Chapter 1. R. Rabbinge. 1993. The ecological background of food production. Pages 2-29. In: Derek J. Chadwick, Joan Marsh (editors). 1993. Crop Protection and Sustainable Agriculture. Ciba Foundation Symposium 177. Chichester, UK. John Wiley Interscience Publication, 285 pages.

Keywords: history of agriculture, agriculture and fertilizers, wheat yields in The Netherlands1900-2000, characteristics of old and new varieties of winter wheat grown under optimal conditions, potential, attainable and actual production levels, potential production, the production of organic matter in leaves varies with light intensity, attainable and actual production, growth rates of different crops during the season, relationship between potential, attainable, and actual yields and growth-defining, growth-limiting and growth-reducing factors, crop physiology, crop growth-reducing factors, stand reducers, light stealers, assimilation rate reducers, assimilate sappers and tissue consumers, control of insect pests and diseases, potential production in the world, potential production of all land area between 70oN and 50o and the potential number of people who could be fed, production efficiency: green revolution, energy production and consumption related to four different methods of maize production, green revolutions, wheat and rice, environmental effects of agriculture, environmental effects of poverty, environmental effects of wealth, rates of nutrient loss from arable land in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1983, primary and secondary production, crop injury by the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens,