Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century Book

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	ix
1	Reasons for Concern	1
	Demographic Imperatives	6
	Dietary Transitions	8
	End of an Era?	11
2	Appraising the Basics	23
	Photosynthesis and Crop Productivity	25
	Land, Water, and Nutrients	30
	Agroecosystems and Biodiversity	52
3	Environmental Change and Agroecosystems	65
	Changing Soils	67
	Environmental Pollution	80
	What Could Climate Change Do	90
4	Toward Higher Cropping Efficiencies	105
	More Efficient Fertilization	108
	Better Use of Water	125
	Precision Farming	135
5	Rationalizing Animal Food Production	141
	Feeding Efficiencies and Resource Claims	145
	Opportunities in Milk and Meat Production	163
	Aquacultural Possibilities	171
6	Consuming the Harvests	181
	Harvests and Postharvest Losses	182
	How Much Food Do We Have?	188
	How Much Food Do We Eat?	196
7	How Much Food Do We Need?	211
	Human Energetics	215
	Protein Needs	227
	Comparisons and Implications	235
8	Searching for Optimum Diets	249
	Nutritional Transitions	250
	Nutrition, Health, and Disease	264
	Optimized Diets	276
9	If China Could Do It...	291
	China's Predicament	292
	Available Resources and Existing Inefficiencies	299
	Realistic Solutions	309
	References	317
	Index	353