Chapter 11 Producing Enough Food for the World: How Agriculture Depends on Environment 1-2 Billion people undernourished <a href="/keyword/arable-land/" >arable land</a> Land where crops could potentially be grown (<a href="/keyword/arable-land/" >arable land</a> ) =10-12 million square miles 57 million square miles of total land available world wide distributed evenly, 133 people/sq. mile = 0.5 acres of land/person for everything we need Losing about 38k square miles/year of <a href="/keyword/arable-land/" >arable land</a> Food Crops vs. Total Plant Species 500,000 plant species on earth ~3000 have been cultivated on large scale ~150 produced on large scale Important crops These 6 provides over 80% of calories used by humans! 1. Wheat 2. Rice 3. Maize 4. Potatoes 5. Sweet potatoes 6. Cassava (manioc, yuca) More important crops 7. Sugar cane 8. Sugar beet 9. Common beans 10. Soybeans 11. Barley 12. Sorghum 13. Coconuts 14. Bananas Additional &quot;crops&quot; Forage crops for livestock alfalfa, sorghum, grasses (hay) Livestock that we eat or use (numbers currently in production) Cattle- 1.3 billion Sheep- 1 billion Goats- 700 million Camels- 18 million Chickens- 14 billion Ducks- 1 billion Pigs- 1 billion Land for Livestock Rangeland Provides food for grazing and browsing animals without plowing and planting Pasture Plowed, planted and harvested to provide forage for animals 34 million km2 in permanent pasture Size of Canada, US, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile combined Food Demand World Population 6.6 billion 2700 calories / person / day Problems malnourishment Malnutrition. A clinical condition in which people experience either nutritional deficiencies (undernutrition) or an excess of certain nutrients (overnutrition). undernourishment Undernutrition. The clinical form of hunger that results from serious deficiencies in one or a number of nutrients (protein, energy, and vitamins and minerals). The deficiencies impair a person from maintaining adequate bodily processes, such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, physical work, cognitive function, and resisting and recovering from disease. Food and Humans Why World Hunger? Economic Unequal production wealth Distribution Environmental biomes natural disaster Agricultural Productivity nutrients water http://www.sou.edu/Geography/JONES/GEOG111.112/atlas/Map59.GIF Limits to Agriculture $$ soil water sustainability Food Availability: Challenges production distribution