Final

Question 0

Potential availability of uncultivated land

Answer 0

Sub-Saharan Africa, 200 M ha
Latin America and the Caribbean, 125
Rest of world, 100

Question 1

Increasing food supply

Answer 1

The target, 1.3% of current yield trends per year to 2030

Question 2

Why do we consider potential yield and farm healed?

Answer 2

Deals gap = potential yield - farmer yield

Expressed throughout as percentage of farm yield

Potential yield acts as a ceiling for farm yield

Question 3

What is the difference between spring and winter wheat

Answer 3

40% winter, 60% spring

Winter wheat
Grown in temperate cropping systems, cold enough to send wheat into dormancy, warm enough to support the crop. Higher-year-old because dormant. Extends its growth duration
Springwheat
Grown at low latitudes in the winter, grown at high latitudes in the spring

Springwheat needs a warm and wet winter which is why you have the seasons changing for latitudes

Question 4

Wheat production stats, Area, Farm yield, gap, trends,

producers

Answer 4

Production, 660 MT
Area 220 MH essay, about equally split between developed and developing countries
Farm yield, 3 t/ha
yield gap, 50%
Area trend, -.2% growth per year
Yield trend, +1% per year
Top producers, China India US Russia

Question 5

What is a mega environment

Answer 5

Group of locations consistently share the same best types of plant varieties

Question 6

Rice global statistics, production, area, farm yield, yield gap, area trend, yield trend, top producers

Answer 6

Production, 680 mt
Area, 160 MHA
Farm healed, 4.3 t/ha
Yield gap, 72%
Area trend, +0.3% growth per year
Yield trend, +1% per year
Top producers, China India Indonesia

Question 7

Maize global statistics, production, area, farm yield, yield gap, area Trend, yield trend, top producers

Answer 7

Production, 830 Mt
Area, 165 MHA
Farm yield, 5.3 t/ha
Yield gap, 100%
Area trend, +.9% growth per year
Yields trend +1.5% per year
Top producers, US China Brazil

Question 8

Raising yields, lowering YG and raising PY

Answer 8

About 50% of games in production can come from closing gaps in rice wheat and maze.

A yield gap of 30% is economically optimal. Getting below that level depends on the weather and prices, which farmers don’t know in advance. Or there are a lot of little things happening on the farm that don’t warrant the attention or time. There’s too much cost for not much benefit.

Question 9

MME7, United States, farm yield, gap, evolution of US corn yields and practices

Answer 9

Farm yield, 10 t/ha
Gap, 50%
Nearly all us corn is hybrid (96%)

Question 10

Soy global stats. Production, area, farm yield, yield gap, area trend, yield trends, top producers

Answer 10

Production, 240 MT
Area, 100 MHA
Farm yield, 2.4 t/ha
Yield gap, 30%
Area trend, +1% growth per year
Yield a trend +1.3% per year
Top producers, US Brazil Argentina
Fastest growth in production
Most protein per Hector

Question 11

Farm yields important points

Answer 11

Closing your apps are the quickest and surest way to raise farm yield.

In areas with low yield gaps the only way to raise farm yield is by increasing potential yield

Question 12

Important equations

Answer 12

YG(%)=(PY-FY)/FY*100
Or
YG=PY-FY
FY2/FY1=(1+G1)/(1+G2)

Question 13

What are the two general types of yield gap constraints?

Answer 13

One. Technical/proximate constraints related to land, crops, inputs

Two. Constraints relating to general farmer circumstances and capabilities

Question 14

Methods to study causes of yield gaps

Answer 14

Farmers surveys
Expert surveys
Crop modeling
Spatial analysis

Question 15

Factors affecting PY

Answer 15

Genetics
Temperature
Carbon dioxide
Radiation
Water limited PY, rainfall, irrigation
Nutrient limited PY, soil degradation

Question 16

Causes in wheat systems, tactical or proximate constraints, which are potential yields versus yield gap issues?

