|
|
 |
|
|
Agricultural expert outlines path for developing nations to doublefood production, meet 2050 demand by ferujkll sdff
|
|
|
Agricultural expert outlines path for developing nations to doublefood production, meet 2050 demand by FERUJKLL SDFF
|
|
| Article Posted: 12/03/2012 |
| Article Views: 76 |
| Articles Written: 2023 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR |
| Word Count: 1211 |
| Article Votes: 0 |
|
Agricultural expert outlines path for developing nations to doublefood production, meet 2050 demand |
|
|
|
|
|
Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
|
|
Like countries throughout the world, Malaysia will need double itscurrent food production by 2050 due to population growth and risingliving standards. At a meeting in New York with Malaysia's PrimeMinister and other senior leaders, a renowned internationalagricultural scientist says meeting that daunting challenge ispossible but results will be gradual and efforts must begin now. Dr. Aalt A. Dijkhuizen, President and Chairman of the ExecutiveBoard, Wageningen University and Research Centre in TheNetherlands, detailed ways to secure the future of the country'sfood supply through seed research, a more sophisticated universalsystem of forecasting relevant crop prices, and high-tech assisted"precision farming." "It is certainly possible to double food production in Malaysiathrough techniques and technologies within the financial reach ofall, coupled with training, management support and other capacitybuilding measures," Dr.
Dijkhuizen told fellow members ofMalaysia's Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) -a unique assembly of all-star international and Malaysian expertsand leaders created to guide Malaysian development. Specifically, the program includes: + Increased harvests per hectare, especially in rice, through plantspecies research and substitution to both improve salt toleranceand reduce water use. At the same time, the breeding efforts wouldimprove food safety by reducing the need for fertilizers andpesticides; + Better prediction of crop prices based on global harvests dataand forecasts collected from nations worldwide. Working closelywith the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Dr. Dijkhuizen'sinstitute is a world leader in this field; and + Precision farming, using information and communicationtechnologies to collect data from the field and better informfarming decisions such as when and what to plant, along withtraining to improve growing, harvesting and other managementpractices.
Rice is a staple crop on which initial focus is recommended. Ituses a lot of water, which will become even more scarce than it isnow, Dr. Dijkhuizen adds, and intense research is underwayworldwide on breeds of rice that use less water and produce morefood. Better predicting the supplies of various crops produced bothregionally and worldwide in a given season will enlighten forecastsof prices associated with them and help farmers, consumers andgovernments prepare for unexpected - sometimes catastrophic -changes in prices.
Dr. Dijkhuizen says the FAO is embarked on creation of a globaldatabase designed to serve this purpose. Oversupplies of just 1% of a given crop often upend global marketprice by as much as 5 to 7%. When a given crop is plentiful, peopledon't eat more of it immediately, he notes, causing price drops andlosses to farmers and industry. Conversely, when there areshortages, competition forces up the price of food commoditiespeople want.
Evolving technologies that improve forecasts of heat, precipitationand other local weather conditions, and sensors that can measure afield's soil fertility levels, all offer important information fordecisions about how much pesticides and fertilizer are needed forcrop success. "These technologies are becoming so cheap and accessible, they areavailable for small scale farming as well as for industrial-sizedfarms," says Dr. Dijkhuizen. The Netherlands is relatively small in territory, he notes, but hasbecome the world's second largest food exporter due in part toenormous investments in advanced systems such as greenhousefacilities with regulated temperatures and precise water andfertilizer conditions.
In such circumstances, up to 20 times moreproduce results compared with traditional outdoor crop systems, andwith less than half the fertilizer input. Dr. Dijkhuizen praises Malaysia for initiating steps to secure itsfood supply because improvements will be gradual, with annual foodproduction increases estimated at 2 or 3% when sufficient effortsare applied. "It is certain that demand for food will double in coming decades,"he says. "Countries need to start working on addressing this needas soon as possible.
If you wait until there is an urgent need toincrease production, you are too late." Chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Dato' Sri Mohd. Najib TunAbdul Razak, the year-old GSIAC is today comprised of internationalexperts in education, economics, business, science and technology,each volunteering to help the Asian country achieve anenvironmentally-sustainable, high-income economy driven byknowledge and innovation. Host of the meeting in Manhattan is the New York Academy ofSciences, which co-chairs the GSIAC Secretariat and last yearhelped assemble international Council members from China, India,Russia, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, the UK and the USA,including two Nobel laureates. "Food is the essence of human life," Prime Minister Najib told theCouncil.
