SANGAM L. DWIVEDI¹, RODOMIRO ORTIZ²*
*Corresponding author
1. Independent Researcher, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Plant Breeding (VF), Lomma, Sweden

Abstract

The sustainable intensification of agriculture appears to be an ideal approach to achieve food and nutrition security, preserve agrobiodiversity and maintain ecosystem health. A cafeteria approach based on distinct, place-based economic and agroecosystem dynamics is recommended. Crop diversification and conservation-based management benefits system productivity, profitability, and nutritional diversity, so as organic farming when a high percentage of legumes are included, and significantly food-competing feed-use and food wastage reduced. Resource-use efficient and nutritionally enhanced cultivars will ensure systems productivity, sustainability and nutritional security. Intensification through agroecology and adopting digital agriculture has the potential to improve agricultural productivity, nutrition security and ecosystem sustainability.

INTRODUCTION: GREAT CHALLENGES FACING AGRICULTURE TO DELIVER FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY
Availability, access, utilization, and continuity in food supply are the major pillars of food and nutrition security. Addressing these issues remains the greatest challenge for policy makers and society. Agriculture is a major driver of destabilization of the Earth’s planetary boundaries within which humanity can safely operate (1). Business-as-usual (BAU) attitude in agriculture is unlikely to provide a sustainable solution. A rapidly growing world population, urbanization, competition for natural resources, occurrence of new pests, increased frequency of extreme weather, flattening of agricultural productivity, dietary transition, urban migration, dumping of agricultural produce from developed economies adversely impacting farmers’ livelihood in developing countries, increased food losses and waste, and declining funding support to agricultural innovations contribute to uncertainty in achieving sustainable food and nutrition security (2). Producing enough nutritious and safe food is the biggest challenge to feed world’s population. Meta-analysis of global f ...