Heat stress, weeds, diseases/pests

Answer 16

Heat stress, YP
Weeds, YP
Diseases/pests, YG

Question 17

Wheat in Asia, causes of yield gap

Answer 17

Biotic stresses like weeds and diseases are the main issues in Asia

Question 18

Causes in wheat systems Australia

Answer 18

Yield gap in Australia grows with the amount of rainfall

Farmers usually add the economic optimum level of fertilizer for dryers as weather forecasts uncertain

this makes crops nutrient deficient in wet years

Question 19

Causes of YG, bottom line

Answer 19

Many factors are involved in creating yield gaps

Often don’t know which factors are the most important

In situations of low and/or uncertain returns it’s not worth it for farmers to spend money on reducing gaps

At the same time, there’s evidence that gaps are closing in many systems so progress can be made

Question 20

Approaches to lowering yield gaps

Answer 20

Agronomic.
Improved machinery especially for smallholders
Improved nutrient management
Integrated pest control
Weather forecasts

Breeding.
Host plant resistance to disease and pests
Herbicide a tolerant crops
Gaps are closing the most rapidly in areas with rapid GMO adoption

Question 21

How potential yield has increased since 1960 for four major crops

Answer 21

Wheat, increased harvest index
Rice, increased harvest index
Corn,
Temperate, hybrids and denser sewings lead to more biomass
Tropical, increased harvest index under stress
Soy, increased biomass and harvest index

Question 22

What is a hybrid crop?

Answer 22

seed produced by cross-pollinating plants. this produces a mixture of different plants with different traits.

Question 23

Hybrid corn

Answer 23

Corn is cross pollinating, usually pollinated by another individual.

Hybrid vigor

• create in bread corn by forcing the plant to self pollinate
• crossing two in breads often results in a higher-yielding variety
• however as cross pollination vigor decreases
• incentive for companies to produce hybrid seed

Almost all core and in the US is hybrid

Cross-pollination happens a lot for corn but this means that the varieties are always changing different heights maturities etc.

Being able to buy hybrids and makes it easier to create hybrid vigor

Question 24

Is it easier to hybridize corn rather than wheat or rice?

Answer 24

Corn is crossed pollinating. Rice and wheat are self pollinators

Question 25

Global protein consumption trends

Answer 25

- animal products are 40% of total protein consumption - us is one of the highest meet consumers - US consumption peaked in 2012 - beef going down chicken on the rise

Question 26

US livestock production systems

Answer 26

Cows - cows eat the same amount of grain in the US as chicken/pigs - eat the most grass too Animal production getting more efficient Beef much less efficient Top crop eaten is corn, with soy and a far second behind

Question 27

Global livestock systems

Answer 27

Most of the worlds cows don't eat grain In general most livestock is from smallholder farms Nonindustrial systems have lower efficiencies

Question 28

Why are efficiencies much lower in nonindustrial systems

Answer 28

Lower quality of diet Lack of supplements Animals don't grow as quickly

Question 29

Fish and aquaculture systems

Answer 29

- 17% of all animal protein - Half a fish eaten is farmed - Fish are more efficient then land animals - aquaculture fee includes lots of crops, rapeseed, canola

Question 30

Issues in African agriculture

Answer 30

Important trends - farms are getting smaller, most people farm on .5 Ha - land is becoming scarce and there are big inequities in distribution, highly skewed towards large landowners - population growth is outpacing land expansion - both the low land and labor productivity - low fertilizer use leads to nutrient deficiency

Question 31

Other issues affecting fertilizer effectiveness

Answer 31

- timing of the application - Soil carbon content - Application method - salinity - alkalinity - climate change - pests/diseases

Question 32

Other issues affecting fertilizer effectiveness: Other Options

Answer 32

- lime subsidies, makes soil pH more basic and make fertilizer use more effective - R and D, seeds, fertilizer mixes, organic options - diversifying diets - intercropping legumes - agro-forrestry

Question 33

Pros/cons of local food

Answer 33

Energy Consump:on/CO2 - Transportation between countries less than local food produc:on and consump:on. - May be more efficient to produce in other country [esp if not using machinery which happens in Africa] - Coming from further could use fewer emissions if going by ship. - Food waste is a bigger issue. Social Effect - Brings communi:es together; supports local farmers - Air freight of food uses a lot of energy - People flying planes use more - People in other countries need incomes Economic Impact - Support local farmers and economy - More expensive, less variety, time-consuming Safety - Shorter supply chain; know who you’re buying from. - Not necessarily safer. Could be a protec:onist measure [so people support local economy rather than suppor:ng another country]

Question 34

What is a GMO?

