Close yield gaps
Increasing food production without agricultural expansion implies thatwe must increase production on our existing agricultural lands. The bestplaces to improve crop yields may be on underperforming landscapes,where yields are currently below average.Recent analyses57,58have found large yield variations across the world,even among regions with similar growing conditions, suggesting theexistence of ‘yield gaps’ (Supplementary Fig. 4a). Here we define a yieldgap as the difference between crop yields observed at any given locationand the crop’s potential yield at the same location given current agri-cultural practices and technologies.Much of the world experiences yield gaps (Supplementary Fig. 4a)where productivity may be limited by management. There are significantopportunities to increase yields across many parts of Africa, LatinAmerica and Eastern Europe, where nutrient and water limitations seemto be strongest (Supplementary Fig. 4b). Better deployment of existingcrop varieties with improved management should be able to close manyyieldgaps59,whilecontinuedimprovementsincrop geneticswillprobablyincrease potential yields into the future.Closing yield gaps could substantially increase global food supplies.Our analysis shows that bringing yields to within 95% of their potentialfor 16 important food and feed crops could add 2.3 billion tonnes(531015kilocalories) of new production, a 58% increase (Fig. 3).Even if yields for these 16 crops were brought up to only 75% of theirpotential, global production would increase by 1.1 billion tonnes(2.831015kilocalories), a 28% increase. Additional gains in productivity,focused on increasing the maximum yield of key crops, are likely to bedriven by genetic improvements60,61. Significant opportunities may alsoexisttoimproveyieldandtheresilienceofcroppingsystemsbyimproving‘orphan crops’ (such crops have not been genetically improved or hadmuch investment) and preserving crop diversity, which have receivedrelatively little investment to date.To close global yield gaps, the interwoven challenges of production andenvironment must again be addressed: conventional approaches to inten-sive agriculture, especially the unbridled use of irrigation and fertilizers,have been major causes of environmental degradation. Closing yield gapswithout environmental degradation will require new approaches, includ-ingreformingconventionalagricultureandadoptinglessonsfromorganicsystems and precision agriculture. In addition, closing yield gaps will
ผลผลิตที่ปิดช่องว่างIncreasing food production without agricultural expansion implies thatwe must increase production on our existing agricultural lands. The bestplaces to improve crop yields may be on underperforming landscapes,where yields are currently below average.Recent analyses57,58have found large yield variations across the world,even among regions with similar growing conditions, suggesting theexistence of ‘yield gaps’ (Supplementary Fig. 4a). Here we define a yieldgap as the difference between crop yields observed at any given locationand the crop’s potential yield at the same location given current agri-cultural practices and technologies.Much of the world experiences yield gaps (Supplementary Fig. 4a)where productivity may be limited by management. There are significantopportunities to increase yields across many parts of Africa, LatinAmerica and Eastern Europe, where nutrient and water limitations seemto be strongest (Supplementary Fig. 4b). Better deployment of existingcrop varieties with improved management should be able to close manyyieldgaps59,whilecontinuedimprovementsincrop geneticswillprobablyincrease potential yields into the future.Closing yield gaps could substantially increase global food supplies.Our analysis shows that bringing yields to within 95% of their potentialfor 16 important food and feed crops could add 2.3 billion tonnes(531015kilocalories) of new production, a 58% increase (Fig. 3).Even if yields for these 16 crops were brought up to only 75% of theirpotential, global production would increase by 1.1 billion tonnes(2.831015kilocalories), a 28% increase. Additional gains in productivity,focused on increasing the maximum yield of key crops, are likely to bedriven by genetic improvements60,61. Significant opportunities may alsoexisttoimproveyieldandtheresilienceofcroppingsystemsbyimproving‘orphan crops’ (such crops have not been genetically improved or hadmuch investment) and preserving crop diversity, which have receivedrelatively little investment to date.To close global yield gaps, the interwoven challenges of production andenvironment must again be addressed: conventional approaches to inten-sive agriculture, especially the unbridled use of irrigation and fertilizers,have been major causes of environmental degradation. Closing yield gapswithout environmental degradation will require new approaches, includ-ingreformingconventionalagricultureandadoptinglessonsfromorganicsystems and precision agriculture. In addition, closing yield gaps will
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..