Singapore, 11 July 2018 – As Asia and others around the globe recognize World Population Day, CropLife Asia and the region’s plant science industry repledged their commitment to provide farmers with agricultural innovations that can help them grow more food to feed the growing population while tackling challenges such as the increasing impact of climate change. World Population Day is celebrated each year to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.

 According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the global population is expected to reach roughly 10 billion by 2050. To meet the population growth demands, the FAO also estimates food production will have to increase by 50% globally.

 Meanwhile, the detrimental effect climate change is having on farmers trying to produce more food presents a growing dilemma. Studies show climate change could cause a decline of as much as 23% in production across major crops such as maize, wheat, rice and soybeans by 2050.  Due to climate change, the protein content for staple crops like barley, rice, wheat and potatoes is also vulnerable to reduction. Other research indicates that zinc and iron content of staple crops could also be impacted; specifically, iron concentrations with maize are projected to fall by as much as 10% according to International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). This development would put around 1.4 billion children at risk of major iron deficiencies by 2050.

 “Ensuring farmers are equipped to produce more food for a growing population is not a responsibility for one industry on World Population Day alone, it’s a commitment all food chain stakeholders share together every single day of the year,” said Dr. Siang Hee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia. “The plant science industry in Asia takes this commitment very seriously and continues to work with regional governments, civil society and others to help farmers produce more food in face of increasing challenges and with fewer impacts on the world around us.”

 Since the adoption of biotech crops in 1996, 183 million hectares of land have been saved from plowing and cultivation. Additionally, global economic gains contributed by biotech crops from 1996-2016 helped alleviate poverty through uplifting the economic situation of 16-17 million smallholder farmers and their families worldwide.

 The innovations of crop protection technology are also helping farmers not only produce abundant, safe, quality food at affordable prices but also increase yields. Since 1960, crop protection products have helped triple the production of major crops. Food crops compete with 30,000 species of weeds, 3,000 species of nematodes and 10,000 species of plant-eating insects, all of which if left unmitigated would destroy up to 40% of the world’s food production each year.

About CropLife Asia

CropLife Asia is a non-profit society and the regional organization of CropLife International, the voice of the global plant science industry.  We advocate a safe, secure food supply, and our vision is food security enabled by innovative agriculture.  CropLife Asia supports the work of 15 member associations across the continent and is led by seven member companies at the forefront of crop protection, seeds and/or biotechnology research and development.  For more information, visit us at www.croplifeasia.org. 

For more information please contact:

Duke Hipp                                                                                           

Director, Public Affairs                                                                       

CropLife Asia                                                                        

Tel: (65) 6221 1615                                                                                                            

duke.hipp@croplifeasia.org                                             

Originally published on farmingfirst.org. Article can be found here.

Only healthy soils will be able to fulfill the Herculean task of growing the food our planet requires both now and in the future. In this guest post, Dr. J. Scott Angle, President and CEO of IFDC, discusses how the agroecological approach of Integrated Soil Fertility Management can build healthier soils and a healthier planet. This is the third installment of Farming First’s “Agroecology in Action” series, produced ahead of the Second  International Symposium on Agroecology held by the FAO in Rome from 3-5th April 2018.

In the late eighties, the water quality and aquatic life of the Chesapeake Bay were under threat. As human activity and farming in the region had increased, so had its impacts on the local environment.

That is when a group of scientists, including myself, founded the Maryland Centre for Agroecology. Our mission then is how I would define agroecology now – creating a road map to help farmers be productive, while reducing their impact on the environment.

In the case of Chesapeake Bay, this relied a great deal on encouraging farmers to only apply nutrients from the right source, in the right place, at the right time and the right rate (known as the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship). This results in less cost for the farmer, less runoff into the environment, and also allows the plant to use the nutrients that are applied more effectively. Planting cover crops to absorb nutrients before they reach the bay has also gone a long way to solving this challenge.

Pleasing the Wizard and the Prophet

Agroecology seeks to merge two visions of farming: one that seeks to grow the right quantity and quality of food, with one that protects natural resources. These two visions can, and should be balanced to create approaches that can deliver on both objectives.

In Charles C. Mann’s bestselling book “The Wizard and the Prophet”, he personifies these two approaches as scientists Norman Borlaug, hailed as the man who saved a billion lives through his high yielding wheat variety, and William Vogt, the intellectual forefather of the environmental movement, who was fiercely cautious of using more than the environment had to give.

