Plants and Products
from Animals Fed with Organic Feed Worth
Generally Cannot 80
the Additional Price? 89
BOX 3.2
Vitamin D: A Vitamin or a
Hormone? 81 3.12 The Intestinal Microbiome Significantly
Influences Health 91
4
Genes, Genomics, and Molecular Biology
The Basis of Modern Crop Improvement 96
CHAPTER Kranthi K. Mandadi and T. Erik Mirkov
BOX 4.1
Characteristics and Traits, Phenotypes 4.6 Mutations Are Changes in Genes 119
and Genotypes, Genes and Alleles: 4.7
Much of the Genome’s DNA Does Not Code
Some Vocabulary 98 for Proteins 122
4.1
Traits Are Inherited from One Generation 4.8
DNA Can Be Manipulated in the Laboratory
to the Next 98 Using Tools from Nature 123
4.2
Genetic Information Is Replicated 4.9
Creating GE Plants Depends on the
and Passed to New Cells during Cell Application of Naturally Occurring Horizontal
Division 101 Gene Transfer 125
BOX 4.2
Chromosomes, Chromatids, and BOX 4.3 Selectable Markers 127
Meiosis 104
4.10
Genome Sequencing and Bioinformatics
4.3 Genes Are Made of DNA 105 Are Important Tools for Plant Biologists and
4.4
Gene Expression Involves RNA Synthesis Plant Breeders 129
Followed by Protein Synthesis 108 4.11
Gene Editing Technologies Allow Us to
4.5
Gene Expression Is a Highly Regulated Make Targeted Changes in an Organism’s
Process 114 DNA 131
viii CONTENTS
5
Growth and Development
From Fertilized Egg Cell to Flowering Plant 136
CHAPTER
5.1
The Plant Body Is Made Up of Cells, Tissues, 5.6 Maturation, Quiescence, and Dormancy
and Organs 138 Are Important Aspects of Seed
Development 156
BOX 5.1
The Structures of a Living Plant
Cell 140 5.7 Formation of the Vegetative Body Is the
Second Stage of Plant Development 158
5.2
Development Is Characterized by Repetitive
Organ Formation from Stem Cells 142 5.8 Secondary Growth Produces New Vascular
Tissues and Results in the Formation of
BOX 5.2
Plant Tissue Systems and Cell
Wood 163
Types 143
5.9 Reproduction Involves the Formation of
5.3 Gene Networks Interact with Hormonal
Flowers with Male and Female Organs 165
and Environmental Signals to Regulate
Development 148 5.10
Fruits Help Plants Disperse Their
Seeds 169
BOX 5.3 Plant Hormones 150
5.11
Developmental Mutants Are an Important
5.4 In the First Stage of Development, Fertilized
Source of Variability to Create New Crop
Egg Cells Develop into Embryos 151
Varieties 170
5.5 Deposition of Food Reserves in Seeds Is an
5.12 Plant Cells are Totipotent: A Whole Plant
Important Aspect of Crop Yield 155
Can Develop from a Single Cell 172
CHAPTER
6 Converting Solar Energy into Crop Production 176
Donald R. Ort, Rebecca A. Slattery, and Stephen P. Long
BOX 6.1 Efficiency of Food Production from 6.5 Plants Make a Dynamic Trade-off

Solar Energy to People 179 of Photosynthetic Efficiency for
Photoprotection 193
6.1
Photosynthetic Membranes Convert Light
Energy to Chemical Energy 180 6.6 Abiotic Environmental Factors Can Limit
Photosynthetic Efficiency and Crop
6.2 In Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism, Productivity 195
Chemical Energy Is Used to Convert CO2 to
Carbohydrates 184 6.7 How Efficiently Can Photosynthesis Convert
Solar Energy into Biomass? 198
6.3 Sucrose and Other Polysaccharides Are
Exported to Heterotrophic Plant Organs to 6.8 Opportunities Exist for Improving the
Provide Energy for Growth and Storage 188 Efficiency of Photosynthesis 199
6.4 Plants Gain CO2 at the Cost of Water 6.9 Global Climate Change Interacts with Global
Loss 190 Photosynthesis 201
CONTENTS ix
7
CHAPTER
The Domestication of Our Food Crops 208
Paul Gepts
7.1
Wheat Was Domesticated BOX 7.1 Genetic Uniformity and the Irish Potato
in the Near East 210 Famine 224
7.2
Rice Was Domesticated in Asia and Western 7.6 Hybridization Plays a Role in the Appearance
Africa 213 of New Crops, the Modification of Existing
7.3
Maize and Beans Were Domesticated Crops, and the Development of Some
in the Americas 215 Troublesome Weeds 226
7.4
Domestication Is Accelerated Evolution 7.7
Polyploidy Led to New Crops and New
Involving Relatively Few Genes 217 Traits 227
7.5
Crop Evolution Was Marked by Genetic 7.8
Sequencing Crop Plant Genomes Provides
Bottlenecks That Decreased Diversity 222 Insights into Plant Evolution 229
8
CHAPTER
From Classical Plant Breeding to Molecular Crop Improvement 236
Paul Gepts and Todd Pfeiffer
8.1 Plant Breeders Have a Long Wish List 238 8.8

The Green Revolution Used Classical Plant
Breeding Methods to Increase Wheat and
8.2
Plant Breeding Involves Introduction
Rice Yields 254
of Genetic Diversity, Hybridization, and
Selection of New Gene Combinations 241 8.9
Tissue and Cell Culture Techniques Facilitate
Plant Breeding 257
BOX 8.1 Who Owns the World’s Genetic
Resources? 242 8.10
The Technologies of Gene Cloning and
Plant Transformation Are Powerful Tools
8.3
Genetic Variation Manipulated by Selection
to Create GE crops 258
Is the Key to Plant Breeding 243
BOX 8.2 Johannsen and the ‘Princess’: Defining 8.11
Marker-assisted Breeding Helps Transfer
Major Genes 259
Variation for Plant Breeders 244
BOX 8.3 Karl Sax and the Principle of QTL
8.4
The Breeding Method Chosen Depends on
Analysis 261
the Pollination System of the Crop 247
8.12 Genome Sequencing Has Become
8.5 F1 Hybrids Yield Bumper Crops 249
an Essential Tool of Plant Breeding
8.6
Backcrossing Comes as Close as Possible Programs 262
to Manipulating Single Genes via Sexual
8.13
High-Throughput Trait Measurement
Reproduction 250
Facilitates Phenotyping for Crop
8.7
Quantitative Traits Are More Complex to Breeding 264
Manipulate Than Qualitative Traits 252
x CONTENTS
9
CHAPTER
Plant Propagation by Seeds and Vegetative Processes 268
Kent J. Bradford and Maarten J. Chrispeels
9.1
Commercial Seed Production Is Often 9.5
Enhancing Microbial Biofertilizers in the
Distinct from Crop Production 271 Soil Is an Important Technology for Crop
Production 281
BOX 9.1 Where Do the Seeds to Grow Seedless
Watermelons Come From? 273 9.6
Seed Banks Preserve Genetic Diversity for
the Future 283
9.2
Seed Certification Programs Guarantee and
Preserve Seed Quality 274 9.7
Sterile Tissue Culture Is Used for
Micropropagation and the Production of
9.3
Saving Seeds Securely Is an Important
Somatic Embryos 285
Aspect of Agriculture in Developing
Countries 275 9.8
Grafting Is Widely Used in the Fruit Industry
to Propagate Superior Varieties 288
BOX 9.2 Storing Seed for the Next Season:
Challenges Faced By African 9.9
Apomixis Is a Unique Way in which Some
Farmers 277 Plant Species Reproduce 289
9.4
Seed Germination, Seedling Establishment,
and Seed Treatments Are Important
Agronomic Variables 279
10
Innovations in Agriculture
How Farm Technologies Are Developed and How They Reach Farmers 294
CHAPTER H. Maelor Davies
10.1 Biological and Technological Innovations 10.3

Patents Stimulate Invention and
Have Improved Farming Practices since the Improvements 303
Early Days of Agriculture 295
10.4
Farmers Obtain Seeds in Different
BOX 10.1 Synergy between Plant Breeding and Ways 307
Technology Development 297
10.5
Minor Crops and New Production Methods
BOX 10.2 The Agricultural Services Are Important 311
Industry 298
10.6
Agricultural Technologies and Practices Are
10.2
Innovations in Agriculture Require Subject to Oversight and Regulation 313
Substantial Research in Many Fields 299
CONTENTS xi
11
CHAPTER
Soil Ecosystems, Plant Nutrition, and Nutrient Cycling 320
Eric M. Engstrom
11.1
Soil Ecosystems Are Fundamental to 11.6
Soil Organic Matter Is the Key Determinant
Agriculture 322 of Soil Fertility 336
BOX 11.1 Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? 324 11.7
Roots Are the Foundation of Soil Food Webs
and Soil Adhesion 337
11.2
Particles Created by Weathering Are the
Medium of Soil Ecosystems 324 11.8
Phosphorus Is the Rock-Derived Nutrient
That Most Commonly Limits Crop
11.3
Living Organisms and Their Remains
Productivity 339
Are Important Components of Soil
Ecosystems 329 BOX 11.2 Terra Preta Do Indio 340
11.4
Plants Need Six Mineral Elements in 11.9
Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria and Industrial
Large Amounts and Eight Others in Small Nitrogen Fixation Drive the Nitrogen
Amounts 331 Cycle 343
11.5
Productivity May Be Limited by the 11.10
Mycorrhizae Are Plant–Fungi Mutualisms
Availability of Soil Water and Nutrients 334 That Help Plants Acquire Nutrients 347
12
CHAPTER
Biotic Challenges: Weeds 352
Patrick J. Tranel
12.1
Weeds Are Plants Adapted to Environments 12.5
First Chemistry and then Biotechnology
Disturbed by Humans 353 Transformed Weed Control 365
12.2
Weeds Interfere with Crop Plant 12.6
Weeds Adapt to Our Attempts To Control
Growth 356 Them 366
BOX 12.1 Weeds That “Don’t Fight Fair” 358 12.7
Herbicide Resistance and a Lack of New
Herbicides Are Challenges to Weed
12.3
Weed Control Is Achieved by Cultural,
Control 367
Mechanical, Biological, and Chemical
Practices 359 BOX 12.3 Dioecious Pigweeds Are Particularly
Well Equipped to Evolve Herbicide
12.4
Herbicides Kill Plants by Interfering with
Resistance 368
Vital Plant-specific Processes 362
BOX 12.2 Herbicide Properties Depend on 12.8
New Methods of Weed Control Are
Emerging 369
Their Chemistry 363
xii CONTENTS
13
CHAPTER
Plant Diseases and Strategies for Their Control 374
Andrew F. Bent
13.1 Microbial Infections Diminish Crop Yields, BOX 13.2 Cereal Rusts Are among the Most
but Plants Fight Back 375 Crop-destructive Diseases on the
Planet 388
13.2
Disease Epidemics Occur When Multiple
Factors Converge 377 13.7
Chemical Strategies for Disease Control
13.3 Viruses and Viroids Have Only a Few Can Be Effective but Problematic 389
Genes 379 13.8
Plants Mount Defenses to Ward Off
13.4
Cellular Pathogens Use Effector Proteins Pathogens; Successful Pathogens Elude the
That Act in the Host Plant 382 Defenses 392
13.5
Plant-pathogenic Bacteria Cause Many 13.9
Resistance to Pathogens Can Be Introduced
Economically Important Diseases 383 into Plants by Breeding and Genetic
Engineering 397
BOX 13.1 The Value of Sequencing a Pathogen
Genome 384 13.10
The Plant Immune System Can Be
Activated So Subsequent Infections Are
13.6
Pathogenic Fungi and Oomycetes Met with a Stronger Response 400
Collectively Cause the Greatest Crop
Losses 385
14
CHAPTER
Biotic Challenges: Pests 404
Georg Jander
14.1
Arthropod Pests Cause Substantial Crop 14.6 Plant Breeding Methods Accelerate the
Losses 406 Development of Pest-resistant Crop
Varieties 420
14.2
Parasitic Nematodes Cause Substantial
Crop Losses 409 14.7
Properly Applied, Synthetic Chemicals Can
Provide Effective Pest Control 422
14.3
Plants Have Chemical Defenses against
Pests 412 14.8
Genetically Engineered Plants Provide New
Opportunities 424
BOX 14.1 Some Legal and Illegal Drugs Are
Natural Insecticides 414 BOX 14.3 Bt Toxins Have Both Positive
and Negative Consequences for
14.4 Improved Cultural Practices Can Help Farmers 427
Control Pests 415
BOX 14.2 Push-pull Systems for Pest 14.9
Evolution Keeps Chemists, Plant Breeders,
and Molecular Biologists Busy 429
Control 418
14.5
Integrated Pest Management Can Control
Outbreaks 419
CONTENTS xiii
15
CHAPTER
Abiotic Stresses and How They Affect Crop Yield 434
15.1
Plants Sense Abiotic Stresses and Respond 15.6
Plants Sequester Toxic Ions in
to Them 436 Vacuoles 453
15.2
Plant Growth Depends on an Active 15.7
Heat Stress During Reproductive Growth
Transpiration Stream 440 Severely Diminishes Crop Yield 454
BOX 15.1 The Ogallala Aquifer 441 15.8
Many Crop Plants That Originated in
Tropical Regions Are Sensitive
BOX 15.2 Water Potential, Osmosis, and Turgor
to Cold 456
Pressure 443
15.9
The Crops That Feed Humanity Are
15.3
The Molecular Responses to Water Deficit
Not Well Adapted to Alkaline or Acidic
Involve Signals from the Root 446
Soils 458
15.4
Too Much Water Depletes Oxygen in the
15.10
Agricultural Practices and Global
Roots and Leads to Cell Death 447
Climate Change May Exacerbate Abiotic
15.5
Crops Experience Osmotic Stress and Stresses 461
Sodium Toxicity 450
16
CHAPTER
Introduced Traits That Benefit Farmers and Industry 466
Maarten J. Chrispeels and Eliot M. Herman
16.1
Crops Bred Using Genetic Engineering 16.6
Uptake and Assimilation of Nitrogen Can Be
Approaches Were Introduced in the Mid Enhanced by Genetic Transformation 476
1990s 468
16.7
Phosphate Uptake Can Be Improved
BOX 16.1 Genetically Engineered Trees Saved by Transgenic and Traditional
Hawaii’s Papaya Industry 470 Approaches 478
16.2
Herbicide-tolerant GE Crops Facilitate 16.8
Pod Shatter-resistant Canola Prevents Seed
Weed Management 471 Losses and Increases Yield 480
16.3
Genetic Engineering of Insect Resistance 16.9
Genetically Engineered Forest Trees Are
Decreases Pesticide Use on Several Major a New Frontier in Biotechnology 482
Crops 473
16.10
Male-sterile Lines and Fertility-
16.4
Alleviating Water-deficit Stress Is an restorer Genes Facilitate Hybrid
Increasingly Important Goal of Crop Seed Production 485
Improvement 474
16.5
Common Bean Provides an Example of
Protecting against Virus 476
xiv CONTENTS
17
CHAPTER
Introduced Traits That Benefit the Consumer 488
Maarten J. Chrispeels and Eliot M. Herman
17.1
Enhancing Essential Nutrients or Eliminating 17.5
Biotechnology Can Help Eliminate Food
Harmful Ones Creates Functional Allergens, But These Innovations May Not
Foods 490 Come to Market 498
17.2
Golden Rice is the Poster Child for 17.6
Acrylamide Can Be Eliminated from
Genetic Engineering in the Service of Processed Foods 500
Humanity 491
17.7
Genetic Engineering Can Help Reduce
17.3
Biofortifying Crops with Iron Is a Major Goal Postharvest Food Losses 501
of Nutritionists 494
17.8
Conquering Citrus Greening Disease Could
17.4
Heat-stable Vegetable Oils Are Better Suited Lower the Price of Orange Juice 503
for Deep-frying 496
17.9 Are Tastier Tomatoes in Our Future? 504
18
Food Safety
Are Foods Made from GE Crops Safe to Eat? 508
CHAPTER David Tribe
18.1
Humans Have Continuously Been Exposed 18.5
Evaluation of Variability Is a Major Tool
to Novel Foods 510 to Limit Unintended Changes in GE
Crops 517
BOX 18.1 Kiwifruit: Entirely New Foods
Occasionally Come into Our 18.6
Molecular Characterization of Intended
Stores 511 Changes and Added Proteins Is a
Necessary Component of Safety
18.2
The Safety of Genetically Engineered Food
Assessment 520
Crops Has Been Extensively Debated 513
18.7 Chemical Risk Evaluation Involves
18.3
Genetically Engineered Food and
Investigating the Relationship between
Feed Crops Have an Excellent Safety
Degree of Exposure and Harmful
Record 514
Effects 521
18.4
Specific Principles of Food Safety
18.8
Food Safety Experiments Demand High
Assurance Apply to Foods and Feeds
Standards of Experimental Design and
Developed Using Biotechnology 516
Interpretation 523
BOX 18.2 Internationally Accepted Guidelines
for Risk Assessment of Foods 517 18.9
Perspectives on the Impacts of Crop
Biotechnology on Human and Animal
Health Are Changing 524
CONTENTS xv
19
CHAPTER
Challenges and Solutions for Subsistence Farmers 528
Manish N. Raizada
19.1
Subsistence Farmers Grow a Diversity of 19.5
Weed Control Is a Major Burden on Women
Crops to Maintain Resiliency 530 and Girls in Developing Countries 547
BOX 19.1 The Orphan Crops of 19.6 Indigenous Farmers Have Strategies to
Smallholders 531 Combat Pests and Diseases 549
19.2
Intensifying Agricultural Output on 19.7
There Are Hazards and Drudgery in Harvest
Smallholds Must Be a Priority 535 and Postharvest Work 551
19.3
Water Is a Challenge for Smallhold 19.8 Maximizing Profit after Harvest Is
Farmers 538 Critical 552
19.4
Degraded Soils and Soil Erosion Are Life- 19.9
The Public–Private Sector Job Creation
threatening Issues for Smallholders 543 Model Can Apply to Smallholders 554
20
CHAPTER
Plants as Chemical Factories 558
Krutika Bavishi and Birger Lindberg Møller
BOX 20.1 The Elixir of Poppies 560 20.4 Metabolic Engineering of Plants Results

