This feature story from the World Resources Institute follows the style of relentlessly negative reporting typical of donor supported institutions.

"The unprecedented scale of agricultural expansion and intensification in the past 30 years has raised concerns about the state of the world's agroecosystems. Can they withstand stresses like soil erosion and salinization and meet the food needs of an additional 1.7 billion people over the next 20 years?"

The report does grudgingly admit that the situation is far better than it was 30 years ago and grudgingly mentions the possibilities of modern agricultural technologies for answering the growing needs for food. The report is worth reading for the data but it will be helpful to also read the article linked in the post below about emerging argo-ecological technologies.