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> Subsaharan African Agriculture also plants about 83 million acres of maize. They see yields that are 1/3 to 1/4 of US agricultural yields. These yield gaps dr
by titzer 6y ago
> Subsaharan African Agriculture also plants about 83 million acres of maize. They see yields that are 1/3 to 1/4 of US agricultural yields. These yield gaps dramatically close when you start using fertilizer and modern agricultural practices.
I'd just like to point out that these are two different continents with completely different conditions, soils, microbiota, seeds, pests, and climate. So apples and oranges.
Also, you count wrong because you don't count the number of acres needed to produce fertilizer.
> I'm certainly biased, I'm the CTO of a company that's trying to improve agricultural inputs by financing access to smallholders
At this point, yeah, your financial incentives pretty much color your entire worldview. If you stand to make O(millions) and this is your primary line of work, that's a one massive grain of salt.
- estsauver 6y agoYah, the interesting piece happens when you compare what happens when agricultural practices converge. Us historical corn yields prior to 1920/1930 (major introduction of industrial fertilizer happens pretty shortly thereafter) were identical to current SSA yields. Subsaharan African farms close in on US yields pretty quickly when the same inputs are used. The number of acres to make fertilizer are minimal. It’s very, very small relative to agricultural land under cultivation. In regards to financial incentives, I mention this specifically so you know I could have a bias and am leaving references to the science so you can make your own judgement. I’m not really in this line of work for the money though.