Canopy Light and Plant Health

During the course of this century, increasing human population and economic development will continue to put pressure on agricultural systems for increased crop yields (Rosegrant and Cline, 2003; Foley et al., 2005). Grains produced for livestock feed and biofuels are now competing for space with crops intended for human consumption (Foley et al., 2011), which means that in order to meet increasing global food demand and multiple objectives for arable land, new crop varieties with improved performance will have to be developed. At the same time, the use of fertilization, irrigation, and pesticides is very likely to increase (Oerke, 2006; Jaggard et al., 2010). The intensification of agricultural practices, however, creates environmental and health concerns, which are already a matter of significant scientific and social debate. Alternative methods to increase crop yields without agricultural expansion and under conditions of reduced chemical use are urgently required.