Food production irrigation

Helleday T, Tuominen KL, Bergman A, Jenssen D (1999) Brominated flame retardants induce intragenic recombination in mammalian cells. Mutat Res 439 137-147 Hern J, Feltz HR (1998) Effects of irrigation on the environment of selected areas of the Western United States and implications to world population growth and food production. J Environ Manage 52 353-360... 

Food production in the last few decades has been improved greatly by applying chemical fertilizers, irrigation methods, rotation of crops, and plant-breeding practices. Despite these new technologies for increased food production, the crop losses caused by insect pests, pathogens,... 

Provision of water, sanitation, energy supplies, raw materials, food production and processing (and associated activities such as fertiliser production, irrigation etc.), transport (infrastructure and vehicles), healthcare facilities, and communications,... 

The challenge of increasing food production, food security, and farmer income is, then, to increase productivity. However, over the past 40 years, much of the increase in productivity has been related to improved genetic resources, increased utilization of pesticides, increased input of agricultural mineral nutrients, increased use of mechanical farm power and fossil fuel, and greater irrigation intensity. 

Inefficient food production due to lack of knowledge, skills, seeds, improved animals, feeds, fertilizer, pesticides, farming equipment, and irrigation. 

Early in the century the amount of energy output in the form of food was about equal to the commercial energy input to the crop and livestock. That was before electricity, natural gas, and petroleum products were available to the farm. Now at least 10 kcal of commercial energy is used for each kcal of food energy produced. This change has occurred as a result of mechanization, irrigation, and consumer demand for low fat foods and for precooked and prepared foods. 

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