Perth, Western Australia
November 18, 2010
The conflict between long term trends in world wheat production and consumption will be explored at the International Grains Forum to be held in Perth next month.
The keynote address by Vince Peterson (photo), vice president of overseas operations with grain traders US Wheat Associates, will discuss the impact of increasing production of soybean and maize (corn) on wheat production and price stability.
Mr Peterson will examine the decline of world wheat production over the past 30 years, while the area sown to maize has increased by nearly 60 per cent and soybean a massive 300 per cent.
“A huge expansion of world plantings of more profitable crops, such as maize and oilseeds, over the past half a century has come at the expense of the land area historically planted to wheat,” he said.
“This has produced competing and unsustainable trends out into the future, as we look towards feeding the increasing world population as it grows from some 6.9 billion today and approaches 9.5 billion by mid-century.”
Mr Peterson questions whether market forces should be left to dictate wheat production or whether that would open the way for price volatility.
“The easiest thing to do, of course, is to do nothing and let price regulate producers’ cropping choices,” he said.
“However, this is not a good way to promote either price or supply stability in a market that has seen so many violent price fluctuations in recent years.”
Mr Peterson will draw on his 20 years of experience in grain trading to give his insights into what mechanisms could be used to increase wheat production and promote food security.
The International Grains Forum will be held after the 32nd Session of the International Grains Council (IGC). The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia are co-hosting the event. The Council Session will be held on 7 December followed by the Forum on 8 December.
The IGC is a London-based intergovernmental organisation responsible for administering the Grains Trade Convention (1995), which encourages international cooperation in grains trading to promote market stability and enhance food security.
A field tour of local grains facilities and a Wongan Hills farm will also be available to IGC members and the public.
For more information about the International Grains Forum and the field tour, or to register, visit www.igc.int
Topics
Species
