By Yangxuan Liu, Ph.D. Candidate, Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, and 2016 Next Generation Delegate

I first became interested in global food security during the summer of 2011, when I volunteered at the Rural Education Action Project (REAP) with the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The one-month trip changed my perspective and helped me develop new goals. I visited rural areas of Western China and conducted surveys that evaluated how computer-assisted learning impacts rural students’ school performance. Witnessing firsthand the problem of malnutrition among children in rural communities, the trip to Western China revealed my passion to do more to improve their quality of life on a broader scale. Instead of taking the skills and capabilities I possess for granted, I was compelled do my best to help people in need. Since then, I have worked to help improve global food security. To solve this challenge, both productivity and efficiency need to be intensified in food supply chains. Technological adoption is one of the main methods for increasing agriculture productivity and efficiency around the world

Agriculture Productivity Must Increase to Feed more People
 

The development of precision farming technology is one promising way to raise farm productivity. Precision agriculture in the United States currently has a strong focus on corn, soybeans, and other major cereal crops. My research, however, focuses on applying precision agriculture to high value crops—crops on which rural communities and many small-scale farmers depend. Unlike cereal crops, even the slightest problem can negatively impact yields and profitability for high-value crops like fruits and vegetables. Producers must vigilantly monitor pests and diseases to mitigate production and financial risks to these high-value crops.

Developed at the Fry Lab at Cornell University, the Potato/Tomato Late Blight Decision Support System (DSS) is a good example of how precision farming technology helps convert data into useful knowledge to help farmers make decisions. This system is an interactive, computer-based tool which helps potato and tomato growers use updated weather data to develop crop protection strategies for late blight disease. The DSS gives growers early warning signals pertaining to late blight development, helping them to schedule the next best fungicide application opportunity. More specifically, the DSS program helps growers apply fungicide in accordance with current weather conditions, pathogen inoculum, host resistance, and fungicide characteristics and efficacy. Our economic analysis reveals that the adoption of this precision farming technology increased average yield for susceptible potato cultivars in the United States by 2 percent, which is equivalent to an 800 pound increase per acre. For all U.S. potato cultivars, the DSS-recommended spray schedule to protect  plants is strongly preferred over the traditional calendar-basis spray schedule. The economic benefits to potato growers of adopting this precision agriculture technology ranged from $30 to $544 per acre. 

Agriculture Efficiency Must Increase to Reduce Food Loss
 

With two-thirds of the world’s population living in cities by 2050, food supply chains are growing longer. This transformation of food supply chains also bring challenges to delivering food to cities. Food loss is one of the biggest challenges to ensure global food security. Approximately 30-40% of food produced in the world is never consumed due to post-harvest loss and waste through the food supply chain in both developed and developing countries. In particular, an enormous amount of food is lost during transportation.

Improvements to efficiency in delivery and distribution in agricultural supply chains can reduce the amount of food wasted through the adoption of more effective technologies in developing countries. A better transport infrastructure with respect to delivery trucks, cold chains for food delivery, and operating management systems would reduce the risk of food spoilage. Encouraging private sector investments in transportation facilities, especially in cold chain facilities, can help to reduce food loss tremendously.

In conclusion, the challenges of feeding growing cities with limited natural resources require the discovery of cost-effective ways to produce and deliver food. Technological transformation is one of the tools available to help achieve global food security. Improvements can be made along the entire food chain to increase agricultural productivity and efficiency.

Read previous posts in the Next Generation Delegation 2016 Commentary Series:

• Institutional Support of Weather Index Insurance for Smallholder Integration 
• Beyond the African Smallholder Productivity Gap 
• Prudent Food Utilization Guarantees Sustainable Food Security in Light of Growing Urbanization
• Perspectives at the Global Food Security Symposium 2016
• Food Safety: An Opportunity Often Overlooked when Planning How to Feed Our Burgeoning Population 
• Investing in Younger Generations Is Key to Solving World Hunger by 2050 
• Made in _______: Distant Food Demand Lead to Local Water Issues 
• Reevaluating the Agricultural Development Agenda
• Promoting Food Security While Avoiding the Nutrition Transition