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PREMIERNUTRITION.CO.UK A report published by The Food and Agriculture Organisation ten
years ago projected that agricultural production will have to rise by 70% to meet demand in 2050. Most of the land than can be farmed throughout the world already is, so it’s suggested any growth will need to come from higher yields. It won’t be the first time agriculture has been asked to increase yields; mechanisation during the first part of the 20th Century and the post WW2 introduction of new crop varieties and agricultural chemicals led to an bumper harvests during the 1960s and 1970s. However it pays to bear in mind the failed policy of intervention,
demonstrated best by the butter mountains and wine lakes created by the EU as they attempted to shore up the Common Agricultural Policy as recently as in 2009. In a move completely condemned by Oxfam and seen by countries
as the worst kind of protectionism and tantamount to starting a trade war, the EU Agriculture Commissioner at the time, Mariann Frischer Boel pledged to buy up 30,000 tonnes of unwanted butter and 109,000 tonnes of unwanted skimmed milk powder. The dairy produce was stored in silos across the EU together with over 300,000 tonnes of unwanted sugar, 16,000 tonnes of unwanted cereals and millions of gallons of unwanted wine. Although CAP supported the prices farmers were paid for produce,
it didn’t always encourage best practice as it rewarded overproduction. Today, in most of the developed world, farmers are much more aware of the dangers of over-production to the environment and the need for biodiversity. However, EU protectionism has proved incredibly damaging to
many of the world’s rural poor populations. For developing countries, subsidies have long been a barrier to
European markets as European farmers have been financially shielded from external competition, which has encouraged overproduction and lowered world market prices. This has led to many farmers in developing countries producing only
basic foodstuffs; they are unable to add value by processing food, nor are they able to embrace mechanised farming, improve crop protection or implement recognised farming standards, so are stuck in both a yield and poverty trap. Ending this kind of protectionism is imperative because it’s essential
that developing countries have the opportunity to embrace the agri-tech revolution, before it’s too late. Ensuring that every acre of productive land in the world is utilised in the best possible way to both produce food and protect the environment should be a universal goal. Here in the UK, the farming community is currently positioning itself
as the high welfare, environmentally sound leader of the modern world when it comes to producing food, and seemingly terrified of the threat of competition beyond the protection of the EU. They need to get a grip because now is the time to be outward
looking, to go beyond what is happening at home and look at increasing worldwide yields. It will be a challenge, but precision farming, plant research and even GM or Genomics need to play a part in the future, not just in the so called developed world, but anywhere there are farmers. I for one don’t want my children facing an international food crises in a few short years.
FEED COMPOUNDER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 25
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