More than two centuries ago, T.R. Malthus postulated the human
reproductive capacity being higher than the earth’s feeding capacity.
As last decades’ population growth proved Malthus theory wrong,
experts agree that this can be attributed to the application of technology
in agriculture, leading to a significant enhancement of unit yields
(first green revolution). However, heavy social and environmental
costs were paid to reach such stunning achievements; moreover, they
have seemingly gained a steady level, owing to increasing pressure of
several limiting factors (e.g., soils, water, and nutrients availability;
global change, etc.). Malthus prediction is therefore still relevant when
trying to match population growth and food availability: the time
seems ripe to launch a second green revolution, focused on lowimpact,
easily accessible technologies.
