For some food, indeed you can get a lot of productivity in a small space. Aquaculture is a really good example.
Where the problem lies is with grain production: Wheat, corn, and rice. Both for direct human consumption and for feeding animals. In most of the world, that accounts for the vast majority of daily nutrition. There is a fixed li…
For some food, indeed you can get a lot of productivity in a small space. Aquaculture is a really good example.
Where the problem lies is with grain production: Wheat, corn, and rice. Both for direct human consumption and for feeding animals. In most of the world, that accounts for the vast majority of daily nutrition. There is a fixed limit of suitable land for those crops and a large part of it has been through the development of more hardy strains that permit use of marginally acceptable land. The cultivation and processes rely on equipment and facilities that are beyond what small scale farming can sustain.
Our agriculture is not about just sustaining ourselves. We feed the world. The majority of our production is shipped abroad. It is the cause of the "relatively peaceful" state of the world.
I agree that there are problems associated with monoculture, GMOs, and chemical usage. There are also problems associated with having tens and hundreds of millions of people on the brink of starvation.
For some food, indeed you can get a lot of productivity in a small space. Aquaculture is a really good example.
Where the problem lies is with grain production: Wheat, corn, and rice. Both for direct human consumption and for feeding animals. In most of the world, that accounts for the vast majority of daily nutrition. There is a fixed limit of suitable land for those crops and a large part of it has been through the development of more hardy strains that permit use of marginally acceptable land. The cultivation and processes rely on equipment and facilities that are beyond what small scale farming can sustain.
Our agriculture is not about just sustaining ourselves. We feed the world. The majority of our production is shipped abroad. It is the cause of the "relatively peaceful" state of the world.
I agree that there are problems associated with monoculture, GMOs, and chemical usage. There are also problems associated with having tens and hundreds of millions of people on the brink of starvation.