In Higher Yields And Superior Quality
20.1
Plant Secondary Metabolism Is a Treasure Chemicals 571
Chest of High-value Chemicals 560
BOX 20.4 Pink or Blue? Economics in the Floral
BOX 20.2 Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and the Industry 573
“Entourage Effect” 564
20.5
Transferring Metabolic Pathways into
20.2 Several Different Platforms Are Used to Microorganisms Is a Promising Approach
Produce Plant Secondary Metabolites for to Producing Secondary Metabolites 575
Human Use 565
20.6
Microalgae Are Potentially Renewable
BOX 20.3 “Hairy Roots” Produce Novel Resources for a Bio-based Society 576
Chemicals 568
20.7
The World Needs Biodegradable
20.3
Plant Cells Cultured in Bioreactors Plastics 579
Constitute Sustainable “Green
Factories” 568
xvi CONTENTS
21
CHAPTER
Plants as Factories for the Production of Protein Biologics 584
Qiang Chen
21.1
Plants Can Be Used as Factories for Protein BOX 21.1 A Primer on Adaptive Immunity,
Biologics 585 Immunoglobulins, and Monoclonal
Antibodies 594
21.2 There Are Several Production Strategies for
Making Protein Biologics in Plants 587 21.6
Monoclonal Antibodies and Vaccine
21.3 Agroinfiltration Is an Effective Way of Candidates Can Be Produced in
Delivering Transgenes into Plants 588 Plants 596
21.4 New Vectors for Gene Delivery Are Being BOX 21.2 Plant-produced MAbs Show Promise
in the Fight against Ebola 598
Developed 590
21.5
The Plant Host and Plant Organs Used 21.7 A Plant-manufactured Biologic Has Been
to Produce Biologics Must Be Chosen Approved to Treat a Genetic Disease in
Carefully 592 Humans 600
22
CHAPTER
Sustainable Food Production in the 21st Century 604
22.1
Agricultural Intensification and 22.6 Education at All Levels Is Essential if We
Sustainability Are Equally Important 606 Are to Increase Food Production 618
22.2 Can We Decrease the Yield Gap? 608 22.7
Maintaining the Resource Base Is Essential
for Food Production 619
22.3
Smarter Agronomy Can Deliver Higher
Yields 611 22.8
We Must Diminish Agriculture’s
Contribution to Climate Change
22.4
Wider Acceptance of GE Technology
and Global Pollution 622
Is Essential if We Are to Increase Food
Supplies 615 22.9
Sustainability Will Require Greater
Attention To Food Waste 623
22.5
Research Is Key to Increasing the Intensity
of Crop Production 616
Glossary G-1
About the Chapter-Opening Photos COP-1
Illustration Credits C-1
Index I-1
Contributors
Krutika Bavishi Paul Gepts Birger Lindberg Møller
Plant Biochemistry Laboratory Distinguished Professor of Plant Sciences Professor of Plant Biochemistry
Center for Synthetic Biology Department of Plant Sciences Plant Biochemistry Laboratory
University of Copenhagen Section of Crop & Ecosystem Center for Synthetic Biology
Copenhagen, Denmark Sciences University of Copenhagen
University of California Copenhagen, Denmark
Andrew Bent Davis, California
Professor of Plant Pathology Donald R. Ort
University of Wisconsin Eliot Herman Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology
Madison, Wisconsin Professor of Plant Sciences & Crop Sciences
School of Plant Sciences USDA/ARS Global Change &
Kent J. Bradford University of Arizona Photosynthesis Research Unit
Distinguished Professor of Plant Sciences Tucson, Arizona University of Illinois
Director, Seed Biotechnology Center Urbana, Illinois
University of California Georg Jander
Davis, California Professor Todd Pfeiffer
Boyce Thompson Institute Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Qiang Chen Ithaca, New York Department of Plant and Soil
Professor of Molecular Biology Sciences
The Biodesign Institute Stephen P. Long University of Kentucky
School of Life Sciences Gutgsell Endowed Professor Lexington, Kentucky
Arizona State University Departments of Plant Biology &
Tempe, Arizona Crop Sciences Manish N. Raizada
University of Illinois Professor of Plant Agriculture
Maarten J. Chrispeels Urbana, Illinois University of Guelph
Distinguished Professor of Biological and Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Sciences, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Crop Sciences
University of California, San Diego Lancaster Environment Centre Rebecca A. Slattery
La Jolla, California Lancaster University Research Associate
Lancaster, United Kingdom USDA/ARS Global Change &
Hanya E. Chrispeels Photosynthesis Research Unit
Assistant Research Professor Kranthi Mandadi University of Illinois
Department of Biology Assistant Professor of Plant Urbana, Illinois
Wake Forest University Pathology & Microbiology
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Patrick J. Tranel
Extension Center, Ainsworth Professor of Crop Sciences
H. Maelor Davies Texas A&M University System Department of Crop Sciences
Professor of Plant & Soil Sciences, Emeritus Weslaco, Texas University of Illinois
University of Kentucky Urbana, Illinois
Lexington, Kentucky T. Erik Mirkov
Professor of Plant Pathology & David Tribe
Eric M. Engstrom Microbiology School of Biosciences
Associate Professor of Biology Texas A&M Agrilife Research & University of Melbourne
Global Food Security Initiative Extension Center Parkville, Australia
Monmouth College Weslaco, Texas
Monmouth, Illinois
Preface
Feeding the human population in a sustainable way is one of the most im-
portant problems societies face in the 21st century. Fortunately, the field of
agriculture has benefitted from strides in biotechnology made in the last three
decades. During this period our knowledge of how plants grow, develop, and
function in the environment has greatly increased, and the tools and achieve-
ments of biotechnology have considerably changed plant breeding and crop
improvement practices. Here we present biotechnology as including all the
laboratory-based methods that are used to improve crops and help farmers
feed the world. These methods include genome sequencing, identification of
individual genes and their functions, marker-assisted selection, genome-wide
association of traits with variations in DNA, genetic transformation of plants by
the insertion of foreign genes, gene editing using techniques such as CRISPR,
high-throughput phenotyping, and more.
It is important to note that we use the term “genetic engineering” (GE) only
for the introduction of a foreign (often bacterial) gene into a plant to give it a
new characteristic. We take the term “genetic modification” literally—all crops
have been genetically modified from their ancestors—and we do not use the
colloquial term GMOs (“genetically modified organisms”) to describe geneti-
cally engineered plants. All plant species, like all animal species—including
humans—are continually being genetically modified as they evolve. Millennia
before our knowledge of genetics, DNA, biochemistry, and molecular biology,
our ancestors genetically modified crops. Indeed, the process began when the
earliest farmers chose plants with specific, recognizable characteristics that
facilitated their cultivation and consumption.
As teachers, we believe that textbooks are valuable teaching tools, especially
when they bring together many different strands of knowledge. We strive to
integrate different scientific disciplines, and our approach is seen in the diverse
subject matter described in the chapters of this book. This integrative approach
is especially important at the introductory undergraduate level.
Overview
This book highlights that feeding people—growing crops and producing food—
is a complex challenge. Many undergraduates have grown up in cities and have
no idea of the complexity of producing food and of the numerous issues that
crop up (no pun intended) between farm and fork. By learning about the chal-
lenges associated with food production, we hope that students take an interest
in and perhaps become involved in solving the problem of sustainably feeding
the human population.
xx PREFACE
Chapter 1 deals with the past, present, and future of the human population
and its relationship to food production. In the past, the uncertainties of food
production too often have led to food insecurity, and the future holds further
uncertainties posed by climate change. There is agreement among agricultural
scientists that the way forward is to increase the productivity of farmland ev-
erywhere and to do this sustainably, reducing the impact of agriculture on the
environment.
Chapter 2 discusses the changes that have occurred in farming over the past
10,000 years and continue today. Agriculture and food play an important role
in the economic systems of all countries and regions. Agricultural systems in
different regions of the world differ in their productivity, and in the modern
world, scientific and technological discoveries are responsible for many of those
differences.
Chapter 3 deals with food not from a production standpoint, but from the
point of view of human nutrition. We describe nutritional biochemistry in
terms of some familiar molecules: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and vitamins.
In addition to being the ultimate source of all our food, plants also contain
non-nutritive molecules that affect other organisms by defending the plants
against herbivory or attracting pollinators. How do these molecules affect us
and the microbes in our intestinal tract?
Chapter 4 begins our consideration of the basic biology that is the founda-
tion of crop plant improvement by describing genetics, heredity, and molecular
biology. The basics of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis are necessary to an
understanding of genes and how/when/where they are expressed, a crucial
prerequisite for crop improvement.
In Chapter 5, we describe the structure and function of plant cells and or-
gans and how an entire plant develops from a single fertilized egg cell. There
is considerable emphasis on seed development, because most of the foods we
eat are, at their core, made from the seeds of rice, wheat, and corn, as well as the
seeds of legumes such as soybeans, peas, and beans. Raising plants from single
cells in culture and the importance of this technique for micropropagation and
genetic engineering are also discussed.
Photosynthesis is the basis of all life on Earth, and Chapter 6 is devoted to
this subject. Crop plant growth and development are limited by photosynthesis,
and so an understanding of the basic chemistry of this process is important to
food production. Indeed, increasing food production may depend in part on
our ability to make the biochemical processes of photosynthesis more efficient.
With the basic science under our belts, we turn in the next chapters to crops,
their improvement, and how improved crops reach farmers. Chapter 7 on crop
domestication discusses how and where modern crops arose from wild plants.
Chapter 8 describes plant breeding, where humans deliberately make crosses
and choose specific plant varieties with characteristics that are desirable for
food, feed, fiber, and fuel production. Concepts of hybridization and selec-
tion are explored, as are the molecular methods we use to accelerate selection
among the crossbred progeny, such as marker-assisted genomic selection and
high-throughput progeny evaluation. Both chapters emphasize the concept of
genetic variability and its importance in the accelerated evolution—changes
in crop plant characteristics over time—that humans cause when they practice
agriculture.
PREFACE xxi
Seeds are crucial not only because they are food; they are also a primary
means of plant propagation. We return to the study of seeds in Chapter 9 as the
means by which improved varieties are distributed and how we make sure that
farmers receive “certified” seeds. In addition to seeds, some improved varieties
are propagated as cuttings, grafting, or other vegetative means including tis-
sue culture, all of which are described in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 deals with the
difficult questions of proprietary plants and patented seeds. Why do private
companies that create new varieties of fruits or genetically engineered seeds
not allow farmers to freely distribute the progeny? What are the legal bases for
this proprietary status? Who owns the genetic resources of the world?
The next five chapters deal with the many very real problems encountered
by farmers. These include keeping soils fertile and fighting weeds, diseases,
and pests, as well as coping with the abiotic effects of extreme temperatures,
droughts, and floods, to name a few. Chapter 11 discusses the soil as an eco-
system and a renewable resource. What are the components of a fertile soil,
and how do these components interact with one another? How are the major
nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate used by crop plants, and how do
they cycle in the soil ecosystem? Chapter 12 discusses weed management—an
enormous problem in all agricultural systems—and emphasizes the danger of
relying entirely on crops that are genetically engineered to resist weeds. Chapter
13 covers plant diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes, and
discusses how understanding the mechanisms of these diseases can be used
to breed more durable resistance into crops. Insects and nematode pests that
consume or otherwise destroy plants are discussed in Chapter 14, and once
again we stress how understanding biology can be applied to controlling crop
losses. Abiotic stresses such as drought, floods, acidic soils, and soil salinity
are the subjects of Chapter 15, which also describes examples of how crops are
being bred to mitigate those stresses.
Chapters 16 and 17 provide two perspectives on some of the important
crop-plant traits that have been introduced in the last two decades by marker-
assisted selection and genetic engineering. In Chapter 16, the emphasis is on
traits that primarily benefit farmers and the food production and processing
industry. In Chapter 17, the traits described primarily benefit consumers. We
are aware that these are just a few examples, and that within a few years many
more such examples will be available for classroom discussion.
How do we know the food we buy is safe to eat? This is the question ad-
dressed in Chapter 18. How do governments assess and regulate the safety of
the food supply? Given the extensive public discussion and concern over this
issue, the chapter places great emphasis on genetically engineered crops and
the evidence that they are safe for human and animal consumption.
Although large “factory farms” dominate food production in the 21st cen-
tury, millions of subsistence farmers cultivate just a few hectares, and increasing
their productivity is a pivotal key to eliminating food insecurity. Chapter 19
spotlights the contributions these smallhold farms make to feeding the human
population. What are the specific problems of increasing smallhold productiv-
ity and reliability, and how might these problems be addressed sustainably?
For centuries, various biochemical compounds produced by plants have
been sources of both medications and stimulants. As demand for these prod-
ucts increases, harvesting them from plants growing in nature becomes less
xxii PREFACE
feasible in the long term, and the idea of “green factories” for making these
chemicals has emerged. Two chapters view plants as production platforms for
specialty chemicals (usually small molecules; Chapter 20) and for biologics
(large-molecule compounds such as therapeutic proteins; Chapter 21). These
are fast-developing fields, unrelated to conventional agriculture and food pro-
duction, but very much a part of sustainability.
The final chapter attempts to summarize what needs to happen to feed the
world, and to put that summary in a context of sustainability.
Acknowledgments
We thank the many people who made this book possible, especially the authors
who contributed chapters and responded so enthusiastically to our call for a
uniquely readable and up-to-date synthesis of these important topics. This is
their book, really. We also thank all those scientists who sent us their photo-
graphs and other graphic material to include in the book. Most importantly,
we thank our colleagues who donated their time to read and review chapters
and give us feedback.
Illustrations are the lifeblood of today’s science textbooks, and we appreci-
ate the efforts of photo researcher Mark Siddall and artist Jan Troutt and their
contributions to the book’s remarkable illustration program. We also thank
Michele Beckta for her Herculean work in verifying sources and confirming
permissions for all the illustration material. We are grateful for the profes-
sionalism and diligence of Chris Small, Beth Roberge Friedrichs, and the entire
Sinauer/Oxford production staff.
Research scientists generally are not used to writing for beginning under-
graduates, and we are very grateful to David Sadava and Hanya Chrispeels for
their help in transforming what we and the other authors submitted into a text
that we have attempted to make accessible to any motivated reader, whatever
their scientific background. However, by far the greatest accolades must go
to Carol Wigg, the outstanding development editor at Sinauer/Oxford. Her
diligence and professionalism far exceeded anything that anyone writing a
book like this one could expect. If you like this book, thank Carol Wigg.
And finally, we thank Rachel Meyers and Andy Sinauer for having faith in
us and believing that we could deliver a quality product.
Maarten Chrispeels
La Jolla, California
Paul Gepts
Davis, California
Plants,
Genes &
Agriculture
Biotechnology
Chapter Outline
1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist in a World 1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles in
of Plenty 4 Global Food Production 19
1.2 Human Population Growth Is Slowing 6 1.8 Agricultural Research Is Vital If We Are to
1.3 By How Much Does the Food Supply Need to Maintain a Secure Food Supply 20
Increase to Satisfy Future Demand? 9 1.9 Can Other Agricultural Methods and Policies
1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable Contribute to Feeding the Population? 23
in the Future 11 1.10 Biotechnology Is Crucial for the Future of
1.5 An Uncertain Climate Presents Challenges to Food Production 27
Food Production 13
1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards Are
Changing the Demand for Agricultural Products
and the Way They Are Brought to Market 16
1
CHAPTER
The Human Population

