Future Challenges Offers Opportunties

Future Opportunities/Challenges:

The global population is expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050 and with global incomes expected to increase, the agricultural sector faces great challenges to feed this growth. Combining the food, fiber and potential fuel needs of 9 billion people requires a 50% increase in productivity.   These demands will challenge the management of the world’s resources: tillable land, fresh water, oceans and air.  Can this be accomplished?  Without doubt, providing action is taken now.

Agricultural production will need to undergo dramatic transformation encompassing both the development of systems for adaptation to climate change, as well as integrating systems for mitigation of emissions.  Also the increasing demand for biofuels as transport fuel solutions will continue.

This growing Food, Fiber, and Fuel demand can be met by:

• Investing in education and training to empower the future food suppliers
• Increasing Agricultural Productivity (introduce technologies: education & training, seeds, biotech crops, equipment, management, biofuels
• Developing New Farm Lands (expand acreage into regions that result in the least environmental damage, reverse desertification)
• Modernizing existing farms  (update aging irrigation systems, improve drainage, reclaim marginal lands, introduce carbon-water balance systems)

These changes will require increased irrigation, mechanization and fertilization – and that will create more investment opportunities, as well as the need for education and sound governmental policies.  Additional demands for food and biofuels will result in rising prices of agricultural commodities, which will spur financing in the agribusiness sectors. This challenge provides very large investment opportunities across the agribusiness complex including fertilizers, irrigation, mechanization, as well as, management practices and infrastructure development.

The key to successfully expanding production is the utilization of the latest sophisticated farm management; coupled with precision irrigation, fertilization, storage, and value added market chains.  Hence, we are looking for a dramatic improvement in the overall productivity, sustainability and availability from the farm to the consumer.

FDC-Texas’ Staff recognize that finding solutions to feed, cloth and fuel 9 billion people, in a sustainable and economically viable way, in a constrained world, will require major agricultural talents and financial investments.

It is my pleasure to help direct the energies of FDC-Texas as we join with Representatives within governments, financial groups, the private sector and suppliers in an effort to achieve the goals to insure that an adequate, sustainable agriculture can be expanded to meet the coming generations.

Brent Kartchner, FDC-Texas, President & CEO