FARMING: FEEDING THE WORLD

In developing and developed countries, family farming is the predominant form agriculture in the
food production sector. Family farming preserves traditional food products, while contributing to
a balanced diet and safeguarding the world’s agro-biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural
resources. Today, we have an abundance of data, distributed across a multitude of different
members of the ecosystem. Dealers typically have soil test result and prescription, farmers have
planting and harvest data, and applied data is often either non-existent or scattered among the
two.

Farmers face a dual challenge. How can they produce the food required to feed the world?, while
protecting the planet at the same time? The solution will rest on findings effective ways to
minimize the losses of energy, water and nutrients associated with farming.It allows farmers to
act with precision agriculture. Barriers remain to achieving this goal, however. We must
accelerate the pace of digital innovation and remove barriers to accessing them. Farmers must be
prepared to adapt and embrace additional change in order to take full advantage of these tools in
the years ahead.

Relying on increased yields from genetically engineered crops alone will fall short of meeting
the future demand for food. The world’s resources would be better spent focusing on strategies
shown to actually increase food supplies and reduce the environmental impact of production.