Abstract: The key to satisfying the anticipated increased demand for fruit and vegetables will be to ensure that increased production and availability are underpinned by farm practices that enhance the natural, physical and social capital upon which society depends for its continued existence. Production must match or outpace accelerating global consumption. This chapter looks at ways in which this increased demand may be achieved, with a special focus on the tropics. Since the greater proportion of the population in the South (and largely within the tropics) are classed as 'poor', investment in research and development to achieve these goals addresses the targets of the Millennium Development Goals and, as they are superseded, by the targets of the currently debated post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. This chapter is divided into sections that review the recent changes in demand for fruit and vegetables, the consequences of global climate change, the role that biotechnology does and can play in tropical horticulture, the arguments for and the outcomes from conservation for use of crop and wild relative genetic resources, the dominating role of safety and quality properties of horticultural produce, the concern for the sustainable management of (particularly) environmental and human resources, and finally the investment in research and policy to support tropical horticulture into the future.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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