| Abstract |
The future of food production in spite of Malthus (1) warning in 1798 has become a topic of overriding concern only in the past 12 - 15 years. There have been a number of very severe famines such as that in India 1669-1670 in which three million died; in 1846-1847 in Ireland where one third of the population was decimated; in 1877-1878 when 11 million died in North China and; in the recent past in the Sahel, Africa where at lea st several hundred thousand perished. Because of poor communication and a less compassionate view, all but the last of these were taken in their stride by people of other countries. The easy food situation of the post World War II era also lulled many into complacency but 1972 brought on a full realization of the precarious position in which the human race now finds itself. Disaster was averted but could it be averted in the future as population pressures begin to mount? The future looks dim in some respects but there are significant areas of hope as well if we have the will to buy a continued grace period in which population control must be sought by all means. The time for demagoguery on population is now past. Governments which fail to act on population control are likely to be liquidated as the problem grows. I would like to explore some of the problems, discu,ss the opportunities to overcome them and put the potentials for improvement of food supplies into perspective. Increasing food production brings into play physical, biological, economic, industrial and human resources which interact in an organic whole. Fitting these pieces together into a properly functioning system is our real need today. There are no easy answers, only many complexities. |
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