Facing the global food crisis:

Re-thinking agriculture

By Pramod DE SILVA

The world is facing a food crisis, there is hardly any doubt about that! With the world population heading towards the seven billion mark this year and demand for food rising rapidly, it is not difficult to realise that the future could be very bleak.

The current situation in the Horn of Africa, where 12 million people have been affected by a worsening food crisis, is a harbinger of things to come. Moreover, food prices are going up every year due to a variety of factors.

Nevertheless, agricultural lands are not going to see a massive expansion. The answer lies in improving our agricultural practices and yields through innovative methods. It will mean finding new places and new ways to grow food. If even a desert can be turned into an agricultural oasis, that would help.

It does not help that much of the world population depends on a few staple crops such as rice, maize and potatoes. One challenge is to find new places to grow them. One recent example from the Netherlands could shed light on how this problem can be tackled.

This month it became known that at least two Dutch potato varieties can thrive in salty soil. Several Dutch scientists and farmers think this discovery could have tremendous consequences for the potato industry worldwide. Salt water-loving crops such as these rare potatoes could provide a sustainable solution to the lack of arable land in the world.

According to the research team, the fact that the potatoes and some other crops can survive in salinised agricultural land is good news because in the Netherlands alone, 12,500 hectares are expected to get salinised in the coming years. Globally, more than one billion hectares of land have been rendered useless due to salinity. Just imagine the boost to the world food drive if more such coastal lands can be cultivated.

Another example

The Netherlands has given the world another example of how things can be turned around. The Dutch agricultural company PlantLab wants to change almost everything we know about growing plants. It operates on four key principles:

* If a lot more food is not created, the growing global population is going to starve

* There should be innovation

* Agriculture should be redesigned to best suit a plant's growing needs

* If all the factors in a plant's environment can be balanced, food production can be optimised.

When we think about a farm, we usually imagine a sprawling land cultivated with some crop(s). But this need not necessarily be so. We already have a few indoor plants in our houses and offices, so why not extend the concept?

The Dutch company envisions farms in skyscrapers, houses, warehouses, or even underground using hydroponics (a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil). A 'plant lab' can be set up almost anywhere - regardless of the geographical location, the plants are grown indoors.

But how do they address the problem of light? This is done by using red and blue Light Emitting Diodes (LED). Actually, many of the wavelengths in visible light just heat the leaves and evaporate water. Red and blue LEDs which change the spectrum for each different plant are far more efficient. When grown outdoors, plant photosynthesis is only about nine percent efficient. With the correct balance of coloured LED light, this can be increased to 12 or 15 percent, going up to 18 percent.

As for water, just 10 percent of the traditional requirements will do. By keeping the plants in a contained system, they can recycle evaporated water as well.

Purple rooms

The plants are grown in weird purple rooms and stacked in columns. They get bigger faster and with less resources than traditional indoor plants. Although such 'vertical agriculture' is not entirely new, the company's different approach to the segment may help avert a future food crisis. They have already managed to increase yields threefold for certain crops, making them better-tasting too in the process.

After all, this could be the 'farm' of the future. PlantLab monitors an astounding 163,830 reports per second with advanced sensors to create the perfect environment for each individual type of crop such as tomato, cucumber and pepper. They hope to expand the crop portfolio as time goes on.

In fact, they have devised a computer program to handle feedback from sensors and control the following environmental factors: light colour, light intensity, light colour ratios, day length, infrared, light temperature, root temperature, plant temperature, irrigation, nutrition, air velocity, air composition, humidity and CO2. The entire process can be virtually automatic, eliminating the need for intensive labour.

There is one more major advantage: because the plants are indoors, they don't have pests and hence, don't need pesticides. Furthermore, if each city has an indoor agriculture facility, there is little or no need to transport food over great distances.

This cuts down on waste too - post-harvest losses in storage and transport can be as much as 50 percent in some countries. In short, there would be food for more mouths if that problem can be addressed. The biggest question is whether such methods can be applied to staples such as rice. Only time and more research will tell.

Limited basis

According to reports, the company is to start building full-scale production facilities on a limited basis. But before its success can be replicated worldwide, the prohibitive cost of the special LED lights has to come down. While cost and power efficiency for these bulbs are doubling every two years, they are still cost-prohibitive for commercial agriculture. However, the price for LEDs is expected to fall exponentially.

Apart from this factor, the operators will also have to worry about start-up costs, energy costs (solar panels could be a partial answer), water rights and irrigation, marketing strategies etc. Overall, the company's unique approach seems to be a winner.

As its work shows, there should be more research on food cultivation worldwide. Universities, companies and specialised research institutes must take the lead in this regard. For example, the International Rice Research Institute said recently that rice farmers in Nepal can now assure themselves of a bountiful rice harvest even when devastating drought occurs, thanks to the commercial release of three new drought-proof rice varieties.

Named after sukha - the Nepalese word for drought - and released by the country's Variety Release Committee, Sookha Dhan-1, Sookha Dhan-2, and Sookha Dhan-3 have shown a yield advantage of 0.8-1.0 ton per hectare over traditional varieties under severe drought, which often plagues Nepal.

In another development, Green Super Rice bred to perform well in the toughest conditions where the poorest farmers grow rice is a step away from reaching the farmers, thanks to a major project led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. They are adapted to difficult growing conditions such as drought and low inputs, including no pesticide and less fertiliser. Similar initiatives are underway in the case of other major crops.

GM food

There is another school of thought that Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) could be the answer to the impending food crisis. Although there is a fear that all GM foods are somehow not fit for consumption, it does offer a ray of hope for empty stomachs around the world.

Getting 'reports' from plants

Scientists are assessing the potential and performance of a whole range of genetically engineered crops from wheat and barley to bananas and sugarcane. GM food is likely to remain a controversial topic for years to come, but that does not mean that the world can overlook their beneficial aspects.

The danger is that GM technologies are being used in the wrong way to promote non-food products derived from food products. A prime example is the use of GM corn for obtaining fuel.

US farmers are now growing the first corn plants genetically modified for the specific purpose of getting more ethanol rather than producing more food. The new GM corn could worsen a global food crisis by diverting more corn into energy production. It has been reported that this special corn cannot be used as a source for making corn-based foods suitable for human consumption. Several studies have established that the expansion of the biofuels industry has pushed up food prices worldwide.

Overcoming the food challenge will not be an easy task. It will require greater international cooperation. The SAARC region has already initiated a South Asian Food Security program to face any eventuality. This is the type of endeavour needed to face the global food crisis along with a dose of modernisation and innovation in agricultural practices. Fresh thinking could be the new way to fresh food.