Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
November 8, 2013
Speaking to an audience of food security advocates, farmers, CEOs, governmental agency leaders, academics and students from universities throughout the United States, David Hollinrake, Vice President for Agricultural Commercial Operations Marketing at Bayer CropScience, discussed Bayer’s vision of a new agricultural revolution at the inaugural “Feeding the Planet” Summit hosted by George Washington University in downtown Washington, D.C. on October 30.
Hollinrake described the steps Bayer is taking to help society prepare to address the challenge of providing food to a growing world population that is expected to be more than 9 billion people by the year 2050.“Continued investment in R&D offers the best hope of addressing such challenges, which is why Bayer is investing more than $1billion dollars annually to help improve crop production,” explained Hollinrake.
“We believe research is the key to enabling healthy food for everyone,” said Hollinrake.
He discussed recent advances in modern agriculture and how technology has driven practices described as “precision agriculture.”
The challenge associated with the wealth of data available is how to help farmers translate the data into capabilities to do more on the same amount of land. Hollinrake stressed the importance of moving from “precision agriculture” to what he termed “decision agriculture.”
Bayer’s goal, said Hollinrake, is to find solutions that address this and many other challenges farmers face while conserving resources and ensuring long-term sustainability.
Hollinrake pointed to the increasing problem of weed resistance and difficult to control weeds, which are estimated to impact over 50% of U.S. farmers. From a food security perspective, Hollinrake explained that weed control is of critical importance because it is estimated that weeds consume enough food to feed 1billion people.
Hollinrake noted that no single company or institution is capable of achieving food security for a hungry planet. He described the need for collaboration and Bayer’s outreach within academia and governments, and among food chain partners, NGOs and others who can contribute to finding sustainable solutions.
In addition to Daivid Hollinrake, speakers at the Feeding the Planet summit included Chris Policinski, President and CEO of Land O’Lakes. Inc.; Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, USAID; Krysta Harden, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute; Dr. Phil Miller, Vice President, Monsanto; Jason Clay, Senior Vice President, World Wildlife Fund; and Julie Borlaug, Assistant Director of Partnerships at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. The summit was moderated by Frank Sesno, Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and founder of Planet Forward.
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