Robert Berendes, Head of Global Business Development at Syngenta, spoke at the 2009 Agri Vision event in the Netherlands. The event, which took place from 16-18 June, provided a discussion platform at strategic level on current and future concerns in feed-to-food chains.

Closing the food gap with crop technology

“How do we produce more food from diminishing resources? The challenge is familiar, the answers are at hand, but we need to agree on using them. The latter point is important. We have the potential to produce more. Crop seeds available today produce yields that are far higher than 15 or 20 years ago but potential yields are even higher. Yields could increase by a further 15–25%. “There is much focus on the role of genetically modified crops, but although GM is an important technology, it is not the only and ultimate solution to growing more food. We will need to fully employ the complete range of technologies of today’s generation of pesticides, seeds and seed treatment products.

“There is progress on many fronts and research has a promising pipeline. Making greater use of molecular biology in plant breeding can deliver important advances. Characteristics such as drought tolerance can be added and the ability to thrive with less nitrogen or in nutrient poor soils. And new pesticides can go beyond traditional pest control; they help plants grow stronger and faster and perform better, even if there were no pests, diseases or weeds to control. As an example, chemical seed treatment can create faster development of root systems on germination, giving crops a better start. These advances already exist ‘in the greenhouse’ and they will deliver yield benefits when they are taken into the fields.

“However, politics and regulations prevail. The European Union is known to be one of the most negative regions with respect to these technologies, and political discussions are often not science-based. There is also a need to improve the protection of intellectual property in some parts of the world. Companies are less willing to invest and innovate if the results are copied by others without cost. Overcoming these barriers will already solve part of the food security problem and encourage efforts to make further progress.

“Over recent history we have increased the yields per hectare by around 1% per year, partly by using more water, and increased total production by using more land. However, world population growth and rising living standards mean we need to increase at more than twice that rate just to keep up. The technology we have today, and foresee for tomorrow, can close the food gap by providing farmers with these innovations and the knowledge to use land and water more efficiently while conserving biodiversity. Together, industry, farmers, governments and other stakeholders can unlock the potential of plants.”

- Download Robert Berendes' speech at 2009 Agri Vision.
- Download the full text as printed in Agri Vision Magazine here.
- Read more about Agri Vision 2009 here.