12% expansion of area of land to cultivate food crops and 150% increase in productivity 1960-2010
Agricultural production
• Expansion in the area of land used to cultivated food crops between 1960 and 2010: 12%
• Increase in world agricultural productivity during the same period: 150-200%
• Extent of total cultivated land (rainfed + irrigated) in 1961: 1.4 billion hectares
• Extent of total cultivated land (rainfed + irrigated) in 2006: 1.5 billion hectares
• Cultivated area where irrigation was practiced in 1961: 139 million hectares• Cultivated area where irrigation was practiced in 2006: 301 million hectares
• Average number of hectares of cultivated area needed to feed one person in 1961: 0.45 ha
• Average number of hectares of cultivated area needed to feed one person in 2006: 0.22 ha
[See full report here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf]
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "Fast Facts: The State of the World's Land and Water Resources," http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/en-solaw-facts_1.pdf.
[See full report here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf]