Know Your Community—Gaining Access to Agronomic Inputs

T he challenge to feed 7 billion people today and 9 billion in 2050 will rely heavily on more yield per unit of soil under production. No doubt this will require improved access to modern agricultural inputs (e.g., seed, fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation) by smallholder growers in the developing world combined with extension efforts to educate growers on how to use such inputs properly in intensified, sustainable crop production. Numerous barriers exist to the distribution of agronomic inputs to the world’s farmers in developing countries. The ASA Global Agronomy Section has the experience and network of contacts necessary to overcome such barriers to access and impact on smallholder farmers in the developing world.