Future sources of food supply: scientific problems

The various conventional methods for getting more food--irrigation, increased use of fertilizers, prevention of loss through pests and diseases, etc.--are valuable but they are not likely to satisfy the need if the world's population increases according to current forecasts. Reassessment of the uses to which crops are put is needed. This calls for research on protein-rich crops that people can eat directly, on ways of making some of the oil seed residues more palatable and acceptable, and on the extraction of protein from leaves that cannot be eaten as "spinach". In spite of developments such as these, animal products will retain their appeal, but more imagination is needed on the choice of domestic animals for each region. More use could be made of microorganisms to make residues and wastes useful, and a few vitamins, amino acids and energy sources will probably be made economically by total synthesis.