Spotlight Shines on Sustainable Food Security & Enabling Smallholder Farmers in Asia as Plant Science Industry Leaders Conver...
09 Mars 2017 - 2:00AM
JCN Newswire (English)
CropLife Asia 2017 Annual General Meeting Kicks off, Bringing
Industry Representatives together to Discuss Challenges to Regional
Food Security & Role of Plant Science
SINGAPORE, Mar 9, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - In commencing its 2017
Annual General Meeting today in Singapore, CropLife Asia began a
two-day event that is bringing together international and regional
leaders in the plant science industry as well as the larger
agricultural community. The yearly event provides a platform for
these agriculture experts to share insights around the topic of
safe and sustainable Food Security for Asia as well as discuss
global and regional best practices.
The topic of helping ensure Food Security for a growing world is a
timely one, as projections have the global population set to
eclipse nine billion inhabitants by the year 2050, and Asia alone
likely to have one billion more people calling it home then. By
just 2025, an additional 60 million men, women and children are
expected to be living in Southeast Asia.
"Feeding more people with fewer natural resources and less arable
land is a monumental challenge we face collectively - and the
solution must be a shared one," said Howard Minigh, President and
CEO, CropLife International. Mr. Minigh is a participant with this
year's event. "From farm to fork, we all have a role to play; and
the tools and technology of the plant science industry are a
critical component."
This challenge is particularly pronounced here in Asia, where we
have the smallest-sized farms and the largest number of smallholder
farmers. It's estimated that 85% of the world's 525 million
smallholder farmers live and work within our continent - around 100
million in ASEAN alone.
Smallholder farmers in the region also face unique barriers,
including: access to technology, extension services, market,
financial credit; impact of climate and weather-related factors;
lack of organization; as well as informal landholdings among
others.
This lethal mix takes a toll. The gap between potential yield and
actual on-farm yield is a big one for smallholder farmers across
most crops - by most estimates, ASEAN farmers in particular are
rarely able to achieve more than 70% of potential yields.
"We depend on our region's smallholder farmers more than ever,"
added Tina Lawton, President of CropLife Asia. "With fewer
resources and more challenges to mitigate, they have a daunting
task. Empowering and enabling Asia's smallholder farmers to meet
these challenges is a goal worth pursuing - and a responsibility
our industry in Asia takes seriously."
Through advancements in crop protection and plant biotechnology,
the plant science industry is doing its part and providing
invaluable tools for the smallholder farmer toolbox. Here in Asia
and around the world, these innovations in technology are better
enabling farmers to sustainably increase their yields, use fewer
resources, and minimize the impact on our environment.
It's estimated that 50% of global food production would be lost to
pests and disease if not for crop protection products. The
protection these advanced pesticides provide isn't limited to the
field - they also help prolong the viable life and prevent
post-harvest losses of these crops while in storage as well.
Additionally, biotech crops increased the production of food, feed,
and fiber from 1996 to 2013 around the world by 441 million tons.
At the same time, biotech crops helped slow the advance of climate
change by reducing carbon emissions. In 2013 alone, it's estimated
that biotech crop plantings lowered carbon dioxide emissions
equivalent to removing 12.4 million cars from the road for an
entire year.
"The innovative technologies of plant science are changing the game
and increasingly becoming an essential tool in the toolbox towards
a sustainable solution to Food Security in Asia," shared Dr. Siang
Hee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia. "While we've made
great strides in bringing these technologies to bear in the region
in helping tackle the food production challenges we face, we have
more work ahead of us."
The CropLife Asia 2017 Annual General Meeting will conclude on
Friday, March 10.
About CropLife Asia
CropLife Asia is a non-profit society and the regional organization
of CropLife International, the voice of the global plant science
industry. We advocate a safe, secure food supply, and our vision is
food security enabled by innovative agriculture. CropLife Asia
supports the work of 15 member associations across the continent
and is led by eight member companies at the forefront of crop
protection, seeds and/or biotechnology research and development.
For more information, visit us at www.croplifeasia.org.
Source: CropLife Asia
Contact:
Duke Hipp
Director, Public Affairs
CropLife Asia
Tel: +65 6221 1615
duke.hipp@croplifeasia.org
Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.