Weed management: the broader context - Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds - page 503

the short term,but with better levels offinancial returns to farmers”and
“substantial environmental improvements.”
(2) In the Green Revolution lands ofdeveloping countries,in which
irrigation and modern crop varieties are used routinely,farmers
adopting regenerative technologies have maintained yields and gained
environmental benefits,while substantially reducing inputs.
(3) “In the diverse,complex,and 'resource-poor'lands ofthe Third
World,farmers adopting regenerative technologies have doubled or
trebled crop yields,often with little or no use ofexternal inputs.”
Food security is not synonymous with increased production. People go
hungry not because of inadequate world or regional food production, but
because they lack the means to buy food or grow it (Pretty, Vorley & Keeney,
1998). For both rural and urban residents of three regions of Brazil, caloric
intake was found to be positively correlated with income (Murdoch, 1980, p.
100).In Bangladesh,75% of rural families own little or no land and 11% of the
country's families own half the land. Average caloric and protein intake of
Bangladeshi peasants owning less than 0.2 ha was found to be 19% and 23%
less than for those owning at least 1.2 ha (Brown & Jacobson, 1986). In a food-
short year, the death rate of landless Bangladeshi peasants was three times
higher than that of peasants owning at least 1.2 ha (Eckholm,1979).In a range
of countries, family size has been noted to be negatively correlated with
income, literacy, years in school, and equality of income levels (Murdoch,
1980, pp. 15-83; Roodman, 1999). Thus, policies addressing hunger, health,
and human population growth must focus on patterns of land tenure and
social, economic, and political development.
Food security is also related to how crops are used. More than 40% of the
herbicides sold worldwide are used for maize and soybean production
(Jutsum, 1988). Although both of these crops can be eaten directly by people,
most of the production is used as livestock feed.In Iowa, where farmers annu-
ally apply more than 20 million kg of herbicides to maize and soybean,almost
70% of maize and soybean production is used for feed; an additional 14% is
used for sweeteners for soft drinks and other processed foods; 9% is used to
make ethanol; and the remaining 8% is used for used for seed,industrial prod-
ucts, and food for humans (Mayerfeld et al ., 1996). The principal beneficiaries
of industrial agriculture are not the poor and hungry who subsist primarily
on grain, but consumers who have cash to buy processed foods and products
from grain-fed animals. The world's cropland currently produces enough cal-
ories and protein to support 10 billion human beings on a vegetarian diet
(Waggoner, 1994). Even if ecological farming methods led to slightly lower
yields in the developed countries, production would meet human needs. In