Cereals and Food Security by Sustainable Management: A Half-Century Perspective

Cereals consumed directly account for over half average human diet; when cereals are included that are fed first through livestock for meat, milk and egg production, this rises to some 75% of global human diet. They are thus crucial to Food Security. Given the high proportion of arable land which they occupy, their management is hugely influential in attaining sustainable environmental care. This Paper considers key changes in management practices for cereals during the past half century in response to economic, technological and policy signals and opportunities. In particular, it references some changes and opinions from a Farmers’ Study (FARMS) Group now in its 47th harvest year of Methodical Monitoring Management in the West of England with which the author has been associated since its inception. Policy changes to strengthen environmental management goals towards sustainability have increased in pressure during the C21st . Some farmers and others have growing concerns that the balance is tipping away from due effort to maintain Food Security. Interdependence of Food Security and Sustainable Environmental Management is self-evident and neither aspect must subsume the other. Farmer consent and Farmer Managerial Sovereignty are crucial to interdependent progress. FARMS Groups can contribute powerfully to this ongoing process.