ABSTRACT
TIFFANY L. FESS, JAMES B. KOTCON, AND VAGNER A. BENEDITO
11.1 INTRODUCTION
As the world population increases and the availability of resources decreases (Figure 1), the need for efficient food production has become paramount (Table 1). Modern high performance varieties are usually bred for high-input systems. However, as resources decline and populations grow, high-input systems become less sustainable and realistic. In the future, maintaining high input systems will become increasingly difficult due to reductions in the availability of required resources, such as water, oil, and phosphorus. We acknowledge that there are numerous social and economic issues (poverty, illiteracy, disease, politics) around the world that contribute to the low productivity of regional cropping systems as well as improvements in production management, and post-harvest handling and storage that could be improved upon to decrease the pressures associated with feeding a swelling population. However for the purpose of this
review, focus will be concentrated on the technical aspects of breeding that accommodate future food demands in a world of decreasing resource availability. By using more energy-effective approaches to breeding, varieties can be developed that are best suited to specific agricultural ecosystems, allowing for maximum production in that particular settings. Plant breeding programs focused on developing genotypes adapted to specific agricultural environments and lower inputs could help attain sustainable, higher productions with lower energy costs to accommodate the growing population, while providing an adequate food supply and responsibly managing declining resources.
