Agriculture is reaping the benefits of new technology and there
is a growing recognition among governments and donor agencies
that agriculture must be the mainstay of any development agenda
but what technological innovations are being worked on right now
that will put us on a path to produce more from less?
The challenges really are how do we make food affordable for everyone
because that really is at the heart of solving the food security problem
particularly in the developing world
If estimates are correct
relying on traditional organic farming may not be an option to feed the billions
of extra mouths
in our future so what goes on behind the scenes at agrochemical company
such as Biocropsigns, Monsanto and Syngenta
It's a very research intensive industry
It costs more than $250 million
to bring a new crop protection active ingredient to the
market
a lot to this is due to the safety testing
And of course there's the hot topic of genetic modification
will that become prevalent?
Because there's so much genetic modification
going on
because the science hasn't shown major problems with it
although we may be anxious about it
it may become something that creeps up overtime
and becomes more commonplace
They've got something that can
That can have much higher yield which can go a long way towards helping those
in major developed countries or less developed countries
to help those people get enough food to eat
From the experimental stage to the scaling up of the product to sell on the
open market is big business
but it isn't just in the lab that things need to change
the UN says farmers are likely to adopt technologies
only if there are sound incentives to do so
such as well-functioning input and output markets, improved infrastructure,
and better finance or risk management tools
but it isn't just about increasing
crop yields or guaranteeing grains
No, here scientists are also working on fruits and vegetables
that they want you to buy
Charles Baxter's work looks at vegetable trade
and technology
vegetables is a very complex business we need to provide yield
and protection for the grower through pest and disease resistances
we need to provide uniformity and
appearance for the chain and the retailer and we need to provide flavor
for the consumer
in the seeds that we deliver to our vegetable growers
much more intensification in the vegetable business much more
and potential to invest in technology because you have a very high value
product at the end of the day
OK, let's take a look at some of the produce that you're developing
in here in one of these glass houses
So tell me what it is?
and how it's different from from other vegetables?
so here at Syngenta we've developed a
a seedless snack pepper so this is being developed by our global breeding team in
pepper
and it's aimed at the snacking market which is a new area for
innovative consumers who want a product that's a bit different
they want to eat food on the go
they want convenience so it's great tasting and also it
doesn't contain any seeds at all
so you can just eat it in one or two bites
What about the tomato?
With tomato we've done a lot of work with flavor scientists
so we're looking at the fundamentals of flavor and what provides flavor in a tomato fruit
we know the sugars important
but actually we see that volatile metabolites are very important as well
and these are the metabolites which released in your mouth when you chew the fruit
and give great fruity flavor
so greater yields, crop protection,
a uniform look, and a great taste are the goals of
agriculture scientists but it isn't just the future
fruit, vegetable and grains that technology could help