and Its Food Supply in
the 21st Century
Maarten J. Chrispeels and Hanya E. Chrispeels
A visit to a grocery store in a metropolitan area in a rich country reveals aisle

after aisle of food—fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, baked goods, frozen foods,
drinks, spices, and thousands of pre-packaged, ready-to-eat foods. A typical
grocery store in the United States carries over 40,000 items in an incredible
variety of choices. With all the bounty on display, it may seem impossible
that feeding the world’s population would be a problem. Yet the world
faces the enormous dual challenges of addressing existing food insecurity— food insecurity Refers to a lack
defined as either a lack of available food or a lack of resources to buy or of available food and/or a lack of
trade for it—and increasing food production to meet the needs of a growing resources to buy or barter for it.
population with increasing economic resources and expectations.
The concept that the human population might outstrip food production
was formally laid out in 1798, when Thomas Malthus, a political economist
and minister of the Church of England, published An Essay on the Principle of
Population. In his essay, Malthus stated that, unless kept in check, the human
population would increase faster than the world’s food supply. He predicted
at that time that a major crisis was just a few decades away unless society
took drastic steps to control population growth. Although he was incorrect
in his timing, Malthus raised awareness of the need to balance the popula-
tion size with food resources.
In the past 100 years there has been impressive progress in providing the
human population with an assured supply of food through increased pro-
duction (more food per hectare area per year) and trade (for example, the
US began exporting food to Russia, China, and many other countries). To
be sure, major famines, mostly the result of wars, have not been eliminated.
However, the number of food-insecure people has dropped steadily in the
past 50 years and diets in many parts of the world have improved. But prog-
ress is not as fast as we would like, and we are not entirely sure that the food
production systems currently in place are sustainable into the future.
4 CHAPTER 1 The Human Population and Its Food Supply in the 21st Century
The challenge of feeding the world of the future has at least three important
facets:
1. Feeding everyone at current levels will require a 70% increase in available calo-
ries in our crops by 2050. We must continue to strive to end existing food
insecurity, which is primarily a matter of complex policies in developed
and developing countries rather than supply. At the same time, we must
increase food production (overall amount produced, e.g., tons of wheat/
yr) and crop productivity (food produced per unit area per unit time, e.g.,
tons of wheat/ha/yr). The world’s population is not only increasing, but
in many countries also becoming more economically secure. People with
an adequate food supply and more money to spend on food often change
their diet, especially to include more meat.
2. We must protect the environment so food production is sustainable. Almost
by definition, crops are grown on land which has been fundamentally
changed. And growing itself also changes the environment: for example,
plants remove substances from the soil and may allow insect pests to
multiply. Activities such as deforestation and overuse of water resourc-
es to grow crops cannot continue indefinitely. Sustainability needs to be
achieved in a world with a changing and unpredictable climate.
3. To eliminate food insecurity in poor countries, economic development and agricul-
tural investment are needed. When governments help farmers by investing
in roads, markets, and the resources needed to grow crops, farmers have
an incentive to grow crops, and more food becomes available to citizens.
1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist

in a World of Plenty
In 2001, the United Nations defined food security as existing “when all people,
at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an ac-
tive and healthy life.” While there has been great progress in the past 25 years,
about 800 million people, or about 11% of the 7.5 billion people on Earth, are
still food-insecure (Figure 1.1). The major reason for food insecurity is poverty
caused by a lack of gainful employment, not that there is not enough food pro-
duced in the world. Poverty has a twofold, circular effect: poor people cannot
afford to buy existing food, and when people do not have money to buy food,
local farmers have no incentive to produce it or bring it to market. Poverty is
not the only reason for food insecurity, however. During the last 25 years the
global gross national product (GNP) has seen an annual increase of 3.6%, cut-
ting the poverty rate substantially. However, food insecurity decreased at only
half that rate, showing the complexity of this interrelationship.
Food insecurity is not limited to developing countries but is also widespread
in countries that produce plenty of food. For example, in the United States since
2000, levels of food insecurity and poverty have fluctuated between 12% and
15% of the population—about average for the entire world. The highest rates
of food insecurity occur in the states of Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas. In
the US, 90% of the counties with the highest food insecurity are in the South,
where average incomes are lower than in other parts of the country and a large
1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist in a World of Plenty 5
Both the number of Figure 1.1 Changes in the total

1100 undernourished people… 45 number of food-insecure people in
the world for the period 1990–2015.
Number of food-insecure people (millions)
995
1000 939 40
(After FAO 2015, 2013.)
893
900 863 35
Percent undernourished
827
795
800 30
700 25
600 23.6% 20
18.8%
500 …and the percent of 16.7% 15
15.5%
the world’s population 14.3% 12.9%
400 10
that is undernourished
300 are declining. 5
0 0
1990–92 2000–02 2005–07 2008–10 2011–13 2015
Years
Note: I added horizontal grid lines since both side axis tics aligned.
proportion of the population lives in rural areas (another risk factor for food
insecurity). About one in seven Americans—around 45 million people—relies
on food banks and food kitchens on a daily basis. The principal reasons for
food insecurity in the US are low wages, unemployment or underemployment,
and an insufficient social safety net for those with no or low income, especially
single-parent families.
In developing countries, many food-insecure people are subsistence farmers
living in small villages, but food insecurity is also widespread in cities. Food
insecurity in cities is related primarily to a lack of gainful employment (espe-
cially for women) and inadequate public food distribution systems. A study
of food insecurity in India, published in 2010 by the Swaminathan Research
Foundation, showed that “about half the women in urban areas are estimated
to be anemic, and under-nutrition among women, indicated by chronic energy
deficiency, is increasing. Despite rapid economic growth since the early 1980s,
and especially since the 1990s, the access and absorption indicators of urban
food insecurity tell a dismal story of relatively little improvement in nutritional
intake and worsening in terms of livelihood insecurity.” The Swaminathan
study also concluded that the situation was worse in small and medium-sized
towns compared to large cities.
In rural areas, broad-based agricultural and infrastructure development is
needed to alleviate food insecurity. Farmers on small rural farms face the many
obstacles that affect all farmers—including the weather, insect pests, and plant
diseases—and if there are no roads, no public transportation system, and no
markets at which to sell their crops, then they have no incentive to grow more,
because the lack of infrastructure means they will not be able to sell their extra
produce. Rural development makes it possible for farm families to raise crops
and to have off-farm employment. Governments and private industry can play
a role to ensure that rural farmers have access to the resources they need for
crop production and the sale of what they produce. This includes both infra-
structure, such as irrigation canals and roads; and legal and financial systems,
such as access to bank loans and land tenure laws that are equitable and do not
discriminate against women or poor people (who may be illiterate).
Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

Sinauer Associates
Troutt Visual Services
Progress has been made in decreasing the number of undernourished people

in the past 25 years, especially in Southeast Asia. The greatest concentration
of undernourished people is now in sub-Saharan Africa, where agricultural
development has been slow and population growth is high. Environmental
degradation—notably soil salinization, overgrazing, and soil erosion caused
by logging—is making it increasingly difficult for people in this region to pro-
duce sufficient food consistently, a situation that may become worse as climate
change makes the weather even less predictable (see Section 1.5).
Lack of education can be another cause of undernutrition. If most children in
a village are stunted in their growth due to inadequate food intake, parents may
not even realize the cause because there are no healthy children for comparison.
It may not occur to the parents that the food they are providing is insufficient.
Nutrient deficiency is often a side effect of food insecurity. As many as 2 bil-
lion worldwide suffer from specific nutritional deficiencies such as insufficient
vitamin A, iron, or zinc. Lack of sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals
can lead to increased risk for certain diseases, and can cause reduced physical
and mental development in children.
Even without factoring in the projected increase in population, address-
ing the present food insecurity is a significant challenge. Given the different
causes of food insecurity and the different locations where it occurs—urban
versus rural, developed versus less developed countries—different strategies
will be needed to combat it. Some solutions are more sociopolitical than purely
agricultural. However, some of the strategies for solving food insecurity are
similar to those needed to increase agricultural production.
1.2 Human Population Growth Is Slowing

How many people will there be in the year 2100? Making predictions about
the future size of the human population and its relationship to the food supply
is challenging. Malthus was wrong about long-term trends in human popula-
tion growth; he could not have foreseen that in the 21st century a majority of
families in developed countries would have two, one, or no children. In the
19th and 20th centuries the human population did rise very rapidly. In fact,
in 1968, Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford University professor of ecology, published a
bestseller entitled The Population Bomb. He predicted that millions would die of
starvation in the 1970s and 80s because of excessive population growth. At the
Green Revolution Refers to the time Ehrlich was writing, the Green Revolution, which raised food production
dramatic increase in the productivity substantially in developing countries, was in full swing, but birthrates had not
of rice, wheat, and corn in develop- yet declined. Since 1970, birthrates have declined and are continuing to decline
ing countries, especially Mexico, and food production continues to increase at a steady pace.
Brazil, India, Pakistan, and the Philip-
The human population in 2017 stands around 7.5 billion and is increasing.
pines. Beginning in the late 1940s,
it was the result of (1) improved The global population doubled between 1960 and 2000, going from 3 billion
crop varieties developed from to 6 billion (Figure 1.2). That is a doubling time of 40 years. If it happens,
known principles of genetics and the next doubling—to 12 billion—is expected to take at least 200 years. The
plant breeding, and (2) the applica- United Nations (UN) calculates projections for the future human population
tion of inputs such as fertilizer and based on historical estimates of population size as well as fertility (the number
irrigation. of children a woman has) and mortality trends. For the year 2050, the UN’s
low projection is 8.1 billion, the middle projection is 9.6 billion, and the high
projection is 10.4 billion. Currently, the world population is growing by 80
1.2 Human Population Growth Is Slowing 7
10 9 billion (2041, projected) Figure 1.2 Growth of the human

9 population since the year 1800. The
8 billion (2024, projected)
graph shows how long it took to add
8 each additional billion people. Today
7 billion (2011)
7 the population stands at approximately
6 billion (1999) 7.5 billion. The eighth billion is expected
Population (billions)
6 5 billion (1987) to take 12–13 years, after which the rate

of increase is expected to slow. (After
5 4 billion (1974) United Nations Population Division
4 3 billion (1959) 1999.)
3 2 billion (1927)
1 billion (1804)
2
123 32 15 13 12 12 13 17
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050

Year
The distance between dashed

lines represents the number of
years to add 1 billion people.
million people each year. To put this number in perspective, Germany and
Iran each has about 80 million people, and the five boroughs of New York
City are home to about 8.2 million people (picture almost 10 New York Cities
added to the planet each year).
Just 15 years ago, demographers predicted that the global population would
probably stabilize by 2100, but now they are not so sure. If fertility in sub-
Saharan Africa remains high, the global population may continue to climb
into the 22nd century. The UN’s middle projection estimates an increase of
30–35% by 2050, but not all regions of the world are projected to increase to
the same extent (Figure 1.3). Most of the increase will
occur in Africa and Asia (which includes India). On the 6
other hand, Europe’s population will remain the same
Asia
or possibly decrease, depending on immigration trends. 5
The population of Russia has been declining since 1991
Population (billions)
at a rate of 0.5% per year. There are also big differences 4

within continents. In Asia, Japan’s population is declin-
3
ing and will continue to decline, while India, which Africa
currently has 1.25 billion people, could become the most 2
populous country on Earth by 2028, according to new
Latin America/Caribbean
UN projections. 1 Europe
China is currently the world’s most populous coun- USA /Canada
try, with 1.4 billion people, and it is uncertain how its 0 Oceania
2015 2025 2035 2045 2055
population growth rate will change in the future. Over Year
the years, China’s government has implemented mul-
tiple policies to regulate its population growth. Between Figure 1.3 Projected increases in population in each world
region between 2015 and 2050 according to the middle projec-
the 1940s and the 1970s, the population approximately tion of the United Nations. Most of the change will occur in Afri-
doubled, due in part to encouragement from the Maoist ca, where female fertility is still high. (Data from United Nations
government for women to have large families. By the Population Division 1999.)

