Cereals such as wheat, rice and maize have seen average global yields roughly triple over the past six decades. Higher yields came from improved seed varieties, synthetic fertilisers, irrigation, pesticides and better machinery, which together let farmers grow more on the same land. This mattered because it allowed food output to keep pace with a fast-growing population while limiting how much forest and grassland had to be ploughed. Millet and sorghum, staples in many dry regions of Africa and Asia, have improved much less over the same period.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.