Answer 34

- genetically modified organisms - technically GM over first two any organism whose genetic makeup has been altered by genetic engineering - transgenics - transgenics not necessarily GMO's (transgenic's, not sexually compatible)

Question 35

Main GMO crops, Main growing countries

Answer 35

Soybean, cotton, maize, canola Mainly grown in USA Brazil and Argentina

Question 36

What is BT?

Answer 36

- bacteria producing protein toxic to insects - most widely used organic pesticide since 1920 - lower pesticide amounts now used after adoption - on 12% cropland

Question 37

How does Roundup work?

Answer 37

- herbicide that blocks the production of an enzyme that helps plants grow - " roundup ready"/ herbicide tolerant crops immune to Roundup - problem, increasing weed resistance

Question 38

What are some common GM traits

Answer 38

- BT(Cotton, Corn...) - herbicide tolerant, Roundup ready (soy, corn, canola...) - often stacked (used together)

Question 39

Conservation tillage

Answer 39

-herbicide tolerance soy grower found to have higher rates of conservation tillage than those using conventional Why? Telling usually to disrupt weed/pest cycles

Question 40

GMO less common traits

Answer 40

drought tolerance, beta-carotene expression, rings spot virus resistance

Question 41

Work five takeaways

Answer 41

- Energy costs combined are comparable for Thailand and California, Energy cost of transportation is higher for Thailand and California, Energy cost of production is higher for California than Thailand - takes more energy for us to transport rice from the store to home then from Sacramento to LA - Energy to produce 1 L of imported bottled water equals energy costs of California and Thailand rice

Question 42

HW 6 takeaways

Answer 42

-currently, the beef production system in the US occupies 60 M ha - converting to a grass fed system would require: - 10% more cows - 20 M ha of the additional land (30% increase)

Question 43

Pros/cons of local food

Answer 43

Energy Consumption/CO2 - Transportation between countries less than local food produc:on and consump:on. - May be more efficient to produce in other country [esp if not using machinery which happens in Africa] - Coming from further could use fewer emissions if going by ship. - Food waste is a bigger issue. Social Effect - Brings communi:es together; supports local farmers - Air freight of food uses a lot of energy - People flying planes use more - People in other countries need incomes Economic Impact - Support local farmers and economy - More expensive, less variety, time-consuming Safety - Shorter supply chain; know who you’re buying from. - Not necessarily safer. Could be a protec:onist measure [so people support local economy rather than suppor:ng another country]

Question 44

Fisp

Answer 44

Fertilizer inputs subsidy program objectives (FISP) - poverty reduction - Increase food security and income - improve agricultural productivity ``` Pros and cons of FISP Supporters -better than food aid, creates an employment on the farm, less disruptive of the market -Raised production ``` Critics -financially unstable fertilizer subsidies okay on temporary basis to stimulate increased fertilizer use in short runs prices also shot up with production some farmers not getting enough production from extra fertilizer use -most fertilizer went to top farms -questionable production figures produced by government -300 K metric ton difference between Farmer and government claims of fertilizer being distributed conclusions of FISP - uneven distribution, 64% of FISP kgs went to top 37% of farms - leakage and diversion, only 63% of the fertilizer reach their final destinations, the other 37% was lost in the process - only 15% of growth was due to fertilizer use, the majority was due to better weather and land expansion - the fertilizers where ineffective for only a small range of pH levels, much of the soil was too acidic

Question 45

Where could future increases in PY come from?

Answer 45

Continued increases in HI for spring wheat, tropical maize, soybean -Unlikely for winter wheat, rice, or temperate maize—there’s an HI limit of 55% More radiation capture - Faster early season growth - Delayed senescence Higher radiation use efficiency -More erect leaves More water use - Deeper roots - No till - Higher TE Hybridization of self-pollinators (rice - CHINA, wheat) -One time 10-15% boost Conversion of rice from C3 to C4 -More biomass per given amount of water and radiation