1. Future of Agri-Food Systems
Future of Agriculture and Food Systems – Can we deliver?
By:
Vijay Sardana1
With increasing awareness and competition, consumers are becoming very
demanding about their health and performance oriented. “Right Food” is
becoming a major item to ensure good health and high perfomance.
Keeping leadership in food and food processing industry, one will have to
work with advance concepts and technologies like molecular biology,
nanotechnology and nano-bio-info in the future. The markets are changing
already. Conventional wisdom will be of little help. Consumers will
experience product which never existed earlier. Market leaders with
knowledge based research and development capability will define the
consumer choices.
Soon, companies will design food by shaping molecules and atoms.
Molecular biology, Nano-scale-biotech and Nano-bio-info will have big
impacts on the food and food-processing industries. The future belongs to
new products, new processes with the goal to customize and
personalize the products. Commodities and mass produced product
may act as carrier of high performance molecule based systems.
Focus will be on improving the functionality, shelf-life, safety and quality of
food. More than 200 applications are in different developing stages and a
few of them are on the market already.
The Nano-food market is expected to surge from current USD 10 billion to
USD 50 Billion in 2020 or earlier. More than 200 Companies around the
world are today active in research and development. USA is the leader
followed by Japan and China. By 2010, Asian with more than 50 percent of
the world population will be the biggest market for Nano-food with the
leading market in China.
Where India will stand? We have no idea because out food laws and policy
planners are still trying to accommodate developments of 1970s into the
production system. Weak government R&D systems also delays in giving
approval to new concepts. Indian Entrepreneurs are still focused on
1
For more article visit my blog: Vijay Sardana Online. Views are personal.
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2. Future of Agri-Food Systems
commodities. R&D investment by private sector in food processing is
negligible.
On the one side, further breakthroughs in crop DNA decoding, analyzing
and modification enable the industries to predict, control and improve the
agricultural production. On the other side, with technology of manipulating
the molecules and the atoms of food, the future food industry has a
powerful method to design food with much more capability and precision,
lower costs, performance and sustainability.
Meanwhile, the combination of DNA and nanotechnology research will
generate the new nutrition delivery system, which will bring the active
agents more precisely and efficiently to the wanted and targeted parts of
the human bodies and cells. Functional food will benefit firstly from the new
technologies, followed by standard food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and
others.
Some companies are already aware of the impact of nanotechnology in
food industry. Research facilities are established, potential applications are
under study, whereas only a handful of Nano-food products are in the
market available for sale. Nevertheless, the tremendous potential will
attract more and more companies and competitors into this still unexplored
but hugely attractive field.
The number of the companies involved in this field will increase from a few
in to several thousand in years to come.
Who is afraid of advance technologies in Agri-Food systems?
Molecular technologies are disruptive technologies and change the
conventional method of production faster than most scientists and NGOs
expect. Many convention systems and their leaders will shake and fall.
Many existing leaders may face tough challenges. It can make the
products cheaper, the production more efficient, more safe and more
sustainable using less water and chemicals. Precision will be the key word.
Producing less waste and using less energy. The change will be
dramatic, the potentials are immense and the risky too.
The main driver for increasing the speed for these technologies within the
next few years are climate change, limited natural resources, cost
efficiency and population growth. New food systems may also either
replace or supplement new applications using food as drugs and nutrition.
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3. Future of Agri-Food Systems
What to expect in coming years?
Future will be for multi-dimensional and multi-impact approach with
precision. In coming years, there will be close interaction within the field of
life science, pharma, food, cosmetics, bioinformatics, information
technology, environmental technology for environmental protection, energy
and renewable energy, biotechnology and brain science, neural
technologies, medicine technology and water, drinking water and waste
water will increase.
Convergence of nanotechnology – bio-technology - cosmetic – information
- neural technology will define the future path. The converging nano – bio -
neural - information technology will be the overall revolution in the 21st
century in the area of nutrition, cosmetic and health sciences. It will open
new windows for human beings, new developments and innovations
change the society and human beings will live with smaller footprints and
realize sustainable developments. Neural technologies and the decoding of
the brain-function, DNA-based technologies and processes will determine
the Molecular Future.
As we know that the DNA is the information and has the instructions for
every cell. The cell will be the basic and prototype for nanotechnology. The
RNA's are the components for the interactions. This opens a new
understanding of human being and functions, and the 'Molecular Nature'. A
new window is opened.
This will focus on the impacts and applications of nanotechnology in the
different fields, scientifically examine, collect and evaluate all companies,
markets, branches, applications, developments, state of science and
expected developments worldwide, and provide projections for the next
decade. Laws and legal frame work will be required to deal with these
powerful technologies to ensure safe deliveries. These “Dreamliner” must
not ground due to lack credible data and legal framework.
Big question:
Are we ready to face the technology on revolution in food to meet our
nutrition problem and poor productivity challenges? Critics of technology
and development will create resistance in the name of bio-diversity and
environment issues. Do they have alternate plan to feed India. If yes, why it
is not working and delivering. Why these issues are not fixed so far.
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4. Future of Agri-Food Systems
Do we have alternate plan to feed India by ensuring food security for poor
consumers and to meet consumer health aspirations?
Who will lead the development in India?
No amount of management skill can fill the leadership gap.
The bigger question is who will take lead the development in India for the
welfare of 1.25 billion population or we will continue to fight battles in
market with outdated concepts and certain NGOs with no real stake in
development will continue to act as roadblocks based on fear, perceptions
and threats, to satisfy their own agenda or agenda of their donors at the
cost of national development.
No scientific development can be perfect from the day one. That is why
constant R&D is required. No system, no institution or individual can talk of
development without going through a process of learning by mistakes.
Those who don’t want to make mistakes and dream of perfect solution from
the day one, can never be part of development process.
Can we think of India without Hunger without modern technology and
without adding pressure on land and natural resources?
Let the critics have the objective plan with facts and figures to address the
problems on ground and to feed hungry before we discourage modern
science.
It is high time all right thinking people in industry, media and policy system
must express their views with objective assessment. While doing so, let us
be clear, we can’t please everyone. Still, you have to do it for your future
generation.
“If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem in fight
against hunger and health.”
Do send your suggestions, how to deliver low cost food to 1,250
million Indians on sustainable basis.
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