Washington, May 17 (ANI): Countries around the world need to increase agricultural production as soon as possible, as demand for food will double in coming decades, say a renowned international agricultural scientist.
Like countries throughout the world, Malaysia will need double its current food production by 2050 due to population growth and rising living standards.
At a meeting in New York with Malaysia's Prime Minister and other senior leaders, Dr. Aalt A. Dijkhuizen, President and Chairman of the Executive Board, Wageningen University and Research Centre in The Netherlands, said meeting that daunting challenge is possible but results will be gradual and efforts must begin now.
Dr. Dijkhuizen, also detailed ways to secure the future of the country's food supply through seed research, a more sophisticated universal system of forecasting relevant crop prices, and high-tech assisted "precision farming."
"It is certainly possible to double food production in Malaysia through techniques and technologies within the financial reach of all, coupled with training, management support and other capacity building measures," Dr. Dijkhuizen told fellow members of Malaysia's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) -- a unique assembly of all-star international and Malaysian experts and leaders created to guide Malaysian development.
Specifically, the program includes:
Increased harvests per hectare, especially in rice, through plant species research and substitution to both improve salt tolerance and reduce water use. At the same time, the breeding efforts would improve food safety by reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides;
Better prediction of crop prices based on global harvests data and forecasts collected from nations worldwide. Working closely with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Dr. Dijkhuizen's institute is a world leader in this field; and
Precision farming, using information and communication technologies to collect data from the field and better inform farming decisions such as when and what to plant, along with training to improve growing, harvesting and other management practices.
Rice is a staple crop on which initial focus is recommended. It uses a lot of water, which will become even scarcer than it is now, Dr. Dijkhuizen added, and intense research is underway worldwide on breeds of rice that use less water and produce more food.
Better predicting the supplies of various crops produced both regionally and worldwide in a given season will enlighten forecasts of prices associated with them and help farmers, consumers and governments prepare for unexpected-sometimes catastrophic-changes in prices.
Dr. Dijkhuizen said the FAO is embarked on creation of a global database designed to serve this purpose.
Oversupplies of just 1percent of a given crop often upend global market price by as much as 5 to 7 percent. When a given crop is plentiful, people don't eat more of it immediately, he notes, causing price drops and losses to farmers and industry. Conversely, when there are shortages, competition forces up the price of food commodities people want.
Evolving technologies that improve forecasts of heat, precipitation and other local weather conditions, and sensors that can measure a field's soil fertility levels, all offer important information for decisions about how much pesticides and fertilizer are needed for crop success.
"These technologies are becoming so cheap and accessible, they are available for small scale farming as well as for industrial-sized farms," stated Dr. Dijkhuizen.
Dr. Dijkhuizen praises Malaysia for initiating steps to secure its food supply because improvements will be gradual, with annual food production increases estimated at 2 or 3 percent when sufficient efforts are applied.
"It is certain that demand for food will double in coming decades. Countries need to start working on addressing this need as soon as possible. If you wait until there is an urgent need to increase production, you are too late," he said.
Chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Dato' Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the year-old GSIAC is comprised of international experts in education, economics, business, science and technology, each volunteering to help the Asian country achieve an environmentally-sustainable, high-income economy driven by knowledge and innovation. (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
