Machinery Manufacturers 'Must Innovate'

According to a report by Rabobank the global demand for food will increase by seventy percent by 2050. This astonishing prediction is based on increasing consumption at least as much as the growing global population - with prosperity increasing in many parts of the developing world, demand is bound to rise.

The question is, will the agricultural industries in these countries and the ones that supply them be able to cope with the demand?

While agriculture and food are now global industries (and our sales reflect this, with about 50% of them going overseas), there's no doubt that many countries' agricultural technology is a long way behind the most efficient practices of Western Europe and North America. While the agrarian ideal is picturesque and its loss will be mourned by many, inefficient farming may be a cost we can't afford if we want to feed the world properly.

(Population control is an alternative than only a few countries seem willing to embrace.)

While Rabobank asks for more innovation, I think i's less a matter of developing the technology itself than delivering that technology where it's most needed - although technology can include GM, of course, with the development of new varieties designed to grow in different conditions.

But when it comes to the machinery that is obviously sorely needed... can our manufacturers and suppliers deliver the equipment needed to bring these less efficient industries up to date - and is the investment available to allow them to do so? Will politics help or hinder, or can we keep the politicians out of it altogether?

Grants, foreign aid and other subsidies might be needed to stimulate sales in the short to medium term, but with such a worthy cause as 'feeding the world', is there a better way to spend taxpayers' money?