Title: Agroecology to the rescue of food security and germplasm conservation in a global market economy

Authors: Bruno Borsari

Addresses: Department of Biology, Winona State University, 215 Pasteur Hall, Winona, MN 55987, USA

Abstract: The chronic crisis affecting modern agriculture is indicating that the present paradigm of food production may not be viable in the long term to insure food security on a global scale, despite the brilliant outcomes achieved through the last several decades. Dwindling fossil fuel resources are exacerbating an ongoing crisis that has been lingering since the early 1970s. A recent enthusiasm to revamp agriculture in the mid-west region of the USA is focusing on ethanol production from corn (Zea mays) to suffice for the need of biofuels but this trend has significantly affected food costs. A presentation of the latest review in agroecological research is offered in this work in order to persuade stakeholders in agriculture about the viability of agroecology to serve as a vehicle for achieving food security and sustainability.

Keywords: agroecology; biofuels; biomass; biotechnology; GMO foods; renewable energy; sustainability; sustainable development; food security; germplasm conservation; genetically modified foods; food costs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2011.040215

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2011 Vol.9 No.1/2, pp.1 - 14

Received: 12 May 2009
Accepted: 23 Feb 2010
Published online: 22 Oct 2014 *

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