As populations continued to grow, there was a need to select and produce crops with higher yields. The Green Revolution of the twentieth century helped to make these higher yields possible. Basic information supplied by biological scientists allowed agricultural scientists to develop new, higher-yielding varieties of numerous crops, particularly the seed grains which supply most of the calories necessary for maintenance of the world's population. These higher-yielding crop varieties, along with improved farming methods, resulted in tremendous increases in the world's food supply.
The new crop varieties also led to an increased reliance on monoculture. While the practice of growing only one crop over a vast number of acres has resulted in much higher yields, it has also decreased the genetic variability of many agricultural plants, increased the need for commercial fertilizers, and produced an increased susceptibility to damage from a host of biotic and abiotic factors. These latter two developments have resulted in a tremendous growth in the agricultural chemical industry. Today's modern agricultural unit requires relatively few employees, is highly mechanized, devotes large amounts of land to the production of only one crop, and is highly reliant on agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.
See also: Agricultural Diversity, Water and Irrigation, Commercial Impact
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