Washington, DC
May 1, 2008
Global food prices have increased
by 83% over the past three years, according to a recent report
by the World Bank*. Rising food prices have led to violent
public protests in Asia and Africa.
A variety of factors are impacting food prices, but five stand
out:
- Strong economic growth in
the world's most heavily populated countries – China and
India – is changing diets in these countries and increasing
the demand for grains, cereals and meats, the later highly
dependent on grains.
- Energy is a significant
cost of producing food, and record oil prices are making it
more expensive for farmers to buy fertilizer and power their
farm equipment. Rising energy prices also increase the cost
of processing foodstuffs and transporting them to markets
and consumers.
- Poor weather and drought
conditions are reducing crop yields in some countries, such
as Australia (a leading grain producer), parts of Africa,
and central and western Asia.
- Rising urbanization across
the developing world impacts food production in two ways:
fewer farmers in rural areas, and changing urban diets –
more people eating more food.
- In the face of potential
shortages, some food-producing countries are cutting back on
exports to better manage the domestic social impact of
escalating prices.
As a result of these combined
factors, world commodity stocks are declining. According to the
United Nations' Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), global cereal stocks are
today only enough to meet demand for eight to twelve weeks, and
grain supplies are at their lowest level since the 1980s. The
FAO is encouraging developing countries to invest in irrigation,
storage facilities, and rural infrastructure to increase
agricultural productivity and meet the challenge of food
security.
Here in the United States, farmers have increased crop yields
over the past decade with the aid of agricultural biotechnology.
Today, 73% of the U.S. corn acreage is planted with
biotechnology varieties. Corn yields have increased 33.1% since
1996, when the first biotech variety was commercially planted.
In addition, with about 90% of the U.S. soybean acreage now
planted with biotech varieties, soybean yields increased 16.7%
between 1995 and 2007**. Outside the United States, farmers in
Argentina, Brazil and Canada have seen corn, soy and canola
yields increase with the introduction of biotech crop varieties.
Researchers in agricultural biotechnology companies are
developing new plant technologies that will enable crops to
consume less water and increase their resistance to drought and
pests, all of which will produce even greater crop yields. The
benefits of agricultural biotechnology are passed on through a
seed or a plant cutting, so that farmers everywhere around the
world can share in this technology – especially in developing
countries where most people farm for a living, and which today
is experiencing the most serious food shortages.
Through technological innovations such as agricultural
biotechnology, farmers around the world are able to increase
crop production to provide for global food and fuel needs.
To learn more about the benefits of agricultural biotechnology,
please visit
www.whybiotech.com.
* Source: Rising Food Prices: Policy Options and World Bank
Response, The World Bank, April 2008
** Source: NASS, U.S. Department of Agriculture
The Council for
Biotechnology Information communicates science-based
information about the benefits and safety of agricultural and
food biotechnology to sustainable development. Sustainable
development seeks to balance and integrate immediate and
long-term community needs. It helps enhance our quality of life
today, as well as to protect, preserve, and fulfill our needs in
the future. Sustainable agriculture is a key component of
sustainable development, particularly because it allows for
economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural
practices. In the United States agricultural biotechnology is
contributing today to sustainable agricultural practices, and it
has the potential to make even greater contributions in the
future through production of biofuels to help meet energy needs;
development of drought-tolerant plants to better preserve and
manage water resources; and increased crop production to feed
our nation and the world's growing population. CBI members are
the leading agricultural biotechnology companies. |
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