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ARTICLE: The promise and potential for new plant varieties

The following is an article from Agri-Pulse about new research in plants that could potentially increase yields, help tolerate heat and drought, and help fight off plant diseases.

Most Americans have never experienced a famine or even chronic food shortages. We've grown accustomed to finding at least some types of food almost everywhere we look – the grocery, the gas station, the food truck, the corner store and of course, online.

So, when scientists talk about the need to improve productivity on the farm or create new plants and animals which can resist diseases that could potentially eliminate an entire crop or species, the words often fall on deaf ears to the consuming U.S. public. Why worry?

Perhaps there is no need  [Syngenta ad 2] to panic, but there is cause for concern. Economists and analysts agree that we need to improve productivity on farms and ranches just to keep up with feeding a global population that the United Nations expects to grow from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion by 2050.

The Global Harvest Initiative’s most recent Global Agricultural Productivity Report noted that, for the fourth straight year, agricultural productivity growth is not accelerating fast enough to sustainably feed the world in 2050.

“If agricultural productivity growth continues to stagnate, there will be significant ramifications for the economic vitality and environmental sustainability of food and agriculture systems. The availability of affordable, safe and nutritious food also will be undermined,” the report notes.

But it’s not only increased productivity that’s important. Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their food choices – how much water is consumed, how nutrients are utilized, and how much food is wasted. There are also concerns about nutritional benefits and the price and safety of what they eat.

Farmers are ready to meet all of these challenges, but they want access to new tools that will enable them to better cope with climate change, natural disasters and disease outbreaks. And that’s where advanced, precision breeding shows so much potential.

To read the entire article, please visit Agri-Pulse