The DOI matches its Crossref record; 74 of the 74 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Solutions for a cultivated planet
Open accessAbstract
Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world's future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture's environmental footprint must shrink dramatically. Here we analyse solutions to this dilemma, showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing 'yield gaps' on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste. Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.
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“The area of Earth’s land surface devoted to cropland already occupies 1.53 billion hectares (83)”
From Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems (2015) · cites this paper as [83]
In the citing paper
“Without gains in yield and efficiency of agricultural systems (83), the expansion of human populations will inevitably continue to reduce and fragment natural areas.”
From Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems (2015) · cites this paper as [83]
In the citing paper
“Even as human populations increase beyond seven billion and per capita demand for food is increasing, rates of growth in the global extent and per capita use of land for agriculture seem to be declining (22).”
From Used planet: a global history (2013) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“Recent studies indicate that, depending on location, there is still strong potential for further intensification of agricultural land use (22, 104, 126).”
From Used planet: a global history (2013) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“Practices that increase C inputs include (i) improved varieties or species with greater root mass to deposit C in deeper layers where turnover is slower 21 , (ii) adopting crop rotations that provide greater C inputs 22 , (iii) more residue retention 23 , and (iv) cover crops during fallow periods to provide year-round C inputs (Fig. 1).22,24”
From Climate-smart soils (2016) · cites this paper as [21]
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“It must ensure an adequate supply of healthy food (FAO, 2019) and feed (Godfray et al. , 2010; Foley et al. , 2011), while ensuring that farmers receive a satisfactory income.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Foley, J. A., Ramankutty, N., Brauman, K. A., Cassidy, E. S., Gerber, J. S., Johnston, M., Mueller, N. D., O’Connell, C., Ray, D. K., West, P. C., Balzer, C., Bennett, E. M., Carpenter, S. R., Hill, J., Monfreda, C., Polasky, S., Rockström, J., Sheehan, J., Siebert, S., Tilman, D., & Zaks, D. P. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- McGill University (CA)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE)
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Foley, Jonathan A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2011-10
- Volume
- 478
- Issue
- 7369
- Pages
- 337-342
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2126902408
- Cited by
- 8,476
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 580 · 2025: 616 · 2024: 731 · 2023: 710 · 2022: 738 · 2021: 821 · 2020: 814 · 2019: 685 · 2018: 586 · 2017: 489 · 2016: 477 · 2015: 404 · 2014: 348 · 2013: 294 · 2012: 167
- FWCI
- 230.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Climate change impacts on agriculture
- Keywords
- food security, agricultural expansion, yield gap, dietary change, food production growth, environmental impact of agriculture, land degradation, energy crops, animal feed, food waste, population growth
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Conservation of Natural Resources, Diet, Environment, Food Supply, Humans, Models, Theoretical
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