A Systems Approach to Modernizing Agriculture in the Developing World, an Industry’s Perspective.

Food security and meeting the future food needs of a growing population are a central focus for everyone involved in agriculture. However, in much of the developing world, many efforts to deliver sustainable and improved productivity tend to focus only on one or a couple components and tools instead of focusing on an integrated approach. Because of their limited agricultural footprint, smallholder farmers have an even greater need for innovation and timely information to consistently grow food and feed for their family and their community. This innovation must be customized and integrated to meet the needs of these smallholder farmers. This presentation will focus on how industry is utilizing innovative agronomic tools and an integrated system approach to enable small-holder farmers in Asia and Africa. Specific examples of these systems will be discussed that include enhanced conventional, chemical, biological and biotech tools working in concert to help farmers sustainably produce food and improve farmer’s lives.