cooperation needed to beat food crisis

Cooperation Needed To Solve Global Food Crisis -Borlaug


Scientific research, funding and political support are all
needed to help solve the global food crisis, and cooperation
among them is essential as the world's population grows, said
Dr. Norman Borlaug, professor of international agriculture at
Texas A&M University in College Station.
"If we could get the technology we have available now put
into production, and if we could get the political support, we
could feed the people," Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
and founder of the Green Revolution, said.
"But the ability to put all of the pieces together depends on
the will of the people," he said.
Efforts to solve the global food crisis are complex, but add
the U.S. presidential race to the mix and it becomes even more
difficult.
"It's unfortunate this crisis has become apparent during
the time of the presidential campaign. Every politician wants
to be the savior of his own country and ... you can imagine
the mess you've got if you look at it from the standpoint of
the scientist," Borlaug said via telephone from his home
near Dallas.
He explained that politicians often try to protect their states,
or even small countries, by restricting the movement of seed to
try and keep diseases out such as wheat stem rust, a potentially
devastating disease that is currently affecting crops in Africa,
Yemen and parts of the Middle East.
"They don't understand that the airborne part of it is out of
the control of political policy," he said.
Borlaug's research into wheat and rice seeds in the 1950s
and 60s resulted in increased food production around the world,
particularly in the poorest nations, and he is credited with saving
millions of people from starvation. He is also the first person in
history to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential
Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
While the global food crisis doesn't mean world supplies
are necessarily running out, skyrocketing petroleum prices and
greater production pressures on cropland as more food crops
get diverted to biofuel production have led to increased production
costs, resulting in higher food prices.
Demand has never been greater for corn or wheat, leading to
tightening global supplies. World corn stocks for 2008-09 are
currently estimated at 99.03 million metric tons, down from 103
million tons in 2007-08, the U.S. Agriculture Department says.
In the U.S., 2008-09 corn ending stocks are projected to shrink
to 763 million bushels, from 1.38 billion bushels in 2007-08.
U.S. wheat supplies are expected to grow, however, as
major production areas recover from adverse weather last
year. The USDA pegs 2008-09 U.S. wheat ending stocks at
483 million bushels, up from 239 million in 2007-08. World
wheat stocks are also expected to grow to 124 million tons in
2008-09, from 110 million in 2007-08.
In the debate over using prime cropland for growing grain
for food, feed and now fuel, Borlaug sees the greatest hope in
making cellulosic ethanol from woody materials.
"I'm very strong on doing the research that should have
been continued over the last 30 years on finding how to break
down that first step through cellulose woody tissues to sugar
that can be fermented by the same or similar process being
used now for grain," said Borlaug.
There are many semi-arid areas in the U.S. that can grow
small shrubs or trees, and the wood pulp from those sources
could be used to make ethanol, but the technology of breaking
down the cellulose hasn't advanced enough for use in commercial
application.
Switchgrass is another material some experts say could be a
potential feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, though Borlaug said
much more research needs to be done.
"When you talk about switchgrass, how many tons per acre
can you produce? And if you just go in blindly and start something
like this it would be a first-class disaster," said Borlaug.
Producers need to know how much switchgrass can be produced
under varying conditions such as different temperatures,
rainfall patterns and temperatures. If these things aren't carefully
calculated, the whole idea could be a "gamble on disappointment,"
he said.
Meanwhile, research shows the world's population, now at
about 6 billion, will grow to 7.1 billion by 2015, according to
data supplied by the World Bank, which provides financial and
technical assistance to developing countries.
Some experts say the population will reach 8 billion to 9
billion in 40-50 years. Borlaug feels that is "too hopeful" and
expects the population to level off at 9 billion to 10 billion by
2050.
Even so, he is optimistic the world can still be fed, if the
proper energy is put into research, technology and the political
aspects of getting food to the world's poorest nations.
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