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Friedhelm Schmider,
Director General,
European Crop Protection Association |
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The FAO estimates that, even with more equitable distribution, food production will need to increase 70% by 2050 to cope with a 40% increase in world population. This translates into an additional one billion tonnes of cereals alone to be produced annually.
Agriculture’s task is to produce more food to feed a growing population on the existing farmland base, while adapting to the impact of climate change, preserving biodiversity, reducing greenhouse gases, safeguarding the environment and staying within the narrowing limits of the public purse. That’s an enormous challenge, and not just for farmers, but for legislators because failure will pose a real threat to people’s lives. We can take some comfort in the fact that we have much of the science, technology and know-how to meet the demand: we will have to deploy it wisely and keep on innovating.
Europe is simultaneously the world’s largest producer of food, the biggest exporter of food and the biggest importer; and our imports exceed our exports by a substantial margin. Europe will either be a big problem or part of the global solution to the food productivity challenge and this challenge must be reckoned with right here in Europe for very Eurocentric reasons: the linked imperatives of affordable nutrition and social stability being chief amongst them. We can’t solve the problem by putting more land under the plough. The supply of agricultural land is severely limited and gone are the days when we would wish to cut down forests to grow food, whether here in Europe or anywhere else. Deforestation for food is the single largest contributing factor to the rise in greenhouse gases. Forests and wild lands preserve biodiversity and help maintain ecological balance. Forests, parklands and wilderness areas are both rightfully treasured and severely threatened in most of the world. To protect them we will have to grow more food on the existing land base.
What has this to do with pests and plant disease? Without advanced pest and disease control about 50% of Europe’s present food crop production would be lost. Even with the most effective techniques, about 30% is destroyed by pests and disease, so there is plenty of room for innovation. The crop science industry therefore has an essential contribution to make to food productivity. Without advanced crop science we most certainly will not measure up to the food supply challenge. The crop science industry is also committed to making its contribution in a sustainable way that protects the environment and promotes biodiversity, and not just in words but in our actions. We prescribe and support the safe, environmentally sound use of our products, which include the full range of chemical and biological agents necessary for an integrated approach.
Actively reducing the productivity of European farms will have the inevitable consequence of expanding the farmland base; and somewhere more forests will be turned into food. It will also drive up food prices and thereby reduce the availability of good nutrition. Isn’t that a pretty good description of a food crisis? I don’t think it’s the way we want to go.
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In this issue, business and industry leaders present to Europe’s policymakers their policies and priorities.
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