13November 2026, Rome: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a publication calling for a shift in how the world grows crops, urging countries to boost productivity and build resilience while using fewer resources and cutting crop losses and pollution.
“Optimization and Minimization: Towards sustainable plant production” sets out how science, technology, innovation and supportive policies can help put that approach into practice. FAO calls it “producing more with less for the betters.”
It is designed to support government officials and decision makers, farmers and crop systems practitioners (industry, academia, research, civil society, and grassroots organizations), development partners and all other relevant stakeholders working to advance the transformation of agrifood systems.
Global agrifood systems face an increasingly interconnected set of demographic, environmental, and climatic pressures. Plant pests destroy up to 40 percent of global crop production each year. Topics include seed systems, cropping systems, resource use efficiency, integrated pest management, pesticide management, agricultural mechanization and digitalization, and cross-cutting agricultural extension and advisory services.
“A transition toward sustainable plant production is essential – one that optimizes productivity while preserving the environment,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu writes in the foreword.
Plant production provides more than 80 percent of the calories consumed by people and is expected to supply about 80 percent of the additional food needed by 2050. The sourcebook sets out a systems-based approach that links five areas: seed systems, cropping systems, integrated plant pest management, agricultural mechanization, and agricultural extension and advisory services.
Together, these areas determine whether farmers can obtain suitable, high-quality seed; apply science-based practices adapted to local conditions; manage pests while limiting unnecessary pesticide use; use labour and other resources more efficiently; and access the knowledge, technologies, and skills needed to improve production and livelihoods.
The modular sourcebook supports the transition to plant production systems that produce more with less, as set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–31, especially in low-input smallholder systems. At the heart of the Strategic Framework, the four betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – guide FAO’s work to end hunger and poverty, reduce inequalities and accelerate progress across the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The sourcebook will be a practical reference for researchers, extension agents, farmers and policymakers working to make cropping systems more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.
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