Several factors of food security

The world population that is currently at 7.6 billion and is expected to reach 9.77 billion by the year
2050 (United Nations, 2017). This growth will put pressure on food security. Several factors are
affecting the peoples of this world in their ability to achieve greater food security. The factors affecting
food security are the repurposing of agricultural land for the growing biofuel crops(HLPE, 2013;
Tenenbaum, 2008). A change in agricultural practices driven by regulation, cost, and limited
resources will see the reduction of pesticide and fertilizer usage. Finally, climate change and its
associated changes will affect crop yield and survivability. The primary factor affecting greater food
security is the lack of sustainable agriculture and it is the overuse and reliance on nitrogen,
phosphorous and potassium fertilizers. The use of nitrogen and phosphorous in agriculture is
expected to increase (Tilman et al., 2001). This increase the use fertilizers will likely be unable to
deliver an effective increase in crop yield due to inefficient uptake by crops(Tilman et al., 2002) as
made evident by a 30% increase in nitrogen application only yields 4% in productivity(Donner and
Kucharik, 2003). Alongside this, the of large-scale use of fertilizers in unstainable of particular
importance is phosphorous of which is phosphate rock a finite resource (Cordell et al., 2009). This
resource is expected to reach peak production before the year 2040 (Cordell and White, 2011). In
contrast, nitrogen fertilizers are an infinite resource but their production is one that is energy intensive
(Mudahar and Hignett, 1985). The use of nitrogenous fertilizer in the future will likely be limited due to
the high energy demands of production which will not be able to be met by, given that oil demand is
expected to increase and is a decreasing resource (Countries Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting, 2017). This with also inflate the cost of nitrogenous fertilizers which will be further
exacerbated by increased demand from developing countries(Blanco, 2011). The use of fertilizers in
agriculture is required to meet current food demands another requirement to achieve this is the use of
pesticides(Popp et al., 2013). Pesticides are associated with benefits and costs. They improve farm
productivity through disease control, insect control pesticides also improve food quality(Aktar et al.,
2009). In contrast, pesticides impact human and environmental health. These human costs are
difficult to establish but pesticides are likely to be carcinogenic and affect the endocrine
system(Nicolopoulou-Stamati et al., 2016). The environmental impact of pesticides includes the
contamination of water, soil, and air this also has a negative impact on the following year's crops.
Addition negative effect of pesticides is also present on the natural flora and fauna (Damalas and
Eleftherohorinos, 2011). Countries are now engaging in pesticide reduction programs. Canada has
the Pesticide Risk Reduction Strategy. That aims to promote the adoption of new technologies and
reduce reliance on chemical pesticides (Pest Management Centre and Pest Management Regulatory
Agency, 2003). Similarly, in 2009 the European Union regulation EC 1107/2009 was passed. This
regulation aims to protect the human and animal health and prevent environmental damage and
ensure pesticides have a genuine benefit to agriculture(European Parliament, 2009). This directive is
expected to reduce the number of pesticides available. (Wynn et al., 2010) Equally climate change is
predicted to affect food security having both positive and negative effects. Global temperatures are
expected to increase by 3ºC – 4ºC(New et al., 2011). An increase in temperature that is between 1ºC
– 3ºC will see an increase in crop yield but above 3ºC the crops yield will be affected(Easterling et al.,
2007). In temperate zones, an increase in temperature will result in agriculture moving north. This will
be associated with an increased risk of disease and pests (Masters et al., 2010) and increased
nutrient leaching and loss of soil organic matter(Olesen et al., 2007). Although the increase in
temperature below 3ºC well has a positive effect on agriculture in temperate zones with an increased
growing season which is associated with increased yield and quality of crops (Olesen et al., 2007).
This is likely associated with an expansion of agricultural areas and the introduction of new
crops(Tuck et al., 2006). Within the southern area of temperate zones, climate change will negatively
impact crop yields resulting from droughts and irregular weather events(Olesen et al., 2007). Within
the tropical zone, an increase in temperature will have direct effects on crop yield and increase crop
failure. Equally within the tropical zone it is likely that crops will be exposed to heat stress and water
loss (Gornall et al., 2010). Also, tropical zones will experience extreme temperatures affecting crop
yield or resulting in crop failure (Porter and Gawith, 1999; Wheeler et al., 2000) Climate change is
also expected to impact the hydrological cycle causing an increase in average precipitation globally
(Donat et al., 2016). This precipitation will highly variable with areas experiencing extended droughts
primarily in the subtopics conversely higher latitudes will experience higher levels of
rainfall(Trenberth, 2011). These with droughts reduce the yields of crops(Kang et al., 2009) and high
levels of rainfall can result in the complete loss of crops and amplify soil erosion and nutrient loss
(Falloon and Betts, 2010). Climate change has shown an increase in extreme weather events which
threaten food security. These extreme weather events include flooding, droughts, wildfires, heat
waves, heavy precipitation, heavy snowfall, storms and hurricanes all of which are expected to
continue (Huber and Gulledge, 2011). Accompanied by climate change is the increase in sea levels
this as a result ice melt(Griggs and Noguer, 2002) and thermal expansion of oceans(Meehl et al.,
2005). This will cause tidal inundation of coastal regions resulting in loss of land and increase erosion
loss(Nageswara Rao et al., 2011) this will be accompanied with the saltwater intrusion of the land and
water table (Chen and Zong, 1999). It is evident that to achieve food security there needs to be a
change in agriculture. To one that increases yield by promoting crop nutrient utilization and provides
crops that have greater resistance to abiotic and biotic stress. These goals should be achieved while
maintaining environmental integrity and not adversely impact human or animal health. One possible
solution to the problems that meet requirements is planted biostimulants. Plant biostimulants are not
well defined but attempts have been made. In 2015 du Jardin produce a description of plant
biostimulants based on the available literature. This description of biostimulants states that they
consist of a substance that is either a single chemical compound or a group that is of biological origin.
A biostimulant may also consist of a microorganism including bacteria or fungi. Biostimulants are
applied to a plant or surrounding area that has a direct positive effect on the plant function(du Jardin,
2015). The European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC) also adds this definition that
biostimulants may act on the rhizosphere to have a positive effect on the plant (European
Biostimulants Industry Council, 2013) As reviewed by du Jardin in 2015 a number of compounds are
classified as plant biostimulants. These compounds include Humic and Fulvic acids, Inorganic
compounds such elements and inorganic acids, Biopolymers, Proteins, and nitrogen-containing
compounds. Plant biostimulants may also include phytohormones and hormone-like compounds,
such as polyamines and sterols. These compounds contribute to soil fertility, increased or modulate
nutrient uptake, protect against abiotic and biotic stress and increase crop yield and quality, likewise
fungi and bacteria confer the same effects but this is usually species or strain-specific in their (du
Jardin, 2015). In addition, fungi may form hyphal networks within the plant community transferring
nutrients between individual plants(Simard et al., 1997). It is also noted that seaweed extract and
botanical’s may also act as biostimulants. Contributing plant like hormones such as cytokines, auxins,
abscisic acid, and gibberellins.

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