Despite a significant growth in food production over the past half-century, one of the most important challenges facing society today is how to feed an expected population of some nine billion by the middle of the 20th century. To meet the expected demand for food without significant increases in prices, it has been estimated that we need to produce 70-100 per cent more food, in light of the growing impacts of climate change, concerns over energy security, regional dietary shifts and the Millennium Development target of halving world poverty and hunger by 2015. The goal for the agricultural sector is no longer simply to maximize productivity, but to optimize across a far more complex landscape of production, rural development, environmental, social justice and food consumption outcomes. However, there remain significant challenges to developing national and international policies that support the wide emergence of more sustainable forms of land use and efficient agricultural production. The lack of information flow between scientists, practitioners and policy makers is known to exacerbate the difficulties, despite increased emphasis upon evidence-based policy. In this paper, we seek to improve dialogue and understanding between agricultural research and policy by identifying the 100 most important questions for global agriculture. These have been compiled using a horizon-scanning approach with leading experts and representatives of major agricultural organizations worldwide. The aim is to use sound scientific evidence to inform decision making and guide policy makers in the future direction of agricultural research priorities and policy support. If addressed, we anticipate that these questions will have a significant impact on global agricultural practices worldwide, while improving the synergy between agricultural policy, practice and research. This research forms part of the UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project
The evolution of concepts and definitions of agricultural systems over time is presented. Inputs of an agricultural system are classified as components and activities. A component is either a resource or a technology. The activities are the management of resources and the application of technology in the production process. The outputs of a production process will include both the targeted product and the environmental impact. When these terms are used to describe an agricultural system graphically, the dynamic aspects of the system can easily be illustrated and problems associated with the system can be properly identified. Sustainable agriculture is recognized as conveying certain objectives or delineating certain requirements of an agricultural system, in terms of both the input and output of the system. These objectives are: (1) producing necessary quantity of high quality food and fiber; (2) profitable to the grower; (3) conserving nonrenewable resources; and (4) harmonious with biological, physical and social environments. These objectives have long‐term implications and attempt to secure the future viability of agriculture. Therefore they embrace the concept of sustainability. The difficulty of constructing such a system is that not all the objectives are compatible; compromise or trade‐offs among the objectives are often necessary in developing a workable sustainable system. Progress and improvement can always be made through research, but no perfect system can realistically be constructed. General research issues in sustainable agriculture are discussed. Priorities in developing appropriate technology based on sound biological principles and laws of physics and mechanics for pest and weed control are suggested.
Interaction between farmers and researchers has benefits for both groups. Researchers gain an understanding of farmers' needs and the production system into which new techniques must fit; farmers are helped in adopting new techniques, and get insights into why some techniques are more successful than others. However, communication between farmers and researchers usually has been just from the university to the farmer. The recovery of information from farmers, integration of techniques into whole production systems, and the research priorities of farmers have not been very important to researchers.An exception has been in sustainable agriculture, where some researchers have been asking farmers what they are doing and what they want the university to do, and spending time observing existing practices before they design research trials. Ideally, farmers and researchers interact as equals, sharing information and expertise. We present examples from California and New York that show that this approach is highly effective, and recommend policie s to expand on this approach in researchfunding, training of research and extension personnel, and the dissemination ofinformation. We also discuss practical ways to carry out those policies, drawn from the experiences of both university and private non-profit organizations.
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