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Brussels, Belgium
27 March, 2009
Source:
CropLife International
As the
Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) prepares to open its
Future of Agriculture symposium,
CropLife International
highlights the need to maintain agriculture at the forefront of
the international agenda in order to ensure a sustainable,
socially-responsible and effective response to the challenges
that we face in feeding the world. Plant science technology
offers innovative tools that can help meet these challenges as
part of a broader, sustained international response framework.
Global challenges
We collectively face a number of pressing issues in ensuring a
sustainable future for agriculture, including rapid population
growth, diminishing natural resources, and climate change.
By 2030, the world population is expected to grow by a further
1.7 billion. By this same date, the ratio of arable land to
population is expected to have declined by 40-55%. Further
challenges are posed as water becomes an increasingly contested
resource and climate change threatens to render swathes of land
uncultivable. To cope with these effects, the world’s farmers
need to double, or even treble food production by 2050.
Innovative, effective tools
The plant science industry invests considerable resources in
developing innovative solutions that can help to feed the world
sustainably and adapt to these challenges. For example, drought
and heat tolerant seeds are being developed and will be on the
market in the coming years, which will help grow food in more
extreme climates resulting from climate change and water
scarcity. Pesticide use helps fight against pests and disease
that plague crops and reduce yields, both during cultivation and
following harvest. Biotech crops can also raise yields, thus
improving productivity and ensuring less land is used in
agriculture. This ensures that the encroachment of agriculture
onto non-agricultural land is limited, thus preserving
biodiversity and wildlife.
Need for a coordinated, international response
These benefits can only be fully brought to bear if part of a
coordinated, sustained international response to the challenges
and global issues that will be discussed at the Symposium.
CropLife therefore calls for a policy framework to be
implemented at the international level, which addresses the
challenges that we face in feeding the world in a sustainable
manner, and recognises the variety of solutions that are
required to help meet these challenges.
The OECD symposium on the Future of Agriculture will run from
March 30-31, 2009. The symposium gathers policy makers and
business figures to address global economic developments shaping
the future of agri-food; competing claims with regards to
resources and climate change; the contribution of innovation and
technology; links with non-agricultural sectors; and what the
future holds in store for agro-food. The symposium takes place
in Paris. |
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