"For those in the rich world, it's often about grocerystores, or even about menus. But for the billions of people who gohungry every day, it's about survival. It's about empty plates andbowls and families whose children will see a life's opportunitieslimited because of the lack of nutritious food that has harmedtheir ability to grow and learn." Progress across a range of GSIAC projects GSIAC and Malaysian experts offered updates on other Councilprograms, including the Malaysian Biomass Initiatives (MBI),designed to substantially increase high-skilled jobs and addbillions of dollars to national revenue by converting waste fromthe country's massive palm oil industry into green industrialchemicals, biofuels and other products. The Council's expertise isbeing engaged to help maximise the industry's already valuableyield. Other GSIAC initiatives involve building human capacity and publicresearch assets, "Digital Malaysia," and the demonstration ofefficient, high-tech model "Smart Communities," in which anintegrated system of information and other technologies helpmaximize efficiency in Malaysian healthcare, education,transportation and energy use.
The Academy has agreed to leverageits extensive network of world-leading experts in "SmartCommunities" to develop a detailed technological framework forpilot projects. Heading the GSIAC Secretariat is Ellis Rubinstein, AcademyPresident and Chief Executive Officer, and Zakri Abdul Hamid (Dr.A.H. Zakri), Science Advisor to Prime Minister of Malaysia, andco-chair of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group on HighTechnology (MIGHT). Says Mr.
Rubinstein: "The GSIAC, in just one year, has catalyzed analliance among competitors in the palm oil industry, a cornerstoneof Malaysia's economy. This has taken an entire industry to thevery tipping point of a massive economic transformation for thenation. "We have set the stage for establishing a multi-sector,multi-application, integrated Smart Communities pilot project thatcould transform the services available to its citizenry whilecreating thousands of jobs. And, the GSIAC has embarked on anunprecedented alliance to improve education at every level from'Cradle to Career.' "The GSIAC a truly unique and visionary creation. Nowhere else havewe seen such a holistic approach, well integrated with the privatesector, being taken up by a national government." Says Prof.
Zakri: "GSIAC has provided us with an unprecedentedopportunity to advance our local capacities in both scale andeffectiveness. Thanks to the New York Academy of Sciences, we havea chance to work with a partnership of many of the world's leadingmultinational companies - usually competitors but, for us, comingtogether - and experts from universities around the world. Thisalliance gives us confidence we can take up in Malaysia the bestpractices so far demonstrated anywhere in the world. It opens thedoor to major foreign investment.
And it gives us a chance that noother government - either regional or national - has anywhere elsein the world: to develop a staged, integrated solution to ourcitizen's needs that will dramatically increase efficiencies ofscale as well as metrics of performance and impact just by virtueof being an integrated, fully thought out plan from the outset.". I am an expert from Special Purpose Bags & Cases, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as quantum spinning reel , silk sleep sack.
Related Articles -
quantum spinning reel, silk sleep sack,
|
Rate This Article  |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you Agree or Disagree? Have a Comment? POST IT!
| Reader Opinions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author Login |
|
|
 |
Advertiser Login
ADVERTISE HERE NOW!
Limited Time $60 Offer!
90 Days-1.5 Million Views
|
|
TIM FAY
After 60-plus years of living, I am just trying to pass down some of the information that I have lea...more
|
|
|
|
|
LAURA JEEVES
At LeadGenerators, we specialise in content-led Online Marketing Strategies for our clients in the t...more
|
|
|
|
|
ALEX BELSEY
I am the editor of QUAY Magazine, a B2B publication based in the South West of the UK. I am also the...more
|
|
|
|
|
GENE MYERS
Author of four books and two screenplays; frequent magazine contributor. I have four other books "in...more
|
|
|
|
|
SUSAN FRIESEN
Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, ...more
|
|
|
|
|
STEPHEN BYE
Steve Bye is currently a fiction writer, who published his first novel, ‘Looking Forward Through the...more
|
|
|
|
|
SHALINI MITTAL
A postgraduate in Fashion Technology. Shalini is a writer at heart! Writing for her is an expression...more
|
|
|
|
|
ADRIAN JOELE
I have been involved in nutrition and weight management for over 12 years and I like to share my kn...more
|
|
|
|
|
JAMES KENNY
James is a Research Enthusiast that focuses on the understanding of how things work and can be impro...more
|
|
|
|
