New technology must be developed to enhance food production in order to meet the needs of the world’s growing population, a leading US agricultural economist has claimed.
Kansas State University’s Ted Schroeder has said that dramatic increases in food prices, social unrest over food security and the growing world population have brought the need to increase food production into sharp relief.
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Citing increased corn yields in Iowa, Schroeder said that, while technologies such as genetic engineering are not a “magic wand”, they could “contribute significantly” to increasing food production.
“Technology discovery, technology development and technology adoption are huge in terms of food prices, who will produce the food and how we’re going to feed the world,” he said.
“Any technology that increases our ability to understand and predict how an animal or plant is likely to react to a stimulus or environmental factor, or technology that targets managing specific food product attributes produced from crops and livestock, is going to make a substantial difference in providing affordable, high-quality, safe food to the growing base of global consumers,” Schroeder said.
