Researcher says Food Crisis has Only Just Begun

Food producers could find themselves under pressure to produce more food in 2050, as climate change, reduced water and changing land use make growing crops much more difficult, a report by the BBC in the UK said.

East Malling Research head of science Dr Chris Atkinson said a number of key areas where food was sourced for the UK, for example, such as Spain, Greece and Italy, will find it difficult to produce foods at current rates over the next 50 years.

“That’s in part due to the predictions of the scarcity of water in those parts of Europe,” he said.

The research centre has been investigating new agricultural techniques and the use of genetic modification to improve water efficiency and help the industry adopt new GM techniques, which he says will be critical in years to come.

He said more science and technology research would be required to overcome the predicted problems including ways to get methane from rice production.