Sinauer Associates
Chrispeels1E_01.02.ai Date 10-16-17
1970s, it was feared that the economic growth would be unable to keep up with
the large population growth, and in 1980 the Chinese government implemented
a one-child-per-couple policy in an effort to limit population growth. Although
there were exceptions for certain groups, approximately 65% of the population
was subject to the one-child restriction. The rate of China’s population growth
did decrease after this policy was put into effect. In 2015, the government an-
nounced an end to the one-child policy, replacing it with a policy that would
allow two children per family, because of fears that the aging population would
not be able to maintain the country’s economic growth. Despite the lifting of
the restrictive policy, economic and social factors may prevent many married
couples from having more than one child. Thus an immediate effect on China’s
rate of population growth is not expected from the change in policy. Demog-
raphers predict that China’s population will peak in 2030, just one year later
than if the one-child policy had remained in effect.
While China’s one-child policy was successful at controlling population
growth, other Asian countries such as North Korea, South Korea, and Thai-
land, have achieved a similar result without such a restriction, so other fac-
fertility rate The average number tors may be influential in reducing population growth. The fertility rate—the
of children born to a woman of child- average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime—has
bearing age (15–44). been steadily declining in many developed countries since the middle of the
20th century. Two important factors are (1) the desire of parents to have fewer
children, and (2) the availability of affordable family planning options and
education about their use.
Bringing down the rate of population growth in developing countries
has been high on the agenda of the United Nations and other development
agencies for several decades. In the 1960s and 1970s, developed countries at-
tempted to lower population growth in developing countries through a supply
side approach, by supplying contraceptives and sex education. The thinking
was that with contraception, women would have control over reproduction,
which would lead to lower birthrates. We now realize that, although access to
contraceptives is crucial, their availability does not guarantee a lower birthrate
unless there is a desire to have smaller families. The approach of development
agencies therefore shifted to include the demand side of controlling births. Eco-
nomic development coupled with the empowerment of women is now seen as
the best way to reduce the fertility rate and slow population growth.
There is a clear inverse (negative) correlation between female literacy and
the number of children a woman has, with higher literacy rates correlating with
fewer children (Figure 1.4A). According to figures from the United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), global female
illiteracy declined from 55% in 1970 to just over 30% in 2000. In the same period,
the global fertility rate dropped from 4.1 to 2.9 children per woman. We are
familiar with this phenomenon in developed countries, but it has also become
apparent in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, and appears to be
true irrespective of the major religion of the country.
Why has this occurred? One possible explanation is education. In many de-
veloping countries, when a girl reaches puberty she enters the world of adults
and is considered by society to be marriageable and ready to bear children. If
she stays in school, however, she will be less likely to be married at a young age,
and more likely to have employment outside the home. When she does marry,
she is likely to have a different relationship with her husband than if she had
1.3 By How Much Does the Food Supply Need to Increase to Satisfy Future Demand? 9
not had several years of education. She is more (A)

likely to control her own fertility and to determine 8
together with her husband how many children
7 The average number of children
they want to have. Thus, educating girls (Figure a woman has decreases from
1.4B) leads to their empowerment. Unfortunately, 6 7 to 1.2 as the percentage of
many developing countries do not have universal girls in secondary school rises
5 from 5% to 95%.
free public education at even the primary school
Fertility rate
level. Even when a country has such a system, it 4
does not guarantee that children will actually at-
tend school, because they may be needed to help 3
support the family financially. In many countries, 2
Each data point
educational opportunities are strongly tied to eco- represents a
nomic status. If education costs money, parents 1
different country.
generally favor boys over girls.
0 20 40 60 80 100
Multiple United Nations conferences deal-
Percent of girls enrolled in secondary school
ing with the status of women have stressed the
need to increase investments in the education (B)
of girls, to encourage practices that lead to the
postponement of the first pregnancy, and to pro-
vide opportunities for women other than child
bearing and child rearing. Education and em-
powering women may satisfy our sense of social
justice, but does it also help to reduce population
growth? Indeed it does. Educated women who
are employed outside the home are in control of
their own fertility. They decide—in agreement
with their partners—when to become mothers
and when to wait.
1.3 By How Much Does

the Food Supply Need
to Increase to Satisfy
Figure 1.4 (A) The effect of a woman’s education on the number
Future Demand? of children she has. The graph shows the relationship, for individual
countries worldwide, between the percent of girls enrolled in sec-
Although population growth is slowing, ondary school and the country’s fertility rate. (B) Young women in
the world’s population is still increasing, school in the Mideast. (A, data from the Earth Policy Institute 2014;
and we will need to produce more food to B, © UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.)
ensure food security for all. Between 1950
and 2000, when the human population
more than doubled, the supply of food in-
creased even more rapidly. This is an amazing achievement, and is the grains As used here, refers to
opposite of what Malthus had predicted. Hundreds of millions of peo- the major crops on which humans
ple were lifted out of poverty and were able to produce or purchase suffi- and their livestock depend. Broken
down as two small grains—wheat
cient food for a healthy life. This Green Revolution was possible because
and rice—and what are referred to
(1) plant breeders produced genetically improved varieties of grains, and as coarse grains, including corn,
(2) farmers adopted new agricultural technologies including improved irri- sorghum, and oats. The US Depart-
gation, fertilizers, and pesticides that enabled them to get the most out of the ment of Agriculture also considers
new varieties. Governments encouraged these changes in agricultural practices soybeans to be a grain.

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by providing subsidies. On a global scale, food is

South As of 1995 now cheaper, safer, and more widely available than
8.5 Increase, 1995–2020
Asia ever before in human history. Can this continue?
Sub-Saharan
11.2 Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the
Africa future of food?
West Asia and Forecasting future food needs is just as difficult
26.4
Northern Africa
as projecting the future population. The expected
Southeast
Asia
26.5 increase in the human population by 2050 (30–35%)
presents us with a double challenge. First, food
East
Asia
63.7 production has to increase by at least that much.
Latin Additionally, there is the burden of increased ex-
64.3 pectations. Affluence in our globalized economy
America
Developed has resulted in rising incomes for many people in
85.3
countries populous countries such as China, India, Brazil, and
0 20 40 60 80 100 Mexico. As people have more money and can buy
Per capita meat consumption (kg) food beyond just getting enough to survive, they
usually want to eat a more diversified diet, includ-
Figure 1.5 Per capita demand for meat products, 1995–2020.
Meat consumption is highest in developed countries but the ing more varieties of fruits and vegetables, more
growth and projected growth is modest. Meat consumption in dairy and meat products, and more processed foods
China (included in the numbers for “East Asia”) has been grow- (this scenario will be familiar to people in developed
ing rapidly and will continue to do so. Since China has more countries). Producing animal products requires
than a billion people, this growth accounts for the lion’s share of
growing corn and soybeans to feed the animals
the growth in world demand for meat products. (After Pinstrup-
Andersen et al. 1999, with permission of the International Food rather than growing staple grains (e.g., wheat and
Policy Research Institute. Original figure at www.ifpri.org/ rice) and other starch crops that people eat directly.
publication/world-food-prospects-0.) Meat consumption in mid-development countries
like China has been increasing rapidly (Figure 1.5).
In China, this increase in meat consumption paral-
lels the import of soybeans from the US, Argentina,
and Brazil (see Figure 2.3). Protein-rich soybeans are
essential in the formulation of animal feed.
Taking these trends into account, the Food and
4.5 Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Na-
4.0 tions projects that demand for grains will increase
by 44% by 2050. The greatest expected increase is
3.5
Grain yield (tons/hectare)
for soybeans (80%) and corn (60%), most of it to

3.0 feed animals. Indeed, by 2050 animal feed pro-
2.5 duction is projected to increase by 70%. Projected
increases for wheat (40%) and rice (28%) are lower,
2.0 World yield of the three major
in part because diets are changing and also because
grains (corn, wheat, and rice)
1.5 the population increase of Southeast Asia, the larg-
has increased linearly over the
1.0 past 50 years. est rice-eating area of the world, has slowed con-
siderably. These figures may be underestimates,
0.5
with some studies suggesting a 100% increase for
0 demand for grains over the next few decades.
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year Can farmers produce enough food to meet the
projected demand? One way to estimate this is to
Figure 1.6 World yield of wheat, rice, and corn (arithmetic aver- look at how farmers have been doing recently. The
age) and the annual relative yield increase between 1960 and 2010.
Grain yields now stand at 4.2 tons/hectare and have been increasing
data show that the increase in the grain production
for 50 years at a rate of 52.6 kg/hectare. (Data from FAOSTAT 2013; has increased linearly since 1960, with an annual
after Fischer et al. 2014.) increase of just over 52 kg/ha/yr (Figure 1.6).

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1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable in the Future 11
Given that the average of grain production in 2010 was about 4.2 tons/ha, we
could expect an increase of 2.08 tons per hectare by 2050, or about 50%—a bit
more than the 44% projected by the FAO. This projection suggests that if we
can stay on the present trajectory, using current methods of plant breeding and
agricultural technology, we can probably feed the future human population.
But remember, just producing enough food does not eliminate food insecurity.
People need to have the food available and affordable.
Agricultural scientists develop and test new crop varieties on experimental
farms, under carefully controlled environmental conditions, and using the best
practices of soil management, irrigation, fertilizer enrichment, and pesticide
application. It is not surprising that in the “real world,” farmers get lower
yields of food than do the managers of these experimental farms. The differ-
ence between optimal crop yield and actual yield is called the yield gap. Raising yield gap The difference between
yields worldwide requires an analysis of the reasons for the yield gap in each the potential crop yield achievable
production area (country or region) for each of the major crops. For example, under optimal conditions and the
the current wheat yield in France is 8.6 tons/ha, in Kansas 2.8 tons/ha, and in yield actually achieved by farmers.
Western Australia 1.7 tons/ha. These are the actual yields obtained by farmers
using good farming practices and all technologies they can afford. What would
be the potential yield in each of these areas if we eliminated all the constraints
on production given present day technologies? Would they be the same? The
three areas have very different climates and soils, so their potential yields are
not the same. In France, the current potential yield for wheat is calculated to be
10.8 tons/ha, so the shortfall or yield gap is 2.2 tons/ha, or 26%. For Western
Australia the yield gap is 45%; for Kansas it is 36%. “Eliminating the con-
straints” means using the best wheat varieties, applying optimum amounts of
fertilizer, using the most effective pest control procedures, and using irrigation
when needed. These practices, of course, are easier to carry out in developed
countries with modern agricultural systems. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa
have the lowest crop productivity, the largest yield gap, and the highest birth
rates. Improving agricultural productivity in Africa is therefore an absolute
must if we are to bring population and food into balance. Although closing
the yield gap in developing countries is more challenging than in developed
countries, it has the potential to have a larger impact on increasing food security.
1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable

in the Future
Modern agricultural techniques are essential for feeding the world’s popula-
tion. But by definition, a farm is ecologically disruptive. Cutting down a for-
est or plowing up a prairie and replacing these with fertilized, irrigated, and
pesticide-treated fields means replacing natural ecosystems with an artificial
one. After the crop is harvested, the ecosystem has been changed (e.g., crop
plants use up the nutrients in the soil and these are removed when the crop is
harvested). Even sustaining the conditions of the field for optimal crop growth
in subsequent years is a challenge. In addition, the farming process itself is en-
vironmentally destructive. Agriculture uses up fresh water from rivers, aqui-
fers, and other sources. It applies chemicals that pollute groundwater, rivers,
and oceans, and releases large amount of greenhouse gases that contribute to
climate warming.
40 Production 40 Some scientists are concerned that the human popula-

tion will outrun Earth’s capacity to feed itself because of
ecological collapse. This concept was exemplified in the
Area (million hectares)

Production (million tons)
30 30 best-selling book Collapse by Jared Diamond. In the book,

In France, wheat
production took Diamond used evidence of past localized ecological col-
20
off in the late 1940s,
20
lapses (e.g., Easter Island in the South Pacific) to illustrate
with no increase in that ecosystems can become so damaged by deforesta-
cultivated area.
tion, desertification, overgrazing, lowered water tables,
10 10 soil erosion, nutrient depletion, and pollution that the
resources to produce food are unavailable. To avoid this
Area
catastrophic scenario, any increase in food production
0 0
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050 must be achieved in an environmentally sustainable way.
Year Agriculture uses about 38% of Earth’s land, excluding
Antarctica and Greenland, and the best croplands are al-
Figure 1.7 Yield of wheat and area under wheat cultiva-
tion in France. Wheat yields starting rising in 1940 and have
ready under cultivation. Much of the remaining land is
Note: I added horizontal grid lines since both side axis tics aligned. unsuitable for farming—too dry (e.g. the Sahara), too cold
increased tenfold without an increase in the amount of land
under cultivation for wheat. (Data from Mitchell 1992, FAO (e.g., northern Canada and much of Siberia), or too urban-
2012; after Ausubel et al. 2013.) ized. Savannas and tropical forests can be converted to
support farming, but these ecosystems are both essential
as carbon sinks (i.e., they absorb CO2 and other carbon-
containing compounds from the atmosphere) and support very high levels of
biodiversity. Converting such ecosystems to farmland comes at an extremely high
cost to the global environment. In addition, our grain-fed meat production system
uses resources in an inefficient way. About 35% of farmland is used to grow grain
and soybeans that are fed to livestock, which are then used for meat, rather than
using those grains directly to feed people. (See Chapter 2 for a discussion of the
efficiency of converting plant protein into animal protein.)
If food production is to remain sustainable, agriculture cannot expand and
use additional land as a means to increase food production. Not expanding
cultivated land has been the trend for the past 60 years or so: while global
grain yields have more than doubled, agricultural land expansion has increased
by only about 9%. As an example, Figure 1.7 shows that wheat production
in France has increased tenfold in the last 70 years, although the area under
cultivation remained essentially the same. At the same time, however, some
cropland is lost due to other human activities, such as urban expansion (see
Section 1.6), and other land is no longer fit for farming because of loss of nu-
trients, salinization, erosion, or desertification.
Plants use prodigious amounts of water. In fact, agriculture currently ac-
counts for 70% of the fresh water used by humans. In some areas, the natural
water supply is not adequate for the crops, so water must be brought in or
otherwise managed, a technique called irrigation (Figure 1.8). Although only
16% of the world’s cropland is irrigated, these irrigated fields account for 37%
of all food production. Irrigation is even more important in developing coun-
tries than in developed countries; in Pakistan, for example, 80% of all food
produced is from crops grown on irrigated land. Irrigation uses water from
rivers, reservoirs, or groundwater sources. Some of these natural sources are
drained faster than they can be replenished. In addition, agricultural practices
cause some water sources to be contaminated by herbicide and pesticide runoff.
Finally, agriculture accounts for 13.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. Forestry
accounts for another 17.4%, much of which is also related to food production

