GEOG 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Subsistence Agriculture, Genetic Engineering, Ester Boserup
Document Summary
Started in 1950"s research has significantly increased yields of rice & wheat in latin america, india, pakistan, philippines, thailand, indonesia. The development of varieties of basic staple grain crops that out produced. High yield varieties produce significantly larger yields/plant (of grain) in traditional ones. Need careful irrigation to produce at potential. High cost since seed is hybrid and must be purchased for each planting. Terminator" plants which are bred to die out after 2 generations. High yield but also high risk lacks diversity of strains to protect against pest damage. Breed for increased protein: quantity and quality. If there is already enough food to feed everyone, then why do we need. Review question: which of these does not characterize the green revolution. Higher yields of food from high-yield plants. Creates a higher risk of pest damage. All of these characterize the green revolution. How many people can the earth sustain. Population grows exponentially while food production grows arithmetically (or linearly)
