Fig 1.
Flow chart showing the procedure used to design agricultural input and management strategies required to close yield gaps.
The light green boxes represent the input data obtained from GAEZv3.0 [26]. The applied procedures are symbolized by the light orange diamonds, which are explained in S2 Text. The light red box shows the obtained result.
Fig 2.
Location specific ratio of high-input crop calorie production attained in 2000.
A ratio of 1 represents regions that have achieved their high-input crop calorie production.
Fig 3.
Regions that can achieve food self-sufficiency (FSS) based on their current crop production, have the potential to be food self-sufficient by attaining high-input (hi) yields, can only increase crop production (ICP) or almost attained high-input yields but are crop insufficient (CIS) by country (con) and by moisture regime (arid (ar) and humid (hm)) for 2000.
Since agricultural production constraints and agricultural management vary with agro-climatic conditions, the results are presented by country moisture regime going beyond national scales. NA represents regions with missing data.
Fig 4.
Regions that can achieve food self-sufficiency (FSS) based on their current crop production have the potential to be food self-sufficient by attaining high-input (hi) yields, can only increase crop production (ICP) or almost attained high-input yields but are crop insufficient (CIS) by country (con) and by moisture regime (arid (ar) and humid (hm)) considering two scenarios for 2050.
(a) changes in population only, and (b) changes in population and dietary patterns. Since agricultural production constraints and agricultural management vary with agro-climatic conditions, the results are presented by country moisture regime going beyond national scales. NA represents regions with missing data.
Fig 5.
Location specific agricultural input and management strategies as required in different parts of the world to achieve high-input potential yields in addition to adequate fertilizer application (F).
The strategies consist of soil quality management (S), managing accessibility to markets (A), weather induced yield variability management (V), and management of pests, diseases, and weeds (P). The different management strategies can have combinations of the individual elements (F, S, A, V, and P).
Table 1.
Regional overview of additional crop calories that can be produced on rain-fed cultivated land by closing yield gaps with various management strategies in addition to adequate fertilizer application (F).
Fig 6.
Additional amounts of macro-nutrients (N, P2O5, and K2O) uptake by crop yields (Y) and crop residues (R) by attaining high-input potential yields compared to that with low-input yields, and the amount of fertilizers applied (A) in the year 2010 on a continental scale.