Crops Journal

Plants are autotrophic and therefore they fix the energy of the sun and manufacture food from simple inorganic substances for almost all other organisms through photosynthesis. Crop plants have a wide range of development and growth responses to sunlight, day length, temperature, nutrients, and water supply. Farmers do not, however, choose plants as crops for optimum adaptation to individual environments, but those that are preferred food, as in developing countries, or to meet market requirements, including global trade. In consequence, crops are managed to withstand environmental stresses. Socio-economic forces drive change in agriculture that is currently challenged to increase production by 70 % to feed 9.2 billion by 2050