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The Green Revolution consisted of getting the best known farming techniques into wide use, and massive adoption of irrigation and artificial fertilizer. We don'
by prodigal_erik 14y ago
The Green Revolution consisted of getting the best known farming techniques into wide use, and massive adoption of irrigation and artificial fertilizer. We don't have huge reserves of fresh water or petroleum or untested ag science that will let us further increase any of those reliably. I don't see us avoiding famine other than a rapid buildup in nuclear energy which we haven't started.
- paul_f 14y agoOne problem with predicting the future is that some assume no new technology can or will be created. This comment is a case-in-point.
- philwelch 14y agoMassive adoption and wide use of contraceptives would do the trick.
- kaybe 14y agoIf we manage to get a better supply of energy we can desalinate sea water. Fusion is always 30 years in the future, but I think solar+wind+storage(hydrogen?) could do it. This is being worked on. Also, a great part of the current production is wasted, which could give us some more time. There is also the option of building farm skyscrapers [1]; I've seen an acticle about a test run recently. However, these also need a lot of energy. I think it can be done. The greatest problem I see is the upcoming climate change which will force us to change a lot of the traditional agricultural patterns and which could be very unforgiving. The problem is not the increase of temperature or the rise in sea level (except for Asia), but the change in precipitation patterns. What we need is more information and the ability to share and get the information from/to everyone involved, especially the small farmers in remote communities. [1] like so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming