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According to estimates by the United Nations, agricultural output will need to double by 2050 to feed more than 9 billion people.

Ensuring food security for a growing world population is a moral imperative and plant breeders are being challenged to develop sustainable solutions using innovation that involves new approaches and techniques to meet future demands, Bill Niebur, vice president – DuPont Crop Genetics Research & Development, told the second annual World Seed Conference in Rome, Italy.  Bill’s remarks reflect DuPont’s commitment to focus on meeting four emerging global trends, one of which is increasing food production.

Agricultural output will need to double by 2050 to feed more than 9 billion people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  This increased productivity will need to occur as available arable land and resources shift, remain unchanged, or in some areas, decrease.

“We know some will want to debate methods and processes, the science or our motives,” Bill said. “But at the end of the day it is up to us as plant breeders to do everything we possibly can to help ensure no individual goes hungry.”

According to Bill, sustainably increasing grower productivity requires a comprehensive approach to plant breeding that includes:

• Breeding specifically for local environments.
• Using molecular markers for gene selection.
• Developing plants with more resistance to diseases and insects, and tolerance to herbicides.
• Improving drought tolerance, nutrient use and nutritional content.
• Making plants better able to withstand environmental stresses such as cold, frost and saline soils.

DuPont has strategically focused on increasing food production, investing more than $500 million annually in research and development with more than 200 germplasm patent applications filed in the first half of 2009. 

To learn more, read the full news release.