New Ways to Grow Further genetic research continues to produce new high-yield seeds. Last year, the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines announced a new rice variety that will boost production 20 to 25 percent. A new variety of wheat is resistant to leaf rust. That development not only will save existing fields from the major yield-reducing disease, but also allow wheat to be planted in new climate areas. Agricultural scientists also are at work to genetically engineer other varieties of wheat and corn that will be more disease and insect resistant, thus reducing the need for chemical sprays.
Crop rotation helps cut the use of fertilizer and insecticides.
Sophisticated field management makes use of satellite maps to guide application of chemicals, keeping them to a minimum. Such practices are currently used on more than one-third of U.S. cropland. Researchers expect that to climb to 80 percent by the end of the century. Sustainable agriculture can provide a common ground between optimists and pessimists in the world food production debate, says Dennis Keeney, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. In the long run, its methods can maintain and increase yields, while better conserving natural resources.