Sustainable Food Security

Crop production: learn about agriculture and food production for the future

How much food will be available for humankind in the future? Feeding nine billion people in 2050 without exhausting the planetary reserves is perhaps the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.

In this course of the XSeries in environmental studies, you will examine the principles of crop production. You will learn about the ‘availability pillar’ of global food security that lies at the heart of food production, applicable to both crops and animal production. This course will discuss why yields in some parts of the world are lagging behind and identify the agro-ecological drivers that shape the broad diversity of production systems. Also, key issues relating to the closing of yield gaps and the difference in visions of sustainability will be explored.

Systems-based approach at Wageningen University

The University of Wageningen offers an excellent combination of conducting research worldwide and educating in the area of ‘healthy food and living environment’. Through its unique systems-based approach to food systems, the institute adds the phase of primary production to the broad context of global food security.

This is why you should sign up

If you want to enrich your views and action perspectives related to global food security and food systems, you can sign up as a:

• international student
• professional with a varied educational background

After successful completion of both practice and graded questions related to this course, you will:

• Understand the basic concept of plant production
• Be able to value central issues related to global food production and consumption
• Understand the influences of water scarcity and water availability on crop production, as well as measures suppressing pests, diseases, and weeds
• Be able to identify processes that cause significant environmental problems and evaluate measures to solve and prevent those problems be able to judge innovations in food crop production on their merits for the rural population in the different geographical regions

A verified edX certificate provides proof for an employer, school, or other institution that you have successfully completed this online course.