is projected to be 327 in 2020 (Rosegrant and Cai 2002). The rate of increase in
food demand is expected to be greater in developing than developed countries.
Due to strong economic growth, millions of people will buy diets far richer in
protein, in the cases of China and India, three to five times richer.
World agriculture is at a crossroads and has limited resources. It must produce
more from less per capita land and water resources and under changing and harsh
climate (Vermeulen et al. 2012). FAO mentioned that biotechnology can be an
approach to improve food security and reduce the environmental pressure
(Bruinsma 2003). Meanwhile, modified crop varieties resisting drought, water
logging, salinity, and extreme climate, can expand the crop planting area such as in
the degraded soils, consequently, to increase food availability in the future.
Feeding a growing, urbanized, and affluent population in a rapidly globalized
world will be a global challenge. Thus unprecedented global cooperation will be
inevitable in sustaining food production and improving global food security
(Hanjra and Qureshi 2010). Additionally, future food supply will be determined by
prudent management of the global agricultural resources and smart investments in
technologies along with reforms in institutions and policies to achieve sizeable
increase in food production (Herrero et al. 2010).
1.11 Current Options to Overcome the Challenges
1.11.1 Genetic Potential in Plants
Developing crops that are better adapted to abiotic stresses is important for food
production in many parts of the world today. Anticipated changes in climate and
its variability, particularly extreme temperatures and changes in rainfall, are
expected to make crop improvement even more crucial for food production
(Varshney et al. 2011).
The objective of plant breeding for stress environments is to accumulate
favorable alleles that contribute to stress tolerance in a plant genome. Genes that
confer stress resistance can be sourced from germplasm collections, including wild
relatives of crops that are held in gene banks or organisms that currently live in
habitats of water deficit or excess, extreme temperature, and salinity that have
evolved to cope with those conditions (Nevo and Chen 2010; Varshney et al. 2011).
Superior genes or alleles where they have been identified in the same species can
be transferred to elite genotypes through molecular breeding (MB). Molecular plant
breeding has the potential to deliver improvements, once the component traits and
the genes underlying these traits have been identified. These can be incorporated into
new cultivars using conventional or biotechnological tools (Parry and Hawkesford
2012). Moreover, by using an approach such as genetic engineering (GE), there is no
barrier to transferring useful genes or alleles across different species from the animal
or plant kingdoms. Several key approaches for improved crop productivity in an
environment with high temperature, high CO 2 , and high ozone have been used.
1 Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food Production
27
food demand is expected to be greater in developing than developed countries.
Due to strong economic growth, millions of people will buy diets far richer in
protein, in the cases of China and India, three to five times richer.
World agriculture is at a crossroads and has limited resources. It must produce
more from less per capita land and water resources and under changing and harsh
climate (Vermeulen et al. 2012). FAO mentioned that biotechnology can be an
approach to improve food security and reduce the environmental pressure
(Bruinsma 2003). Meanwhile, modified crop varieties resisting drought, water
logging, salinity, and extreme climate, can expand the crop planting area such as in
the degraded soils, consequently, to increase food availability in the future.
Feeding a growing, urbanized, and affluent population in a rapidly globalized
world will be a global challenge. Thus unprecedented global cooperation will be
inevitable in sustaining food production and improving global food security
(Hanjra and Qureshi 2010). Additionally, future food supply will be determined by
prudent management of the global agricultural resources and smart investments in
technologies along with reforms in institutions and policies to achieve sizeable
increase in food production (Herrero et al. 2010).
1.11 Current Options to Overcome the Challenges
1.11.1 Genetic Potential in Plants
Developing crops that are better adapted to abiotic stresses is important for food
production in many parts of the world today. Anticipated changes in climate and
its variability, particularly extreme temperatures and changes in rainfall, are
expected to make crop improvement even more crucial for food production
(Varshney et al. 2011).
The objective of plant breeding for stress environments is to accumulate
favorable alleles that contribute to stress tolerance in a plant genome. Genes that
confer stress resistance can be sourced from germplasm collections, including wild
relatives of crops that are held in gene banks or organisms that currently live in
habitats of water deficit or excess, extreme temperature, and salinity that have
evolved to cope with those conditions (Nevo and Chen 2010; Varshney et al. 2011).
Superior genes or alleles where they have been identified in the same species can
be transferred to elite genotypes through molecular breeding (MB). Molecular plant
breeding has the potential to deliver improvements, once the component traits and
the genes underlying these traits have been identified. These can be incorporated into
new cultivars using conventional or biotechnological tools (Parry and Hawkesford
2012). Moreover, by using an approach such as genetic engineering (GE), there is no
barrier to transferring useful genes or alleles across different species from the animal
or plant kingdoms. Several key approaches for improved crop productivity in an
environment with high temperature, high CO 2 , and high ozone have been used.
1 Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food Production
27