Cibus welcomes Global Food and Farming Future’s call for new technologies to respond to world’s food challenges

Cibus welcomes Global Food and Farming Future’s call for new technologies to respond to world’s food challenges

Wemeldinge, Netherlands (27 January 2011) — Cibus Global, the pioneering crop trait development firm, today welcomed the publication of a major international report into the pressures facing the global food system up to 2050. The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures study published this week explores the increasing pressures on the global food system and highlights the decisions that policy makers need to take to ensure that a global population rising to nine billion or more can be fed sustainably and equitably.

The report predicts that the global population will rise from seven billion today to eight billion by 2030 and nine billion by 2050. Increasing wealth will lead to demands for a more varied, high quality and resource-intensive diet, while competition for land, water and energy will intensify. Climate change may also be another major challenge to the ability to meet growing demand for food.

The report notes that the global food supply system is already facing considerable strain, with up to 2 billion people thought to be experiencing hunger or “hidden hunger”, with key nutrients missing from their diet. Recent sharp rises in food prices have highlighted problems in meeting existing demand.

Among a number of key recommendations, the Foresight project, which was funded by the UK government and involved experts from 35 countries, calls for the use and development of new technologies to help increase sustainability of production and reduce the environmental impact of current farming methods.

“Investment in research on modern technologies is essential in light of the magnitude of the challenges for food security in coming decades,” the report said.

Commenting on the publication of the Foresight report, Keith Walker, President, Cibus Global, said, “We welcome this important contribution to the growing debate around the challenges of meeting the food needs of a rapidly rising global population. We believe that Cibus’ RTDS system, by using the basic processes of natural selection, has an invaluable role to play in helping farmers in all parts of the world to improve yields across a wide range of crops and plants, while respecting traditional boundaries and the environment. We look forward to working with farmers, companies, governments and NGO’s in helping to meet these challenges.”

Cibus develops protection and performance enhancement traits for crops using its patented Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS™). RTDS is an environmentally safe trait development procedure that avoids the introduction of foreign genetic material into plants by mimicking natural methods in a highly targeted way. RTDS has been recognized by the USDA as a mutagenesis technique, and is therefore not subject to the regulations applied to transgenic (or GM) crops. Cibus is currently working with a wide variety of partners to develop non-transgenic traits for nine different crops, including rapeseed oil (canola), flax and potato.

The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures report can be accessed via the link below.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/current-projects/global-food-and-farming-futures