Although the book was unable to reconcile the perspectives of these two men, it is not only possible, but essential that we as global community are able to. We need to produce more food for our growing population – that is an undisputed fact. We will have ten billion people on the planet by 2050, but no additional land or water. So it is agriculture’s job to harness approaches from the environmental community, such as organic or conservation farming that can be integrated into more traditional agriculture.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management: When Organic Meets Mineral

A great example of this is Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), which relies on application of both organic and mineral fertilizer to achieve optimum soil health. Improving soil health so it can perform natural functions such as carbon capture and water retention is a cornerstone of agroecology. Organic fertilizer is incredibly important, as it is a natural source of nutrients and organic matter. Unfortunately, there is just not enough of it. To have enough manure to produce enough food for the growing population, we would need a great deal more animals on the planet, which have their own impact on the environment. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged to use all the organic matter that they can, and then supplement it with mineral fertilizers. This is Integrated Soil Fertility Management.

Mineral fertilizer can be more precise in directing nutrients to the plant. Custom blends can be produced that address the exact soil deficiencies in the region. They can be coated, to ensure that the nutrient is released slowly over time, in a way that allows the plant to absorb it effectively. They can be compacted into briquettes and placed deep near the roots, which also improves its efficiency.

Fertilizer is in fact responsible for 50 per cent of the food grown worldwide. In regions like Africa, where up to 60 per cent of soils are estimated to be degraded, it is possible to double, if not triple or quadruple yields through the judicious use of the right fertilizer.

But it is not only the crop that can be harvested and eaten or sold that benefits. Crops that have been nourished adequately also have a much larger root system. These are made from carbon dioxide that was pulled out of the atmosphere by the plant, and then incorporated into the soil as soil organic matter. It can be argued, therefore, that the proper use of fertilizer can actually become a solution to the problem of excess greenhouse gases, as it helps us capture carbon out of the atmosphere and tie it up in the soil. When soil has more organic matter, it has greater water holding capacity, it can store more micronutrients and supress disease, but crucially it is able to hold carbon in the soil for tens of thousands of years that would otherwise exist in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

It is very important to manage the application of these products appropriately. We would struggle to eliminate them completely, because we have to grow the food we need. The goal instead should be to use them in a way that maximizes their efficiency, which ISFM promotes.

Other ISFM strategies include crop rotation, legume introduction, and crop-livestock integration systems.

For Sunday Oyo, who has benefitted from our 2Scale project in Nigeria, the use of ISFM has unlocked much needed credit to expand his farming business. He gained access to hybrid seeds of tomato, and was educated on good agronomic practices such as trellising the tomatoes to avoid rotting. Thanks to a combination of fertilizers applied in the right quantities and in the right time and place, Sunday was able to quadruple his yields – a feat previously unthinkable.

Sunday Ojo and his family show off their produce.

Fertile and productive soils are vital components of stable societies, and ISFM strategies protect these. As one ancient Sanskrit text states, “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it, and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.” Our reliance on the soil is as strong today as it was then, and we need to adopt agroecological practices that will help us protect it for future generations that will rely on it too.

Further reading:

• CSA Guide: Integrated Soil Fertility Management
• 2Scale blog: How a local farmer’s family landed a guaranteed short term income source
• IFA/WFO/GACSA: Nutrient Stewardship Handbook

On Mar 12-16, a total of 56 participants from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, attended the 12th Pan-Asia Farmers Exchange Program in the Philippines. 

On Mar 12, the organizers, Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, CropLife Philippines and CropLife Asia, welcomed the participants at Manila Hotel. DA Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano, graced the event. 

On Mar 13, a brief seminar on modern biotechnology was given and each country shared their status, challenges and experiences on agricultural biotechnology.

On Mar 14, the participants visited the International Rice Research Institute at Los Banos, Laguna. They learned more about IRRI’s role in helping farmers and the community through maintaining the viability of different rice varieties from different countries in their genebank facilities; and by developing improved rice plants, such as golden rice and iron-fortified rice.

On Mar 15, the participants visited the GM Corn Learning Center of Syngenta & GM corn commercial farms, where they were able to see and touch actual GM corn planted. Moreover, they were able to interact with actual GM corn farmers, who shared their fruitful experience in planting GM corn. In the afternoon, they also visited the Monsanto RIB Plant in Pulilan, Bulacan, where they were able to see the tests and processes undergone by the seeds prior to distribution to the farmers. 

The participants gave positive feedback on this event, as they were able to gain knowledge and learned to appreciate more about genetically modified crops.

Take a quick look of the short movie made by the Vietnam media crew, one of the participants of the program.