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when forests are cut down to create farmland. With all

these adverse environmental effects, sustainable inten-
sification of production must be the goal. Experts agree
that closing the yield gap, using water, fertilizers, and
other inputs more efficiently, reducing food waste, and
changing our inefficient grain-fed meat production sys-
tem are all components of sustainable intensification.
Indications are that by using improved crop variet- Each circle
ies and applying new technologies we will be able to represents one
irrigated field.
continue sustainable intensification. However, differ-
ent parts of the world will require different solutions.
For example, special attention will be required in the
humid tropics (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa and Indone-
sia) and to the arid regions (e.g., the Middle East and
central Asia) because these ecosystems are ecologically
fragile. Sub-Saharan Africa is a case in point. Close
to 30% of sub-Saharan Africans are food-insecure or The water source is
malnourished. Human fertility remains high, with 4–6 at the center. A long
overhead sprinkler
children per family, so the population will continue to rotates around the
increase for quite some time. Population growth will center axis.
put increasing pressure on the land in a region where
productivity of cropland is already declining as a result
of decreasing soil fertility and a lack of available fertil-
izer to replenish the soil’s nutrients. Each time a crop
is harvested, mineral plant nutrients that are essential Figure 1.8 Center pivot irrigation of fields in Oregon. Over
for crop growth are removed. Nutrient mining occurs 100 center-pivot sprinklers controlled by a central computer
when year after year these nutrients are not replaced by irrigate wheat, alfalfa, potatoes, and melons along the Columbia
fertilizer, or in the case of nitrogen by nitrogen-fixing River near Hermiston, Oregon. (Photo by Doug Wilson, courtesy
of USDA/ARS.)
legumes. The result is that crop yields in Africa are very
low compared to those in other countries, even other
developing countries. And, although more than half of
the people of this region are farmers and depend directly on the productivity
of the land for their food, their governments invest too little in agricultural
improvements. Historically, no country has been able to develop economi-
cally in a sustained way unless it first looked after its agricultural sector and
increased farm productivity. Governments will have to improve their policies
and practices and increase investment in sustainable agriculture if ecological
collapse is to be avoided. Importing food and selling it at low prices is only a
short-term solution. Sustainable agricultural intensification is the only feasible
long-term solution.
1.5 An Uncertain Climate Presents Challenges

to Food Production
Climate change has already happened and will continue no matter what we
do. Global warming is a reality. Slow at first, it has been accelerating since the
late 1970s. In the continental United States the increase hasNote:
beenVersion 2 balloon tail is a 1pt white line and I’ve added a 4pt white dot
0.31°–0.48°F
to help the pointer stand out against the complex photo.
(0.17°–0.27°C) per decade, and globally the 10 warmest years on record have
all occurred since 1998. Globally, 2014, 2015, and 2016 have been the warmest

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4 Although some of the infrared radiation

passes through the atmosphere into space…
GREENHOUSE GASES
2 Some solar radiation

5 …greenhouse
is reflected back
3 …while solar energy converted gases absorb a great
into space…
into heat emits infrared radiation deal of infrared radiation
1 Solar energy is into the atmosphere. and re-emit it back to Earth’s
absorbed by surface, raising the
Earth’s surface, temperature of the land
warming it. and the oceans.
Figure 1.9 The greenhouse

effect is the result of an accumula-
tion of greenhouse gases in a layer
between Earth and the sun. These years on record. There are multiple causes for this warming, but most promi-
gas molecules absorb infrared nent among them is the accumulation of greenhouse gases (especially carbon
radiation and re-radiate part of
that energy out in space and part
dioxide, CO2; methane, CH4; and nitrous oxide, N2O) generated by human
of it back to Earth in the form of activities in the past century (Figure 1.9).
heat. As the concentration of these In its simplest terms, the greenhouse effect is easy to understand if you
gases increases, more and more have ever walked through a greenhouse or been in a room that got hot when
heat is radiated back to Earth’s sunlight poured in through glass windows. In a greenhouse, solar radiation
surface.
comes in and goes out, but some of it is reflected by the glass (or plastic) and
stays in the greenhouse, raising the temperature inside. On a planet-wide scale,
solar radiation reaches Earth through the atmosphere and is radiated back
as infrared radiation. On its way out, the infrared radiation is absorbed by
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and much of it is radiated back to Earth,
causing the land and the oceans to become warmer.
The term climate change encompasses all the changes that result from
this warming including changes in rainfall patterns. Changes in fossil fuel
greenhouse effect The process use and renewable energy sources, along with the international agreement on
by which infrared radiation from the greenhouse gas abatement reached in Paris in December of 2015, give hope
planet’s surface encounters sub- that the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, and thus of global warming, will be
stances in the atmosphere, including
lower in the future.
carbon dioxide and other “green-
house gases,” that cause radiation to What are the effects of a warmer world, especially on crops? There will
“bounce” back, raising the tempera- certainly be changes in crop yields and growth patterns (Figure 1.10). Com-
ture of the atmosphere. puter simulations indicate that the likely result of global warming will be more
water evaporation from the oceans and more precipitation as rain and snow
climate change As used here, (although this precipitation will not necessarily fall over land). The oceans will
encompasses all the changes that
become more acidic and the water level of the oceans will rise sufficiently to
result from greenhouse warming
of the atmosphere, including flood low-lying areas. The effects of climate change will be uneven across the
changes in rainfall patterns, planet, with some areas—especially in the Northern Hemisphere—warming
ocean temperature and acidity, much more than others, and some areas becoming wetter while others become
sea levels, and storm intensity. drier. Rising ocean levels will affect not only small island countries but large

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5–50% decrease by 2050

5–100% increase by 2050
No data
Figure 1.10 Climate change will profoundly affect crop because of higher temperatures and more rainfall. The situ-
production. Areas shown in brown may see a 50% reduction ation will be complicated, however, by more frequent storms
in crop yields because of higher temperatures and less rain- and the spread of plant diseases and insect pests. (Data from
fall. The green areas may see as much as 100% rise in yield the World Resources Institute 2013.)
mainland nations as well. Bangladesh, a country of 155 million people lying

east of India, is especially vulnerable because some 10 million people live in
low-lying coastal areas prone to severe flooding. In India, millions of people
live in the floodplains of the great rivers (Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus)
where crops are often flooded and destroyed by monsoon rains. The 100 million
inhabitants of the Philippines will also be at risk from the increasing likelihood
of typhoons that destroy houses and crops.
What is still somewhat uncertain in the climate change predictions is the
extent to which changes in weather patterns are related to climate. Climate is
long-term, weather is short-term. In a single growing season, plants respond to
weather, not climate. Droughts, hurricanes and typhoons, and very cold winters
are increasing in frequency and certainly affect crops. While each individual
event may not be directly due to global warming, the sum of them probably
is. Farmers are always challenged by the uncertainties of the weather, which is
why governments in developed countries provide crop insurance. Abnormal
weather events can cause food production to suffer. Hurricanes and typhoons
wipe out the crops, spring floods kill young crop plants in the fields, droughts
cause crops to wither or farmers to use more groundwater (the latter often
resulting in salinization of the soil), and torrential summer rainstorms cause
significant soil erosion. These events are occurring with increased frequency,
and will continue to increase with climate change. When food production is
projected to lag, markets become more volatile, with price spikes that mean the

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poor have to pay more for food. Global climate change will have repercussions
throughout the food chain.
1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards Are

Changing the Demand for Agricultural Products
and the Way They Are Brought to Market
Not only is the global population growing, it is also becoming more urban and
suburban. In 1960, 34% of all people were living in cities; in 2014 this number
had grown to 54% and will rise in the future. The increase in the population
in the world’s 12 largest cities between 1990 and 2015 is shown in Table 1.1.
Urbanization is generally associated with economic growth and income
growth because cities provide more diverse employment opportunities. There
are no highly developed countries that are not also highly urbanized. Today
new megacities (i.e., cities with more than 10 million inhabitants) are arising in
developing and mid-development nations. Most of these megacities are in Asia,
and except for those in Japan, they show the most growth in the past 25 years.
Of the 2 billion people that will be added by 2050, nearly half are expected to
live in cities in India, China, and Nigeria. Additionally, the amount of land area
occupied by megacities in developing countries is increasing much faster than
TABLE 1.1
Approximate populations of the 12 largest urban areas
as of 2015 compared with their populations in 1990
Population in Population
Rank City 2015 (millions) in 1990
1 Tokyo/Yokohama, Japana 38 32
2 Delhi, India 25 10
3 Shanghai, China 23 8
4 Mexico City, Mexico 21 15
5 São Paulo, Brazil 21 15
6 Mumbai, India 21 12
7 Osaka, Japan 20 18
8 Beijing, China 19 7
9 New York/Newark, USAa 18 16
10 Cairo, Egypt 18 10
11 Dhaka, Bangladesh 17 7
12 Karachi, Pakistan 16 7
Data from United Nations World Urbanization Prospects Report. Eight of the cities
are in Asia, two in North America, one in Africa, and one in South America. It should
be noted that Lagos, Nigeria (Africa), generally believed to be the fastest-growing
city in the world, has been reported to have a population as high as 17–20 million;
however, at this time the reports have not been verifiable by official sources.
a
Merged cities are considered as a single urban area when there is literally no
non-urban landscape separating them.
1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards Are Changing the Demand for Agricultural Products 17
the population of those cities. This means that the agricul-

tural areas that surround the cities are used to build houses.
Many people move to suburbs where they have more space
and privacy than in the high rises in the center of the city.
This trend is noticeable all over the world and is found in
the mid-development countries. For example, many of the
people in Beijing live in high-rise apartment blocks, but
Beijing also has suburbs that look just like the suburbs in
Western countries (Figure 1.11). City planners, especially in
extensively suburbanized regions, are concerned by this and
are developing policies to encourage people to stay in cities.
What are the causes of urbanization and the growth of
megacities? In countries like China with a low population
growth rate, urbanization is caused by the movement of
people from the countryside to the cities. China has a delib-
Figure 1.11 A suburban house in Beijing. In the grow-
erate policy promoting this development. On the other hand, ing cities of China, upper middle class people want to live
if a populous country has a high growth rate, like Nigeria, in suburban houses, greatly increasing the size of cities
the growth of cities is the result of high birth rates and lower and car traffic. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Yufa Cheng, Beijing.)
death rates in the cities compared with rural areas. In many
countries, both phenomena are at work.
How does urbanization affect agriculture and the entire human food chain?
People living in cities are often more affluent, contribute more to the GDP
(Gross Domestic Product), and can command higher salaries. Although big cit-
ies have pockets of poverty, in most countries poverty is found mostly in rural
areas. In the US, for example, 85% of counties that have a poverty rate above
20% are largely rural. These counties are characterized by fewer employment
opportunities and lower salaries.
The higher incomes of urban and suburban people are associated with
changes in diets. As noted earlier, they want more meat and dairy products,
vegetable oils for cooking, and “luxury” foods. They purchase more processed
foods and eat more often in restaurants. This means a more energy-intensive
food chain. Higher demand for meat means a shift in agricultural land use
from producing crops that feed people to producing crops that feed animals.
Gradually, people start to buy food in supermarkets rather than in outdoor
markets or from street vendors, and this brings about a change in the entire
food distribution system. Supermarkets get their products from larger retailers,
who buy more from big food wholesalers and less from local farmers.
Cities are not homogeneous. They have areas where rich people live and
areas where poor people are concentrated in substandard housing. Access to
food is included in the definition of food security, and food that is healthy and
nutritious are often much less available in areas of cities populated by poor
people. That is certainly the case in the United States, where some parts of large
cities are referred to as food deserts (Box 1.1). However, agriculture does not food desert In the United States
necessarily disappear from big cities. Community gardens (“urban agriculture”) and other developed countries, refers
have a long history in Europe and other parts of the world, and in the last 20 to an area (such as a city neighbor-
years the practice has been springing up in the United States. hood or rural county) where people
do not have ready access to afford-
Depending on the availability of markets, farmers living close to cities may
able fresh produce and other non-
focus their production on fruits and vegetables and bring them to city farmers processed foods.
markets. Much depends on whether the government provides the necessary
infrastructure to make such institutions possible. Unfortunately, in many poor

