| World food requirement
In the last century, the major increase in global food production was mainly due to the improvement in yield through green revolution. This involved identification of gene(s) controlling agronomic traits and their introgression into local varieties of staple crops like rice and wheat. At the beginning of 21st century, such efforts could help produce food enough to feed 6 billion people. The number of people is likely to increase to 9 billion by 2050. This necessitates a mega-jump in productivity, with dwindling land reserves, scarce water and nitrogen and daunting challenges of climate change. Malnutrition of a billion people also needs to be addressed urgently for a healthy world. The present growth of agricultural productivity, at the rate of about 2% per year, is much lower in comparison to the 3% growth required for food security.
The food grain production in India has increased four times over the last five decades. But, in India also, the yield of major food grain crops is reaching a plateau although its population continues to rise and is expected to reach 1.5 billion people in 2050. Also, 27% of world’s undernourished people live in India. This requires an increase of more than 50% in agricultural production.
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