Why Doesn World Grain Production Increase?
There are three major reasons why grain production in the world has stopped increasing: 1. The land area for grain cultivation has been decreasing. 2. There is not enough water for grain cultivation. 3. Increasing the use of fertilizers can’t boost grain production more than the present amount. 1. For the past several years, the total area of the world’s farmlands has not increased. For example, in Japan, the total area of agricultural fields decreased by about a million hectares from that of 30 years ago. This is because people stopped growing crops on agricultural land and built many houses, factories and roads instead. In a similar way, as agricultural countries become industrialized by their economic development, the farmland area will shrink further. Another reason why farmland is decreasing is “desertification.” This is a phenomenon where soil becomes poor in quality by excessive cultivation and grazing and finally becomes a desert. 2. Next, let’s look at “water.” Crops can’t gro
