Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Meat ration

This refers to the article “Meat rations to save climate” (October 1) Demographer Thomas Malthus was right. He said “Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.” Food production can increase only in an arithmetical ratio. We are better at reproducing than feeding ourselves. The United Nations expects the world’s population to cross the 9-billion mark by 2050. Can the world food production keep pace?

According plant physiologist Lloyd T. Evans, we need to reach an average yield of four tonnes a hectare against the current production of three tonnes. The worry is about peak grain production and, according to some, we are already past the peak grain production. It is believed that the world’s per capita cereal production already passed its peak in the mid-1980s. The United Nations, in a 2006 study, cited meat consumption as one of the most significant factors responsible for global warming. The future will be bleak if we do not act now. Year 2050 is not far, it is only 40 years away.

H.N. Ramakrishna,

Bangalore

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