Some nations now are ageing fast
But others grow more than the past.
We don't yet have the ability
To quickly reach stability
Not only must we feed the horde,
The richer folks can now afford
A diet filled with milk and meat.
Of course we don't grudge them this treat.
But we have to understand
That milk and meat need much more land.
There isn’t much more land out there.
In Brazil we could bring some to bear.
But land is also being lost
And salination's a major cost,
While urbanisation takes a toll.
And therefore it should be our goal
To preserve agricultural land.
Now farmers need to understand
How to prevent land degradation
Through soil erosion or salination.
Productivity is our only hope.
But realistically what's the scope?
Yield improvements have been quite slow
But in India they are still very low.
If we get technology to flow
Then Indian yields can rapidly grow.
Now India has much arable land
And as we get yields to expand
We can feed our own and more
Expand our sales beyond our shore.
But China is a different story
It has an appearance of glory.
But cities now rise from its fields
And without improvement in their yields
They siphon up all the world's food.
The market has become quite skewed
Food prices have seen a major boom
Is this the harbinger of doom?
Now biofuels have played a role
At first it seemed a useful goal.
A greener fuel sounds rather nice.
It may have helped reduce the price
Of crude oil by just a bit
But consequently food prices hit
High levels never seen before
And experts feel there's more in store.
Production now needs to grow.
And one solution's GMO.
There are some who don't agree
But seen scientifically
GMO Seeds are quite benign
Its prudent use should be just fine.
We've talked of land and now we ought to
Talk for a while regarding water:
Indeed there are some folks who say,
That wars that may now come our way
Will be fought over water not land.
But that's something I can't understand.
Now some folks might well think I'm at fault,
For forgetting the oceans have salt.
But I feel, if we ponder on this,
Some sea water could be used as it is
For both cleaning as well as cultivation
And much more with some desalination.
It's quite true that this process isn't cheap
But we don't need to make this big leap
If there isn't demand at that price.
All the same you'll agree it's quite nice
For it shows that much water is there
If we're willing to pay a price that's fair.
Now all water that's free may be short
At right prices much more can be bought.
And of course if we cleverly apply
Good solutions we could always supply
A good deal of the water we need
As well as for much of our greed.
Transportation of water costs a lot.
Though through harvesting much can be got.
Because water's so tricky to fetch
It makes sense to find ways to make it stretch.
It could surely be used more than twice
And then cleaned for a reasonable price.
But in time the cost of cleaning will fall,
While proceeding to cleverly install
New techniques that permit us to clean
Each and every impurity foreseen.
If we now take a look at demand
Very quickly we'd all understand
That the share of agriculture is huge.
All the same the adroit subterfuge
Of ensuring there is a right price.
Will give us the solution in a trice.
Drip irrigation first comes to our mind
And those using it invariably find
Yield improves and yet water is spared.
Then the acreage could surely be pared
Of those crops that are guzzling too much
Sugarcane could be seen as one such.
If like vegans we were to behave
Then both water and land we could save.
One thing that we should understand
Fast dairy growth requires more land
If we multi-crop the field
And improve the fodder yield
The dairy sector would be able to grow
And milk would continue to flow.
Now poultry is a good way to go.
There are two products as we know
There is the egg and then there's meat.
The egg is an amazing thing
And I for one could always sing
Its praises, for it’s packaged well
Provided with a protective shell.
And in it you will surely find
Fine nutrients of every kind.
It can be cooked in many ways
Prepared in minutes, not hours or days.
For both eggs and meat you should know
That poultry feed conversion's low.
Unlike cows they don't eat grass
But in a sense they also pass.
Soya meal and corn are fed
And though perhaps it could be said
That these are foods that we might eat
No one would treat them as a treat.
And is it possible to make the case better
Not just in spirit but in letter
Make a feed that won't compete
With any food, that humans can eat?
Can we fulfil such a dream?
With newer enzymes it would seem
The digestibility could be bettered
Locked nutrients could be unfettered.
And what would be your reactions
To feed from low cost extractions?
I'm sure you'd all be delighted
A golden era has been sighted.
With rapid poultry growth in store
And the ability to feed many more
Without the use of added land
Can help us meet all food demand.
But enzymes have still another role
And cellulase then should be our goal.
And then once we can crack cellulose
Our greatest cause of worry then goes.
So please relax and don't be at all tense
For biofuels will now make good sense.
But indeed much more can be done
Our biggest battle would be won.
These sugars can be food or feed
Or produce the chemicals we need.
Technology can surely ensure
The ability to make so much more.
There is still another large factor
And that's the photobioreactor.
With just a little water and less land
Much more production can be in hand.
A fifty fold increase in the yield
Than that which we can get in a field.
With reduction in the cost of LEDs
We could double it with the greatest of ease.
For it helps to have artificial light
And grow algae right through the night.
So ten billion we could easily feed
Technology’s all that we need.
