Farming in extremes

1. Harder times

It is thought that the world's population will reach about nine billion in 2050. That's around two billion more than now.

What is the synonym of "population"?

When you consider that there are around one billion people in the world already living in difficult times due to a lack of food, then the future is worrying. Also, with the increasing difficulty facing the world due to human numbers and climate change, many wonder how we will feed this larger population without destroying the planet.

What is the synonym of "due to"?

• according to

• because of

• related to

• based on

2. The damage farming does

Surprisingly, agriculture is one of the biggest causes of

global warming. This comes from some of the crops and

animals we farm, such as cows and rice farms. It also

comes from the chemicals we use to fight diseases and to

encourage plants to grow more quickly. Farming also uses

a lot of water. This water and the chemicals we use to grow

our crops means farming causes a lot of pollution to lakes,

rivers, and seas. As our population grows we also cut down

more trees. Clearly, how we farm and use the food we

produce cannot continue in this way, but what can be done

to make farming better and more environmentally friendly?

What is the synonym of "agriculture"?

3. Grow and use food with less waste

Many farms around the world do not produce the

volume of crops that they could. Of course, they should

not be farmed too much so that the soil is damaged,

but they can be grown in a better way. For example,

traditional farming often plants different crops next to

each other. The amount grown of each is then reduced.

Many traditional farms also waste water. Finally, local

farmers do not always have access to the best seeds.

The best seeds are not affected by diseases and

produce higher amounts of crops. Also, much of the

food farmed now is wasted rather than used. The

United Nations claims that about one third of the food

produced for people to eat is not eaten. The cost of this

is about one trillion dollars of food wasted each year.

People in rich countries waste nearly the same amount

of food as the whole of sub-Saharan Africa produces.

What is the synonym of "produced"?

4 Change diets

One way to reduce environmental effects of the food

we produce is to change our diets and what we grow.

Changing the food we eat to more fruit and vegetables

and less meat could be one way to make certain

that we can produce enough food to feed the planet.

Much of the food we grow is fed to animals, used as

fuel, or used in other products. Farming animals also

uses much more water. By changing our eating habits

through eating less meat we could actually make better

use of the land available to us for farming.

What is the synonym of "diets"?

5 Unusual solutions—seawater and sun

Since many people do not want to change their diet,

or have not considered changing it, farmers are looking

for unusual solutions to produce the food we need.

This is especially true in places where they already

have problems with a lack of water or poor soil quality.

Artificial conditions are created to grow the food. For

example, at one farm in Australia, they are producing

tomatoes by using solar power to remove salt from the

seawater. The tomatoes then grow in greenhouses kept

cool by seawater in the summer and made hotter by

solar power in the winter.

What is the synonym of "remove"?

• replace

• take away

• return

• take in

6 Farming the desert

Many countries are facing the challenges of high birth

rates increasing the population and land being covered

in desert. This means much of the food is bought abroad

and transporting it adds to the problem of global warming.

Countries have tried different solutions to this problem. In

Egypt, people have tried to develop the desert into farmland.

This involves using underground water or taking water from

the river Nile. In Qatar, they hope to grow a large amount

of their own fruit and vegetables within the next few years.

Computer technology means temperatures, water levels,

and light can all now be changed to create a range of

perfect growing conditions. While an expensive solution,

it is one that reduces the damage to the environment and

produces more local food.

Replace the words in bold using synonym from the paragraph above:

A lot of food comes from foreign countries.

7 Can we meet the challenges?

Each country faces different challenges to produce food.

Some need to think about developing the technology to

grow crops in difficult conditions. Others, perhaps, need to

look at trying to change people’s diets to reduce the amount

of meat eaten. The whole world also needs to grow crops

in a way that reduces the damage to the environment.

Otherwise we may have even less good-quality soil and a

warmer climate in which to try to feed everyone.

Replace the words in bold using synonym from the paragraph above:

Some people think it's a good idea to lower the amount of meat we eat.