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BOX 1.1
Food Deserts in America
Nutritionists recommend that a healthy diet should in- showed that for every additional full-service super-
clude 5 to 7 portions of fruits and vegetables each day. market in a census tract, fruit and vegetable con-
Such a diet is likely to provide the vitamins, minerals, sumption increased dramatically. In rural areas, when
and fiber we need. People who follow this diet are a county lacked a full-service supermarket, people
indeed healthier, in part also because they then tend were less likely to consume the recommended num-
to eat less of the fattening and high-calorie foods that ber of portions of fruits and vegetables. Increasing
compromise human health. Unfortunately, fresh fruit the shelf space for fresh vegetables translates into
and vegetables are not readily available to everyone. people eating healthier foods. The problem for small
The term food desert describes areas within a coun- convenience stores (“minimarts”) is that fresh food
try—these might be neighborhoods in cities or entire takes up more shelf space, is subject to spoilage, and
rural counties—where people do not have ready ac- is simply not as profitable as canned goods and other
cess to healthy foods and affordable fresh fruits and processed foods, and these stores therefore reduce or
vegetables. eliminate fruits and vegetables.
An analysis entitled The Grocery Gap by The Food What are the consequences of living in a food
Trust and Policy Link reviewed 132 studies on the desert? In a study of California residents living in
availability of fresh produce in different neighborhoods areas with the least access to fresh foods—the least
in the US, and the effect that availability has on peo- healthy food environments—rates of obesity and
ple’s health. This study found that getting healthy food diabetes were 20% higher than the national average,
is a challenge for many people living in low-income even after controlling for household income, race, and
urban and rural areas. These areas have significantly ethnicity, and other variables. There are solutions that
fewer supermarkets within a reasonable distance of can be implemented to solve the food desert prob-
people’s homes, and the markets are poorly stocked lem. Cities or states can negotiate with supermarket
with affordable, nutritious food. These neighborhoods chains and provide incentives to locate supermarkets
predominantly have convenience stores that do not in underserved areas. Cities can arrange for farmers
sell fresh food, and fast-food restaurants. In rural areas markets in suitable spaces, or encourage small fruit
especially, there are few public transportation options and vegetable stands. Cities can create community
for people who lack cars. All this adds up to limited gardens where people grow their own vegetables and
accessibility to healthy food. This lack of ready access are given instruction on how to care for their produce.
to healthy, affordable food negatively affects health Rural counties can explore improving public transpor-
and well-being. tation so that people can get to the farmers markets
If it were available, would people actually buy more and grocery stores that do exist.
fresh food? A study that covered several US states
countries this does not happen, and malnutrition is as high in cities as it is in

rural areas. Furthermore, city dwellers who do not have their own production
to fall back on are vulnerable to sudden price rises of basic commodities such
as rice, bread, and cooking oil.
When people move to cities, rural areas often become depopulated. De-
veloped countries experienced this change sometime between 1850 and 1950
and a similar change is going on now in some developing countries. In China,
many villages are now populated mostly by grandparents (who used to be
farmers) and grandchildren, while the parents—the middle generation—are
off in cities earning a living. The grandchildren usually move to cities as soon
as they complete their schooling, abandoning the small farms that supported
1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles in Global Food Production 19
the modest lifestyle of the grandparents. So, farming will have to become more
efficient by raising productivity and by combining small farms into larger units.
If larger and more efficient farms cannot be created because of the nature of the
terrain, the farmland will be abandoned.
1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles

in Global Food Production
Government policies profoundly affect agricultural practices. Here are some
examples:
•• Governments pay farmers a direct subsidy to plant specific crops, encour-
aging their production, or in certain richer countries (e.g., Norway, Swit-
zerland), to maintain the landscape as it exists now.
•• Governments provide crop insurance, lessening the economic risk of crop
failures (due to bad weather, for example).
•• Governments restrict food imports, keeping the local supply of a crop low
and prices of domestically produced crops high.
Note that these policies do not necessarily make food cheaper for consumers,
but instead protect or boost the incomes of farmers. These policies therefore
amount to a transfer of money or wealth from the cities, where most people
live, to farmers. The general population pays either directly through taxes or
indirectly because food prices are higher. This is typical in rich countries. The
developed countries belonging to the OECD (Organization for Economic Coop-
eration and Development, an intergovernmental organization of nations com-
mitted to supporting “democracy and the market economy”) heavily support
the production of meat and dairy products directly and through subsidies for
growing animal feed.
Governments of poorer countries require policies that achieve the opposite:
they want to increase food supply and lower prices for urban consumers, result-
ing in a transfer of wealth from farmers to city dwellers. These governments
often buy crops at low prices—either abroad or from their own farmers—and
then distribute the food for free through public assistance programs to people
living in cities. Such actions help city dwellers and may prevent the social un-
rest that often ensues when food prices spike. The farming operations in these
countries are not as efficient as those in developed countries, and by importing
cheap food, governments keep prices down while their own farmers to lose
out. Low prices coupled with low investment in agricultural research means
that the agricultural sector does not develop.
In rich countries with highly productive agriculture, most farmers don’t need
the subsidies and protections from the government. But the subsidies remain in
place because farm lobbies are politically powerful. For example, in the United
States, farm-support policies were instituted during the Great Depression of
the 1930s as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. At that
time, American farmers were indeed very poor and desperately needed govern-
ment help. There were many more farms than there are today and each farmer
received a modest subsidy. Today, however, according to the US Department
of Agriculture (USDA), 5% of all US farming operations receive nearly 50%
of all the agricultural subsidies. More than half of all agricultural production in
the United States comes from very large family farms that have annual sales in
excess of $500,000 and a net worth of $2.5 million. These are the farms that are
getting the majority of the subsidies. These support programs are very hard to
eliminate, although some progress is being made. Other developed countries,
including Japan, Great Britain, and the countries of the European Union also
have strong lobbying groups that perpetuate farm subsidies.
Trade restrictions implemented by developed countries are another form of
farm support. These government policies distort where crops are grown globally,
often to the detriment of developing countries. One well-documented case con-
cerns import restrictions on sugar by the European Union and the United States.
There are two main sources of sugar: sugar beets, which are grown in temperate
climates such as North America and Europe; and sugarcane, grown in the trop-
ics. Sugar can be produced at a lower price by sugarcane growers in the tropi-
cal environments of many developing countries, but imports by the developed
countries are restricted. These government-mandated import restrictions protect
US and European farmers who grow sugar beets, with the result that consumers
in developed countries pay higher prices for sugar than if imports were allowed.
The principal losers of this policy are the farmers in developing countries.
Some government policies are designed to sustain the environment. One
of the most successful programs in the US was started in 1935 when Congress
passed the Soil Conservation Act. Its purpose was to designate the soil as a
resource that needs to be protected from erosion and whose fertility needs to
be increased. Today, the US Department of Agriculture has a strong Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with a much broader mandate. The
NRCS helps farmers and other land users reduce soil erosion, enhance water
supplies, improve water quality, preserve grazing lands, increase wildlife habi-
tat, and reduce damage caused by floods and other natural disasters. The goal
is not only to help farmers but also to promote economic development of rural
areas, increase recreational opportunities on public land, and conserve scenic
beauty for all Americans.
The European Union has similar policies that help protect the environment,
often paying farmers to do so. For example, farmers are encouraged to preserve
the hedgerows and wooded corridors that traditionally separated the cultivated
fields of Europe, rather than combining many fields into one big field for the
sake of efficiency. Hedgerows and wooded corridors preserve wildlife and help
to preserve biodiversity.
1.8 A
gricultural Research Is Vital If We Are
to Maintain a Secure Food Supply
Scientific research is as essential to progress in agriculture as it is in fields such
as medicine, energy, and transportation. Lawmakers in the US recognized this
link when they approved the establishment of the Land Grant Universities in
the early 1860s. The goal was to establish colleges that would educate farmers
in the best agricultural techniques. These colleges soon became places where
agricultural research was done (see Chapter 10). Funding for this research came
both from the states and from the federal government. Federal-level agricultural
research is funded primarily by the USDA. At present, funding for research in
1.8 Agricultural Research Is Vital If We Are to Maintain a Secure Food Supply 21
agriculture is not sufficient to meet the future challenges of maintaining the

food supply for the growing human population. With climate change a reality,
public and private research is needed to make crop production sustainable as
the climate continues to change and crop pests and diseases continue to evolve.
In developing countries, agricultural research and development (R&D) is
funded by national agricultural research (NAR) departments in each country.
In addition, a network of large international research institutes operating in de-
veloping countries is organized by the CGIAR Consortium and funded almost
entirely by grants from developed countries (Box 1.2). Progress in agricultural
productivity is essential to the economic progress of developing countries be-
cause it allows people to move from the villages to the cities where they help
power economic development. Unfortunately, governments of developing
countries consistently underfund their agricultural sector, thereby unwittingly
BOX 1.2
International Agricultural Research Institutes of the CGIAR Consortium
Agricultural research is by its very nature regional, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, did most of his pioneering
until the 1950s most of that research was carried out work at CIMMYT. He used his prize money to set up
in developed countries. However, crops developed in the World Food Prize, which is awarded annually to a
and for a specific region of a developed country are researcher who has made valuable contributions to
unlikely to perform as well in other parts of the world. food production in the world.
The reason is that plant breeders select each new At first, CGIAR centers concentrated their research
variety to be adapted to local conditions, and wheat on one or two crops, as for example the International
varieties developed by plant breeders in Kansas may Center for Rice Research (IRRI) in the Philippines and
not perform well in Pakistan or Argentina. Research is the Potato Research Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru, which
carried out (1) at one of the 15 research centers under works on potatoes and other root crops. The Center
the auspices of the CGIAR Consortium, and (2) at na- for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia focuses on
tional agricultural research institutes in each country. beans and cassava, two crops important for Central
The CGIAR centers are located in developing coun- and South America. ICARDA in Aleppo, Syria, does
tries and are supported largely by donors, including research on the crops of dry regions (research that
governments, from developed countries. Research has continued despite the massive upheaval of Syria’s
is focused not only on producing superior varieties civil war). However, the CGIAR institutes gradually
of food crops but is more widely dedicated to reduc- expanded their mandate beyond specific crops to
ing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving include ecosystem health, the conservation of genetic
human health and nutrition, and ensuring sustainable resources, the benefits of agroforestry, and the effects
management of natural resources. of climate change on crop production.
The oldest CGIAR center is CIMMYT (Centro Each research center is part of larger network that
Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo, or always includes national agricultural research centers
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), in different countries and other institutions as well as
headquartered outside Mexico City. With the objective major institutional donors. CIMMYT, for example, part-
of improving wheat and corn production, CIMMYT ners with national agriculture research institutions in
grew out of a joint project of the United States and Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Ethiopia,
Mexico to combat hunger in developing countries that Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nepal, Turkey,
was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Norman and Zimbabwe. Research is funded through competi-
Borlaug, an American plant breeder who received the tive research grants. The CGIAR Consortium can also
(continued)
(continued)
BOX 1.2 (continued)

International Agricultural Research Institutes of the CGIAR Consortium
launch more extensive initiatives that involve re- that have higher levels of vitamin A, iron, and zinc.
searchers in many institutions, encompassing also the Nutritionists estimate that the diets of some 2 billion
developed countries. For example, the HarvestPlus people are deficient in these micronutrients.
program is a biofortification initiative to create crops
Aerial view of the International Rice

Research Institute in Los Baños,
near Manila in the Philippines. Jointly
funded in the early 1960s by the Rock-
efeller and Ford Foundations, this
Extensive experimental fields at the large CGIAR center was the second
International Rice Research Institute such facility to be established. (Photo-
in the Philippines are used to test
graph © International Rice Research
new varieties.
Institute.)
slowing development. Several international agencies try to help by funding

R&D projects, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as The Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation. But funding of USAID is always in jeopardy in the US Con-
gress. When it comes to providing development assistance (“foreign aid”), the
United States is at or near the bottom of the list of developed countries when
aid is calculated on a per capita basis. Less than 1% of the US federal budget
goes for foreign aid or development assistance (although in surveys many
American citizens express the belief that 25–30% of the federal budget is allo-
cated to foreign aid). The importance of research is discussed in greater detail
in Chapter 2, and many research advances are discussed throughout this text.
Research done in the US, Australia, and the European Union can contribute to
solving problems in developing countries, but viable solutions to increasing
productivity emerge only when research is done locally. Scientists in the US
can develop an anti-malaria drug for use in Africa, but they cannot develop the
best rice varieties for Bangladesh. At the very least, such projects have to be col-
laborative, and they require technology transfer from developed to developing
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
in the flower garden. Boys were paired with boys and girls with girls;
there were usually four children at the garden, each day, rain or
shine, if not to work, at least to note conditions and report to their
teachers.
Some of the girls resented slightly the comrades selected for them,
but no real insult was perpetrated by the assignments made.
The teachers took turns in sharing the responsibility for
management, except when wishing advice on cutting and giving
flowers, then all the pupils went to Miss Phelps.
Fifty pupils took part in the venture. It solved several social school
problems and created a fine spirit of fraternalism among children of
varied social standings.
When young people reach the high school age, the period in which
all the changes of adolescence are most actively going on, they
sometimes develop a tendency to form clubs and secret societies
which is often disastrous to school discipline. When the clique evil is
fully developed, snobbishness and false standards run rife.
There must be democracy in the school if the best results are to be
obtained, and the clique spirit may work great havoc, especially in a
small high school where a well-defined group or clique is necessarily
very conspicuous.
CASE 133 (HIGH SCHOOL)
A high school of about 150 pupils in a Sororities

prosperous little western town became
afflicted with the clique disease. Margaret Hancock, the daughter of
one of the town’s most prominent citizens and rather a spoiled child
at home, returned from a winter spent in a southern city, where she
had gone to a large high school and had been admitted to one of the
numerous sororities there. She came back thoroughly imbued with
the ideals of the southern high school, which was in the wealthy,
aristocratic part of the city and attended by girls who expected to
become debutantes in a few years and make “society” their career.
This southern high school was a large one and the clique spirit was
not so harmful because there were several such groups to offset each
other and the pupils were, on the whole, of the same social class.
Back in her home town again, Margaret succeeded in organizing a
sorority before the first month of the school year had passed. She
included in her secret society the girls whom she thought the “nicest”
in the school. These girls were the ones who most nearly approached
the prospective belles of the southern high school in type—the girls
with the most money and the prettiest clothes, the ones whose
parents were frequent visitors in Margaret’s home. This clique or
sorority included about twenty pupils in its membership and,
needless to say, in a school of that size was quite out of place.
It was not long before the boys followed the example set by the
girls and formed a secret club of limited membership, and then how
the two organizations did lord it over the rest of the school!
Boys who had come in from the country and worked for their
board in order to get a high school education were looked down upon
and made to feel ashamed of their rural origin and their manner of
life. Girls whose clothes were not so fine or so numerous as those of
Margaret’s friends were hurt to the quick by the sneers of their
classmates and by being left out when invitations to little dances and
home parties were being given out.
The two clubs soon managed things so that all the class officers
were from among their members and all school functions were under
their management. The school became not a democracy, but an
aristocracy of the narrowest variety.
There were so many club functions and good times that school
work suffered and these affairs had to be talked over so extensively,
by those who had and had not been present alike, that there was
more trouble than ever before about whispering and note-writing.
Several of the pupils who had been neglected and left entirely out
of the social whirl lost interest in school altogether and dropped out.
It was thus that the clique spirit upset the morale of the whole
school and lowered the quality of the work many degrees.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
The wise teacher will emphasize the school spirit, or even class
spirit, in dealing with situations involving the clique evil. Try to make
the snobbish ones forget their exclusiveness in their interest in
athletics or other contests in which the best man or team wins and in
which the whole school is the party to gain or lose by the outcome.
As a last resort, the parents of the ringleaders in the cliques should
be appealed to, to make their offspring see the folly and the falseness
of the standards they are setting up, for snobbish children have
generally been more or less encouraged in their snobbish tendencies
at home.
COMMENTS
Children of all grades do their best work when they have interest
and enthusiasm for the work and the school. School spirit can be
carried to extremes, but in moderation it should be encouraged. The
clique evil needs careful, tactful treatment, for the suppression of
school societies sometimes leads to the formation of secret
organizations imbued with all the mystery and solemnity of the
adults’ lodge, which are much harder to eradicate than the open,
above-board kind, and seem to be many times more attractive to the
adolescent mind.
Adolescence is the sensitive age, the age when small slights cut
deepest and pride is most easily wounded, as well as the period when
secrets and mystery are most alluring. It is positively cruel for the
young people of a school to make their classmates suffer as they have
the power to do, by organizing good times and meetings from which
the majority of the school are excluded.
The clique evil is much more likely to develop into serious
proportions in a small school of a few hundred than in a large one of
a thousand or more.
Children, as well as adults, choose for friends persons of the same
or similar tastes, but in a small school the grouping of these kindred
spirits into an exclusive organization is particularly bad, because
there are usually not enough other pupils with the spirit and
initiative to form rival organizations; there is usually one clique only,
which excludes the majority of the school from its ranks, instead of
several which offset each other.
ILLUSTRATION
The clique spirit is met with in many other places besides the
school-room.
The manager of a stocking factory found Stocking Factory
one group of girls among his operatives
making the days and nights miserable for the others in his employ.
They made loud and unpleasant remarks about other girls in the
dressing-room, were rude at all times to those not of their group,
and, by intimidation, forced the foreman to give them the advantage
when there was one to be given.
Things finally came to such a pass that no girl whom the clique
disliked could be induced to work in the factory, so unpleasant did
the clique make it for her.
The manager studied the situation long and earnestly when he
realized how serious it was, and finally hit upon the scheme of
providing a gymnasium for his women operatives. He hired a trained
social worker, who was also a gymnasium teacher. She developed
team work and the spirit of good sportsmanship in the course of a
year’s work in gymnastic classes and athletics, but it was largely the
influence of her own personality and the soundness of her teaching
and example that worked the change.
The clique spirit vanished as the result of her efforts. The manager
of the factory had realized the loss he was suffering in the lessened
efficiency of his workers; this loss was remedied only after the
company had expended much money.
Miss Reynolds, teacher of the senior year School Clubs

