Cannot feed and fuel the world
There is no doubt about it – the world can grow a lot more grain than it is doing at the moment.
I have just been to Russia, about 600 miles South East of Moscow, where every third crop is a fallow.
It is fallow because they have only just started using chemicals, so they are still unable to control the perennial weeds and many annual weeds with chemicals.
The soil was a medium silty loam which had been deposited by the Volga river.
Rotation was winter wheat, which yielded two tonnes/ha – although some farmers obtained yields of 3.5 tonnes/ha – spring barley, which yielded 1.2 tons/ha then fallow.
The limiting factor for yield was moisture.
Average rainfall was about 400mm a year but most of that fell in the autumn and the summers are hot and dry.
Quite simply yields could be increased by controlling both annual and perennial weeds, allowing the crop more moisture, and the better use of fertilizers.
Then there would be no need for a fallow and their output would quite easily be doubled.
When I was in Argentina in January they were expecting a total grain crop of 100 million tons whereas ten years ago the total grain crop would have been 40 million tonnes, so all over the world there are many places that could improve yields.
Higher prices will stimulate farmers to grow bigger crops and so I think farmers can quite easily feed the world for many years to come. However, we certainly cannot feed and fuel the world.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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