Predicted population of 9 billion in 2050 calls for 20/20 vision

During the recent ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, much discussion was given to the topic of feeding a growing global population.

With World Population Day on July 11, we reflect on the simple fact that it took hundreds of years for the world population to grow to one billion. More than 200 years later, however, it grew sevenfold, reaching seven billion in 2011.

Jomi Bernad Blanch, Iberia regional director for Alltech, recently shared at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference that the human population is now growing at a rate of 1.13 percent per year, or more than 80 million people per year. Today, there are about 7.3 billion people on the globe, with the prediction of a global population of nine billion by 2050.

Through innovation in science and technology, the agricultural industry continues to be called upon to produce more food with limited resources.

“The story of agriculture is one of doing more with less, the story of efficiency,” said Agriculture Commissioner for Kentucky Ryan Quarles at the ONE conference.

Limiting factors, including land and water resources and increasing global regulation, will call for a novel approach to feed this growing population. Alltech Crop Science believes this new approach is an increase in sustainable agriculture practices.

Following are some of the key elements discussed during ONE for maximising crop production.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes: Alltech crop experts are confident that IPM programmes of the future will include the most successful tactics from a variety of approaches, including nutritional and natural technologies.

“Used in conjunction with the best conventional approaches, producers can reduce inputs while maintaining crop quality and improving sustainability measures,” said Dr. Steven Borst, Alltech Crop Science compliance manager.

To read more about the integration of natural technologies with conventional approaches, click here.

Water efficiency: With less than one percent of the world’s water supply available as freshwater for growing crops, industrial use and consumer use, Blanch shared his ideas for water efficiency at ONE. Read more here.

Soil health: With only 12 percent of land on Earth suitable for crop farming, maximising land and water resources are equally important.

Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back to gain perspective is critical to this issue.

“Unless new approaches are adopted the global amount of arable and productive land per person in 2050 will be only a quarter of the level that was available in 1960,” said Robert Walker, Alltech Crop Science global general manager.

Walker’s ideas to improve soil health can be found here.

 What ONE new idea will you implement to help feed a population of 9 billion by 2050? 

 Audio recordings of most talks from ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference are now available on the Alltech Idea Lab.