Global population growth has slowed from its peak decades ago, but the absolute number of people added each year remains large because the base population is now so much bigger. In agriculture-dependent economies, this means the number of people the land must support keeps rising even as the rate of population growth itself falls, adding pressure to raise farm productivity rather than simply expand cultivated area, which is increasingly scarce.

Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?