Agriculture Outlook Asia 2009 and CABI Global Summit

VANMEURSA — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:48:13 +0000

Fastening the seat belt of the Chair one more time, rehearsing the brace position and checking out the life jacket I was reflecting that the ‘K747’ virus is almost as contagious in CRCNPB circles as ‘H1N1’…

My Leaflet contribution for August ended with myself and fellow Board member Christine Campbell about to head for Singapore to contribute to the international conference Agriculture Outlook Asia 2009. The theme was ‘Meeting the challenge of food security: producing sufficiently to feed a world population of 10 billion by 2050’. I was invited to present a paper on biosecurity and plant genetic resources, in the context of achieving this objective.

The audience was interesting. Predominantly Asian but with north American and European delegates drawn from agribusiness, government policy people, and international bodies, including World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Hard-headed and data rich.

Given the theme and the location the immediacy of the food security challenge was well appreciated and highlighted by many speakers. Equally striking was the absence of any climate change sceptics. Given that climate change is already impacting in Asia, with rising sea levels and the incidence of ‘extreme’ climate events this is probably not surprising, but members of the Australian parliament (of several political persuasions) might have found the experience enlightening.

The conference format was ‘set pieces’ and discussion panels. My ‘set piece’ turned out to be an easier assignment than that given to Christine who was invited to Chair two lively panel discussions. The first, ‘Improving infrastructure facilities to meet the increasing demands from agricultural and food industries’ considered infrastructures available to the agrifood industries and where investment opportunities may be found. The second, ‘Examining facilities that ensure efficient distribution and post-harvest handling of agricultural products’ included an examination of best practice approaches to guaranteeing a safe and steady supply of agricultural commodities. Both had clear biosecurity implications.

Following the very stimulating and enjoyable Science Exchange, covered elsewhere in this edition of The Leaflet, it was time to re-pack the trusty suitcase and head for Europe. This time to present on biosecurity and plant genetic resources at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – yes, the CRCNPB is known in some quite unexpected places.

This visit was an adjunct to taking part in the CABI Global Summit ‘Food security in a Climate of Change’ (an interesting play on words and themes) held in London from 19-21 October. As at the Singapore meeting, the challenge of food security and constraints to keeping pace with demand – including dealing with biosecurity issues - was featured by the organisers, for example: “By 2050 it is estimated that we will need to grow double the amount of food to feed the world’s people, as population growth and changing food preferences increase pressures on land and water availability. This will need to be achieved against a backdrop of climate change which will exacerbate water shortages, reduce crop yields and create new pests and disease threats”.

Timed to precede December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the CABI Global Summit brought together senior agricultural ministers, representatives from development organisations, scientists and the corporate sector to look at developing policies, practices and technologies to “… enable us to grow more and lose less of what we already grow”. A strong biosecurity message in this punch line.

The Global Summit was followed by the annual CABI Development Consortium Workshop, held at CABI headquarters in Wallingford, near Oxford. This workshop provides input to the ongoing work of developing the CABI Compendia. The Crop Protection Compendium is well-established and the CRCNPB was credited for brokering the deal for Australian membership of the consortium preparing the biosecurity-oriented Invasive Species Compendium.

These international contacts are important to the CRCNPB not only to raise the profile of our contributions but also to respond to the strong signals being sent by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research as to the desirability of CRCs building strong international linkages. These linkages are even more important as we set about developing a bid to extend the life of the CRCNPB.

In context of the bid, I have recently become involved with two initiatives that should help to promote the social science aspects of the CRCNPB. In late August I was advised that I had been appointed to the Board of the Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF) as one of seven independent Directors.

The PIEF is a public not-for-profit company covering the primary industries, government and education sectors. Its objectives are to provide national leadership and coordination to encourage primary industries education in schools; to commission projects to further this end; to provide a source of credible educational resources for schools in order to improve community confidence in Australia’s primary industries, and to communicate primary industries research and development outcomes in a format accessible to schools. The CRCNPB’s innovative approach to taking biosecurity science into primary schools is an excellent example of the types of work with which I hope the PIEF will become associated.

On this note the CRCNPB have just release their Primary School’s unit Plant Pest Investigators. For further information on this please see our Plant Pest Investigators story. I am very pleased also to have been appointed an Adjunct Professor in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. I shall hold this status within the National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia a body established with somewhat similar objectives to those of the PIEF, in respect of raising the profile of the primary industries sector, and positioning the CRCNPB for an association which should contribute to our social sciences credibility.

Now, how do I get the in-Chair video system to work……?

Compendium Programme Development Consortia Workshop CABI-HQ, Wallingford

CRC for Plant Biosecurity - Agriculture Asia Outlook

Agriculture Outlook Asia 2009 and CABI Global Summit