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ulture
Can a single sector feed the world, reduce
poverty and promote economic growth?
It is a tough row to hoe, but in the wake
of extreme weather, crop failures and
high food prices, anxious organizations
and nations are turning to agriculture
for answers. The task: to roughly double
food production by 2050—when the global population
is expected to reach 9 billion people—in a reliable,
environmentally sustainable way at a reasonable cost.
w That will require improving crop yields, managing limited
oil and water supplies, developing drought-resistant
crops, encouraging aquaculture, increasing production in
poor countries, dealing with deforestation, and avoiding
conflicts between nations over land and resources.
w If agriculture can surmount these and other significant
challenges, it will truly plant seeds of change.
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