Fifty years ago, when the world’s population was

around half what it is now, the answer to looming famines was

the green revolution — a massive increase in the use of hybrid

seeds and chemical fertilizers. It worked, but at a great

ecological price. We grow nearly twice as much food as we did

just a generation ago, but we use three times as much water

from rivers and underground supplies.

Food, farm and water technologists will have to find

new ways to grow more crops in places that until now were

hard or impossible to farm. It may need a total rethink over

how we use land and water. So enter a new generation of

radical farmers, novel foods and bright ideas.

Internet: www.theguardian.com (adapted).