MARS 2019 Major Sponsors

The production of food and feed involves a complex set of interactions – basic and translational science and technology, overlaid with environmental, biosecurity, social, cultural and financial issues, and also public understanding, the latter often clouded by exaggerated claims and misinformation. To these can be added politics (local, national and international) and regulations. Focusing on crops, disruptive innovations in Agri-Bio and Agri-Tech will be discussed which are providing new opportunities to produce better food more efficiently. The genomes of crop plants, their pests and diseases, have been sequenced, enabling identification of genes underlying desirable traits. Better combinations of genes lead to improved yields, new techniques like ‘gene editing’ are leading to making precise changes in plant properties, both for production and human health. Better connectivity in agricultural regions is enabling the application of technologies like remote sensing, precision and digital agriculture, robotics and artificial intelligence to increase crop and horticultural production. Tunable LED lights combined with hydroponics are leading to the expansion of urban and vertical farming, with 100 times the produce per unit area of land, and food production in the centre of major conurbations. The dissemination of such science and technology can feed the world in 2050 and beyond, and help protect the environment and biodiversity, but only if politicians make evidence-based decisions, and there is a social licence to accept the required advances. http://profiles.murdoch.edu.au/myprofile/michael-jones/