WHAT should the role of farmers be in feeding the world?
As the world’s population bulges, while its resources become scarcer and the threat of climate change looms ever larger over its future, the food security question is dividing scientists, farmers and politicians.
Is the priority maximising food production on available land in a way that minimises environmental damage and embraces scale, targeted use of inputs and new technologies like GM?
Or is the answer an extensive model of food production that nourishes the soil for future generations and shifts demographics by employing more people on the land?
Mainstream or organic? Sustainable intensification or agroecology?
However it is phrased, the outcome of this debate has huge implications for how farmers will operate and how food is produced over the next few decades.
These are the issues posed by http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/latest-news/farmers-guardian-food-security-debate/42004.article for a forthcoming online debate involving several industry experts.
Whatever the outcome, the basic facts remain the same: More than 1 billion people are starving today. Food production will have to increase by more than 50% just to provide for the basic needs of the global population predicted for 2050. This will place significant demands on the farming sector and agricultural prices are anticipated to rise significantly over the coming decades.
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