high school, had long foreseen the trend of
the social impulse in the Lewiston School. Such notices on the
blackboard of the assembly room as “Meeting of the Adelphian
Society this afternoon,” and “L. A. C. business meeting tonight,”
stood as evidence that the club idea was growing into prominence.
When the subject was brought up at faculty meeting, Miss
Reynolds voiced her opinion as follows:
“This club idea is only a natural one with children. They get their
incentives from the social organization at home. Mother belongs to
the Mothers’ club or literary society; Father belongs to the
Manufacturers’ Association or Industrial League. It seems to me the
only solution is to provide as many opportunities as possible for
outlets for this social instinct. It is our place to encourage the
formation of societies along literary, social and athletic lines.”
Heated discussion followed. A vote was taken on the motion: “We
will encourage the formation of literary, social and athletic clubs,”
with the result that it was carried.
But it was soon markedly noticeable that the clubs drew finer
social distinctions until the whole atmosphere of the school was
undermined by a spirit of snobbishness, ill-feelings and entire lack of
coöperation between pupil and teacher.
Allow no organizations to be formed without the approval of the

faculty. When officially recognized, see that the society elects an
advisory board which shall consist of two teachers, two or more
pupils, who shall be the officers of the society, and the principal of
the school, who shall act as honorary member. This board is to act as
a “court of appeal” in the decision of questions which concern the
activities of the organization. It is in no sense to be a dictatorial
power.
COMMENTS
Miss Reynolds had the right idea when she encouraged the
formation of school organizations, but she failed to realize that the
activities of such societies should be tactfully supervised by teacher
and principal, under the direction of leaders who have the interests
of the society at heart and who will lend their good judgment to its
best development; such an organization may be depended upon as a
standard of conduct on all questions which affect the name of the
school. Unguided organizations are the source of many of the evil
tendencies in school life.
ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)
When Mr. McDaniels, the physical Athletic

director of the Edgeville High School, Associations
advised the boys that their games would be better organized and they
would be more certain of help from the faculty if they formed an
athletic association, they decided immediately to organize.
Accordingly, a meeting was called for the afternoon, of all the boys
who were interested in athletics. As might be imagined, there were
very few absent. Mr. McDaniels offered to help them conduct the
meeting. After the boys had elected president, vicepresident,
secretary and treasurer, inasmuch as Mr. Chadwick (the principal)
was much interested in the formation of athletic organizations, Mr.
McDaniels proposed that he be chosen as honorary member of the
association. The boys rose to the occasion and elected Mr. Chadwick
to this position.
“Now it has been my experience that questions come up for
decision which call for mature judgment. I suggest that you elect an
advisory board to be made up of your officers, two members of the
faculty and Mr. Chadwick.”
Knowing that Mr. McDaniels had their interests in mind, the boys
immediately responded to his suggestion.
The result was that a coöperative body of pupils and teachers was
organized to the great advantage of all interests concerned.
3. Altruism
A man may be thoroughly acquainted with the highest moral laws and yet have a
very weak character.—Hughes.
If the above statement is true, and we believe it to be so, then the
futility of trying to make people good merely by teaching them
principles of goodness, is immediately apparent. Some more effective
means of training must be found and those means undoubtedly
should be experience and habit. Especially is this true of little
children. To them principles and laws are mere words; experience is
everything. With adults the precept is more effective, not because
they are so different from children, but because they already have
had experiences by means of which they are able to interpret and
apply the principle, or proverb, or law. Principles, proverbs, laws, are
only deductions from experiences.
If real morality is the outgrowth of experience, it follows of
necessity, that the best and surest and indeed the only way to teach
anything more than the outward form, is to give to pupils
opportunities for performing moral acts. There must be self-
guidance, there must be a yielding of one’s own desires to the rights
of others, there must be coöperation, teamwork.
The kindergarten, better than any other branch of our school
system, has realized the necessity for this type of social training.
There the aim is to have children learn, through give-and-take
relations with associates, what sort of conduct will best promote the
happiness of all. Instead of exhortations about the obligations of
children to parents, the little ones dramatize those relations, thus
gaining just those experiences which enable them to comprehend the
obligations. So with the industries, the wild animals, the busy bees,
the birds, even the flowers and trees. One by one, the life of each is
“tried on,” so to speak, in play, and inner relations of man to man
and of man to his environment are thus discovered.
It goes without saying that these inner relations, upon an
understanding of which all true morality is based, cannot be
discovered all at once. Years of “trying on” of racial experiences and
relations are necessary, and even then the comprehension of
obligation will be just as narrow as experience has been. Meanwhile
the inexperience of the child must be supplemented by the larger
knowledge of the adult. The right outward form of action must be
stimulated by approval, expectation, suggestion, substitution of
better forms for the child’s crude, impulsive act, and coöperation on
the teacher’s part in such activities as will lead toward higher forms
of altruistic action than the child is able yet to fully comprehend. The
teacher must never lose sight of the fact that moral insight depends
upon a process of growth; nor must he be discouraged if the moral
horizon of his pupils is extremely limited. It is as wide as experience
has been. The remedy for narrowness is to supply the experience that
will furnish the wider outlook.
(1) Infancy and early childhood. Many Appealing to
parents and teachers make the sad mistake Reason
of beginning the rational training of their children before the period
of rational thought has arrived. An amusing example of common
sense and the lack of it occurred one day in a family which consisted
of a mother, who had imbibed some ill-digested, sentimental ideas of
rational training, her eight-year-old son, and her three-year-old
daughter.
CASE 135
The child was playing with a cat upon the rug, and finding great
delight in its piteous meows when she pulled its tail. The mother
remonstrated at each outcry in about this fashion:
“Margy, dear, don’t pull poor kitty’s tail like that! Don’t you know
it hurts poor kitty? How would you like to have mamma pull your
hair? I wouldn’t do it now. Try to make kitty happy.”
“Why don’t you pull her hair, and show her what it’s like?”
inquired Donald, who was reading in the window-seat.
“I want her to learn to think such things out for herself,” the
mother replied with a wise air. “I want her to put herself in kitty’s
place.”
“Huh—she’ll never do it unless you make her. Let me show her,
will you?”
“No, indeed, Donald. I’m afraid your method wouldn’t be very
gentle.”
“Well, I bet the cat doesn’t think she’s very gentle, either,” and
Donald went back to his story.
“Margy must learn to do her own thinking, of course. I remember
when you were a baby, Donald—Margy, child! Mercy, what a howl.
Pussy! Margy, can’t you see you hurt poor pussy? Hurt it, dear—just
hear it cry! Makes it feel all badly, as Margy does when she’s ill. Just
hear poor kitty cry!”
Margy was “hearing poor kitty cry” with new delight at each
piteous meow, which she took to be dear kitty’s means of
entertaining her—having never been taught to associate the sound
with pain of any kind. Just then the door bell rang, and the mother
had to leave.
“Donald, dear, you look after Margy while I’m gone,” she said, as
she closed the door.
Before allowing a three-year-old child to handle a cat at all, give

explicit lessons on how to handle it properly. Teach the child the
meaning of the words “Don’t hurt” by inhibiting the movement of her
hands before she has done the mischief. (See lesson on “Don’t
Touch” in “Easy Lessons for Teaching Obedience in the Home,” Book
I, p. 46—Beery.)
Give an imitative lesson. Holding the cat yourself, gently stroke its
fur, showing Margy the proper way of handling the cat. Then take
Margy’s hand and gently pass it over the fur in the same way.
See to it that the child does not have the cat at all except when
some older person is there to control her action, until such time as
she has learned the meaning of the command, “Don’t hurt,” and will
obey it. In other words, do not allow the wrong habit to become
established before the right way is comprehended.
COMMENTS
Margy’s mother was assuming an understanding in matters

concerning which there had been no adequate experience on Margy’s
part. Protected continually from pain herself, how could she
understand the meaning of the word! To her the cat was just another
musical instrument. Best of all, it was one upon which she could
play. Donald’s method, though not recommended here for general
acceptance, was at least effective.
ILLUSTRATION I
Donald was an obedient child, and closed Donald Takes a
his book promptly. He also, with some Hand
satisfaction in the duty assigned him, sat himself down on the rug
near his baby sister, and his attitude of watchful waiting might have
struck an observer as purposeful and determined.
Margy held pussy firmly by the loose fur at the back of the neck.
She stroked her until she was fairly quiet again, then quickly gave the
long tail another hard pull.
Quick as thought, Donald reached over and pulled his sister’s hair
vigorously. She howled lustily, and the cat ran away. Donald let her
cry for a little while, then gave her back the recaptured cat and sat
again near her. Before long the pulling occurred again, and again
Donald pulled as lustily at Margy’s curls.
“Do you see what it’s like? Do you like to have your hair pulled?
Are you going to quit it?” he inquired. Margy adored Donald, and it
did not occur to her to resent his means of enforcing his lesson.
“Want the cat back? You can have her if you won’t pull her tail.
Will you let her tail alone?” he asked again. Margy said she would,
and Donald again captured the cat and put it into her arms. This
time Margy did not pull its tail. She stroked it, still holding it tightly
by the fur; but she had learned that pulling a cat’s tail had sad
consequences when Donald was near. She never repeated the act
when her brother was within reach, although she did it when alone
or with her mother.
Pulling hair is not a good form of punishment, but Donald’s
method was based on sound principles, of which of course he was
utterly unconscious. A baby should not be asked to make judgments,
but he should be taught that pleasant consequences follow some acts
and painful ones follow others. This is nature’s method of teaching
human beings, and no one can improve on it as a method of last
resort for the young human animal.
ILLUSTRATION 2
“Look what I’ve found,” Harry Jennings cried to his friend, Captain
Stanhope. The captain was sitting on a park bench reading his
morning paper, and Harry had been running races with Gyp up and
down the gravel walk. He came up to the bench, now, with a handful
of souvenir post cards in his hands.
“Some one has been addressing them Applying
here in the park, and then went off and left “Golden Rule”
them on the bench,” he continued. “See, they’re addressed to people
all over the country, and not a stamp on one of them!”
“I have seven cents in change,” said the captain, pulling out his
worn little purse. “That will send seven of them, but there are a
dozen.”
Harry brought out a dime from his trousers pocket, and looked at
it thoughtfully. It would just pay his admission to the community ball
game that afternoon, and if he used half of it to send off a stranger’s
postcards, he must stay at home, for this was the last of his week’s
allowance. Still, there was the captain, the knight of a dozen
campaigns, looking at him. Harry knew that he allowed himself but
one cigar a week, for his pension was subject to heavy drains; and yet
he contributed his seven cents without hesitation. Surely, to share
the doing of a good turn with the captain would be worth staying
home from the ball game.
“Here’s a dime, and I’ll send the rest,” he told the captain. “Shall I
take them to the postoffice?”
The captain used the most subtly effective of all appeals to a child
to do right—he assumed a willingness to be generous on Harry’s part,
and offered him a comrade’s share in the deed. Not for worlds would
Harry have appeared stingy and selfish and little, before the captain.
And having set for himself a certain standard of generosity, it will not
be hard for Harry to be generous when his next opportunity comes,
even if there be no Captain Stanhope near to stimulate him.
CASE 136 (EIGHTH GRADE)
“Here, you little rascal, finish up in that Faithful Work

corner!” called out old John Smith, the
janitor, to Oldham, who was helping him sweep the basement. Old
John had rheumatism, and the school board allowed him to employ a
boy at twenty-five cents a night, to help him with the sweeping.
Oldham had secured the job, and hoped to earn a new suit before
spring.
“I am finishing up in this corner,” he answered, indignantly. “I’m
not done yet, but I’m getting it clean.”
“See that you do, then,” and old John turned painfully to his own
work. His eyes were growing dim, and because he could not see he
thought he might insure thorough work by severity. Soon Oldham
came to him for more directions.
“Go into the furnace-room and sweep up in there,” old John told
him.
Oldham saw that the furnace-room was very dark, indeed. “He’ll
never know whether I’ve done the corners in here or not,” he told
himself. And still smarting a little with resentment at old John’s
undeserved gruffness, he slighted his work and finished in short
order.
Pursue a plan exactly the opposite of John Smith’s. First, approve

