How can science help secure the world’s food supply?
7 Aug 2008 A major study exploring how science can enhance global food-crop production has been launched by the Royal Society (1), the UK’s national academy of science, today (Thursday 7 August). In the light of growing concerns about the long-term sufficiency and sustainability of the world’s food supplies, the Society has assembled a working group of expert scientists and economists, drawn from the UK’s leading research institutes. They will undertake an assessment of a wide range of biological approaches which have been proposed for improving crop yields. The group will also assess the barriers which stand in the way of scientists developing these techniques, and applying them to enhancing food production. Their report will set out the steps which governments might take now, to ensure that, in the coming decades, the farmers of the developed and the developing world are fully equipped to feed their growing communities. Professor David Baulcombe, of the University of Cambridge, Chair
