Improving agricultural productivity has been the world’s primary defense against a recurring Malthusian crisis— where needs of a growing population outstrip the ability of humankind to supply food. Over the last half-century, world population doubled while food supply tripled, even as land...

A number of agricultural resource, environmental and health concerns will condition the capacity of the agricultural sector in both developed and developing countries to increase production in the coming century. These concerns give rise to four generic issues: (a) Many of the issues are...