the boy’s willingness to coöperate with you. Expect the best work
Oldham is capable of doing, and show your appreciation of his
assistance. Tell him how glad you are to have the help of his young
eyes and willing hands.
COMMENTS
This and the following incident show the play of social reaction
upon conduct. For the approbation of a friendly, trusting man, who
showed that he believed Oldham to be a boy of honor, Oldham
cheerfully did his task honestly and well; to old John, distrustful and
discourteous, Oldham responded with the trickery he invited.
Oldham should have been more deeply grounded in principles of
honesty, of course; he should have been indifferent to a childish, ill,
old man’s acidity. But Oldham was very human in the personality of
his attitude; the world abounds in people like him.
ILLUSTRATION (EIGHTH GRADE)
As Oldham went through the outer room to put away his broom
and dustpan, Mr. Miller, the principal, entered.
“Hello!” he called out, cheerily. “So you’re A Better Method
the boy who’s helping out in a pinch, are
you? I know John Smith appreciates that, and so do I. This floor
looks as though you might have swept it—not a speck to be seen. Did
you?”
“Yes, sir.” Oldham’s checks flushed with pleasure.
“Good, sincere work. Every corner clean. Well, I must go on up. I
came down to see how John here was getting on, but since you’re
helping him I needn’t stay longer. Aren’t you about through,
yourself?”
“In a few minutes, Mr. Miller,” Oldham replied. “I have to do the
furnace-room yet.” And he turned back to do a bad job over.
(2) Adolescence. In learning the great lesson of altruistic living it is
not strange if young persons sometimes fail to see their acts in clear
perspective. Only time and more experience can furnish that
perspective. The following incident illustrates an exaggerated ideal of
altruistic service on the part of a high school boy who sacrificed his
scholarship for athletics.
Oscar Colegrove was the most popular Overdoing

boy in the Vernon High School. His Altruism
kindness and courtesy won the girls, his unusual size and strength
were admired by the younger boys, and his manliness won the love
and respect of the older boys, but he was not studious enough to gain
the approval of his teachers. He was an especial trial to Mr. Watkins,
teacher of Caesar. He had never understood English grammar—the
Latin forms meant nothing to him. When he recited, everybody was
glad when he got through.
But Oscar was a famous basketball player. Mr. Watkins had
decided to make him carry his Latin or drop out of athletics. He had
revolved in his mind the best method of making this fact known, but
had come to no definite conclusion, when fate seemed to take things
in hand.
One morning Oscar was unusually stupid in Caesar. Mr. Watkins
kept him on his feet asking him question after question and growing
more and more angry with every wrong answer. He even asked him
to translate the beginning chapter about “All Gaul,” so well known to
every student of Latin. Oscar ludicrously stumbled over the easiest
parts. Mr. Watkins was the angrier because he had thought to cause
Oscar to be ridiculed by his classmates, who only seemed to suffer
with the tortured boy. Finally, in disgust, Mr. Watkins banged the
textbook down on the table and said, in angry tones, “Oscar
Colegrove, you shall not play another game of basketball until you
can make a decent recitation in Latin.”
“You don’t mean that I can’t play tonight. (That night a game was
to be played at Vernon with a famous out-of-town team.)
“O, I know you want to show off tonight! You’re afraid somebody
else will get the honors due to you, if you drop out. You’re too selfish
to want to give up being a hero. This is your last game until this Latin
is learned.”
That night Oscar played on the team and the next day he was
absent from school.
When Mr. Watkins went to the recitation room to meet his class in
Caesar, he found not a student there. On his desk was an envelope
addressed to him; opening it mechanically, he found this note within,
signed by all but three of the class.
“The Caesar class will be adjourned until the most unselfish of its
members, Oscar Colegrove, is allowed to play basketball as well as to
go on with his studies.”
Mr. Watkins called a meeting of the school board that night and
admitted that he had not handled the case of the delinquent pupil
wisely.
“I contemplated dropping him from the team and I wanted to
show the class that I was justified by letting them see how little he
knew,” Mr. Watkins said in self-defense.
In the private conference the next day, Oscar promised to study his
Latin more faithfully and the entire class reassembled. Oscar’s
lessons were better learned thereafter and Mr. Watkins seemed to
have gained his point, but he knew too well that he would not be able
that year to fulfill his earlier prophecies of being an ideal leader of his
students.
Mr. Watkins should have delayed passing sentence until he had

calmly decided upon the best method of communicating his decision
to Oscar. He should have said to Oscar privately: “I know all of the
pupils want you to stay on the team and I do myself. I know also that
you and I are agreed that you must keep up your studies. For a week
I will assign you certain topics for review and hear you recite them
here in the office or at my home, whichever suits you better. With
this extra effort and a reasonable amount of time put on your daily
lessons, you will be able to please everyone including yourself, by
both carrying your work and playing for the school.”
COMMENTS
A really selfish boy is never a general favorite. Athletic boys are

often heroes of the entire school and are considered self-sacrificing
by all whom they represent. The question of athletics and grades
should be handled privately by the principal of the school.
ILLUSTRATION 1 (HIGH SCHOOL)
M. Zigler said in confidence to Carl Keeping Balance

Worley, one of his athletic boys who was
“falling down” in grades. “It takes a self-sacrificing boy to work
valiantly for the good of his school. I know you will get good mental
and moral as well as physical training on the ball team, because, of
course, you play a clean game. But there is a school ruling that
forbids a boy who has fallen below grade in his studies to keep a
place on an athletic team. This rule was made for the good of the
boys as you can easily see. I am sure we agree with the people who
made it. Now, we can’t make the days longer for the team; I wish we
could. The only thing to do is to make the time we have count for the
most possible.
“I propose that you and I make a daily program for your use
outside of school hours. Many college men find this a great help in
getting much done in a day. In it we will provide ample time for
school studies. This will do away with trouble for you and me as well
as for the team, for if you follow it you can make good grades and
stay on the team, too.” Together Mr. Zigler and Carl made a program
which included practice with the team as well as study periods and
plenty of time for meals and sleep. A careful following of this
program showed that with the time properly used, there was no need
of cutting short either study or recreation.
ILLUSTRATION 2 (HIGH SCHOOL)
“And I like Philip Lampey,” said Jeannette. “I don’t know him very
well, but he always has such excellent manners and he does get his
lessons. Don’t you think he’s awfully fine?”
Miss Parsons and Jeannette White were Helping a
discussing the high school seniors in a very Comrade
friendly and personal way. When Philip Lampey was mentioned the
teacher’s brow clouded.
“I’m beginning to be worried about Philip, Jeannette,” she said.
“He’s being taken up by that fast set, and he seems to like it. He’s
losing his frank way, and beginning to swagger just a little, and to be
oily instead of just courteous. I don’t think he’s very far gone. Now,
he likes you; can’t you help us out, and save Philip from going over to
that cigarette-smoking, idle crowd?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll talk it over with mother,” Jeannette
promised. “I don’t think I have very much influence, however.”
A few days later Jeannette called to Philip as they were passing to
geometry, “Oh, Philip, mother is giving me a birthday party on the
22nd and I want you to go over the senior class with me and help me
make out the guest-list, and perhaps you have some ideas about
things to do too. Can we do it after physics this afternoon?”
“We sure can,” Philip assented, much delighted to find himself
social arbiter. “I’ll be at your desk at 4:05.”
So Philip came to Jeannette’s desk, and they began on the list.
“There’s Sam Blennerman, he’s a good fellow. You’ll want him,” he
suggested, as they came to one of his new chums.
“That stuffy little snob? I should say not!” Jeannette lifted her nose
in great scorn. “The other day I heard him making fun of Earl Stubbs
because he stayed out to go to church in Lent. I think he’s
insufferable!”
“Do you? Oh, he’s not so bad when you know him, though. Well,
how about Vernon East?”
“He smells like a tobacco shop. I never saw him without one of
those nasty little rolls of his in evidence. Father would want to know
what I was coming to.”
“Sylvia Fanslow, Mark Gorham, Francis Hingham—I suppose they
all go on?” Philip held a tentative pencil in air.
“Yes. And Emil Irwin. Leave out Leonard James, of course.”
“But why? His family’s awfully good, and he’s no end of fun. Keeps
things in a roar, you know.”
“Yes, I know. I know his kind of a roar—he thinks he’s such a man
of the world. But isn’t he the boy Mr. Burcher almost expelled for
swearing on the campus?”
“Well, yes, he is. But you wouldn’t expect him to swear at your
party you know.”
“Naturally not. But I haven’t any use for a boy who has one set of
words for girls and another for boys. That’s a double standard and
mother says double standards of any kind are bad.”
Philip was suffering a revision of his ideals at the hands of this girl.
In the evenings he spent at her house, planning the party, he came to
revise them further still as a result of the tactful suggestion of
Jeannette’s mother. When the party was over, he found his taste for
the “fast crowd” had disappeared. To keep Jeannette’s good opinion
he would have pretended to believe anything, but so pliable is youth
before habit has fixed one’s attitudes, that he had really come to
believe in the same high standards that Jeannette held.
DIVISION VIII
The aim of the teacher should be to obtain reverence for law; the law of the
game, the law of competition, the law of the school, the law of the state, and
ultimately the law of his own life development, and the law of God.
—Hughes.
CASES ARISING OUT OF THE REGULATIVE
INSTINCTS
1. Differing Ideals Lead to Conflict in the Regulation of Conduct

By regulative instinct is meant the tendency on the part of every
normal human being to conform to custom, reason, principles, law.
It includes voluntary obedience to authority imposed upon the
individual from without, but it is more than that; it is an inward
recognition that such obedience is fitting and obligatory. It impels
even further. It leads the individual to impose upon himself laws and
standards of action even in the absence of outward authority. It is
thus a tacit recognition of moral law and of religious obligation.
Not much reflection on the teacher’s part will be needed to
convince him that if the outward authority to which the child has
been subjected at home has been arbitrary, vacillating, tyrannical, or
fitful, the child’s ideals as to what is right and what is wrong will have
become sadly jumbled long before he enters school, where the
teacher has the difficult task of straightening out the tangles. Or
again, if the standards of action, which the child more or less
unconsciously imposes upon himself, happen to conflict with the
teacher’s ideals of what right conduct on the pupil’s part should be,
then, also, is there likelihood of a clash between teacher and pupil.
Too often when this occurs the teacher is satisfied to secure
outward conformity to regulation without, at the same time,
attempting to change the inward ideal. In such a case there is the
anomalous condition of apparent obedience to a rule in which the
child does not believe. The body yields to coercion but the mind
rebels. Half the child obeys, the other half inwardly disobeys.
How disintegrating to the real moral life of a child such a double-
faced procedure must be, can best be realized by the teacher if he
imagines himself placed in a similar position where he is compelled
by principal or school board to carry on a course of action which is
either highly repugnant to himself or which he believes to be
absolutely wrong. Only half-hearted responses at best will result
from such coercion in the case of either pupil or teacher. The
question, then, of how to secure the obedience of the whole child, not
merely the physical half, becomes one of great seriousness.
Obviously it can never be accomplished by methods which
systematically arouse antagonism toward the person who
commands. The true method of control must seek to substitute a
better ideal for the crude one held by the child. Coercion may
sometimes be necessary, but the teacher should not feel that the act
of obedience is completed until the mind of the child has been
swayed to voluntary submission.
In the treatment of the regulative instincts which follows, the
chapter on Obedience, strictly speaking, should be included; because
of the great importance of the subject of obedience it has been given
a Division, by itself (Part I). While, however, the more abstract
phases of the subject are dealt with in that chapter the present
treatment aims to be more concrete. Furthermore, what immediately
follows has reference mainly to the lower grades, because there the
child’s school habits are formed, but the teacher who is on the alert
for principles that are fundamental will be quick to perceive that
whatever laws are basal in the control and discipline of children in
primary grades, are equally so for older pupils because they are laws
that apply to all humanity.
With these preliminary remarks, we pass, then, to the
consideration of methods of regulation of conduct in the primary
grades and especially in the first.
2. Importance of the First Year in Regulation of Conduct
It is safe to say that the most important school year of the child’s
life is the first year. The good taught then may blossom into noble
manhood and womanhood. The wrong taught then may influence a
young life in such a way as to make it a burden to society later on.
Each of the higher grades has a share in molding and shaping the
child, but the foundation will be laid in his first school year. It then
becomes the duty of upper grade teachers to build wisely upon that
foundation. The first grade teacher may have done her work in the
best possible way only to have the results torn down in a very few
weeks in the second grade.
Nowhere in the child’s twelve school years is a more proficient
teacher needed. She need not be deeply versed in the sciences
generally, in mathematics, or in history, but she must have other

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Plants, genes & agriculture:

sustainability through biotechnology

NEW YORK OXFORD

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

Copyright © 2018 Oxford University Press

Address editorial correspondence to:

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CHAPTER H. Maelor Davies and Paul Gepts

CHAPTER Kranthi K. Mandadi and T. Erik Mirkov

BOX 6.1 Efficiency of Food Production from 6.5 Plants Make a Dynamic Trade-off

8.1 Plant Breeders Have a Long Wish List 238 8.8 

10.1 Biological and Technological Innovations 10.3 

BOX 20.1 The Elixir of Poppies 560 20.4 Metabolic Engineering of Plants Results

The Human Population

A visit to a grocery store in a metropolitan area in a rich country reveals aisle

1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist

Both the number of Figure 1.1 Changes in the total

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

Progress has been made in decreasing the number of undernourished people

1.2 Human Population Growth Is Slowing

10 9 billion (2041, projected) Figure 1.2 Growth of the human

6 5 billion (1987) to take 12–13 years, after which the rate

1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050

The distance between dashed

at a rate of 0.5% per year. There are also big differences 4

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

not had several years of education. She is more (A)

1.3 By How Much Does

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

by providing subsidies. On a global scale, food is

for soybeans (80%) and corn (60%), most of it to

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable

40 Production 40 Some scientists are concerned that the human popula-

Area (million hectares)

30 30 best-selling book Collapse by Jared Diamond. In the book,

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

when forests are cut down to create farmland. With all

1.5 An Uncertain Climate Presents Challenges

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

4 Although some of the infrared radiation

2 Some solar radiation

Figure 1.9 The greenhouse

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

5–50% decrease by 2050

mainland nations as well. Bangladesh, a country of 155 million people lying

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards Are

the population of those cities. This means that the agricul-

Chrispeels Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 1E

countries this does not happen, and malnutrition is as high in cities as it is in

1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles

agriculture is not sufficient to meet the future challenges of maintaining the

BOX 1.2 (continued)

Aerial view of the International Rice

slowing development. Several international agencies try to help by funding

CASE 133 (HIGH SCHOOL)

A high school of about 150 pupils in a Sororities

CASE 134 (HIGH SCHOOL)

Miss Reynolds, teacher of the senior year School Clubs

Allow no organizations to be formed without the approval of the

BOX 6.1 Efficiency of Food Production from 6.5 Plants Make a Dynamic Trade-off

8.1 Plant Breeders Have a Long Wish List 238 8.8

10.1 Biological and Technological Innovations 10.3

BOX 20.1 The Elixir of Poppies 560 20.4 Metabolic Engineering of Plants Results

1.1 Hunger and Malnutrition Persist

1.3 By How Much Does

1.4 Agriculture Must Become More Sustainable

1.5 An Uncertain Climate Presents Challenges

1.6 Urbanization and Rising Living Standards Are

1.7 Government Policies Play Pivotal Roles