Study the table below! How have the surface area of field per person and the productivity of the fields changed?
THE SURFACE AREA AND PRODUCTION OF GRAIN FIELDS
| Year |
Field area (ha/person) |
Grain production (kg/ha) |
| 1960 |
0,37 |
1 400 kg |
| 1985 |
0,25 |
2 700 kg |
| 2010 |
0,2 |
3 900 kg |
Compare the meat consumption of different countries.
AVERAGE MEAT CONSUMPTION PER PERSON IN 2018
| Valtio |
chicken |
pork |
beef |
mutton |
total |
| United States |
50 kg |
23 kg |
26 kg |
0,5 kg |
99 kg |
| Finland |
27 kg |
33 kg |
20 kg |
0,7 kg |
78 kg |
| Ethiopia |
0,1 kg |
0 kg |
2,6 kg |
0,5 kg |
3,2 kg |
| China |
12 kg |
30 kg |
4 kg |
3 kg |
49 kg |
| India |
2,4 kg |
0,2 kg |
0,5 kg |
0,5 kg |
3,6 kg |
Making food production more sustainable will become even more important as the planet's population continues to grow. Earth's population is still growing rapidly, but the amount of land that is suitable for agriculture will not. In fact, many agricultural areas are facing erosion that threatens to make them unsuitable for food production. This will decrease the amount of land suitable for agriculture in the future.
More effective agricultural techniques, mechanization, and more productive food crops have made this development sustainable thus far, but it cannot go on for much longer.
Another problem of food production concerns the distribution of food among the planet's inhabitants. Currently, the agricultural production of the planet surpasses the needs of its population. Despite this, there are over 700 million malnourished people on the planet. This is a result of the uneven distribution of food production.
