Climate change to have adverse impact on agriculture, food security: Hartmann

Pakistan is vulnerable to challenges such as rising temperatures, deforestation, land degradation and water scarcity in the next two decades, leading to an adverse impact on agriculture and food security in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is already among the 10 countries affected most by climate change according to the 2018 Global Climate Risk Index," said Jens Hartmann, Regional Head for Asia Pacific (APAC) for the Crop Science division of Bayer, while talking to Business Recorder during his recent visit to Pakistan.

He added, "the World Resources Institute reports that Pakistan is on track to become the most water-stressed country in the region by 2040 with lack of surface water availability for irrigation, industry and human consumption."

According to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) the numbers of extreme climate-related disasters have more than doubled since the 1990s, with an average of 213 of these events occurring every year during the period of 1990-2016. As a result, agricultural productivity of major crops such as wheat, rice and maize has significantly decreased leading to food price hikes and income losses.

Hartmann said a third of arable land has been lost due to erosion or pollution in the past 40 years, while our production pattern continues to be too resource-intensive.

"Without plant science and technology, farmers would need an extra 376 million hectares to grow the same amount of food - let alone double production," said Hartmann.

"Since we cannot simply create more farmland at the expense of natural habitat, to grow enough food using less natural resources, we will need to adopt a holistic and integrated approach to agriculture," he added.

"In short, there is no silver bullet that can address all the challenges faced by farmers today. Therefore, an integrated approach to farming that combines a multitude of technologies and tools will be key towards maximizing productivity and ensuring food security for generations to come."

"Faced with these challenges, we need to adopt a more sustainable approach to agriculture that protects and enhances the natural resource base, while increasing productivity," said Hartmann.

He said that biotechnology was another tool that can benefit farmers by developing crops that are resistant to certain diseases, insects and adverse weather conditions.

"Due to its 'scale-neutral' nature, smallholders gain the same benefits from biotechnology as large corporate farmers, leading to better yields," he added.

Smallholder farms operate on 12 percent of the world's agricultural land and produce 80 percent of the food that is consumed in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and about 40 percent of all food consumed worldwide.

He said Bayer saw it as its responsibility to engage with smallholder farmers and support them to increase their yield and grow their business, while meeting the growing demand for food supply.

Hartmann shared that last year Bayer invested 2.3 billion euros in Crop Science R&D globally on a pro forma basis - more than any other company in the industry. And this figure is expected to rise to over 25 billion euros accumulated over the next 10 years.

"Bayer has made three commitments to be met by 2030 to address some of the most pressing challenges faced by the world today," said Hartmann.

"First, reducing the environmental impact of crop protection by 30 percent through development of new technologies; second, reducing field greenhouse gases emissions from the most emitting crops systems by 30 percent in the regions Bayer serves; and third, empowering 100 million smallholder farmers in developing countries by providing more access to sustainable agricultural solutions," he added.

"With our innovations in the area of seed and in chemical and biological crop protection solutions, we aim to help overcome food security and sustainable agriculture challenges targeted in SDG2. Furthermore, we offer farmers throughout the world tailored services to support them individually," he added.

Hartmann went on to say that Bayer's commitment to research and development allows the company to introduce the best germplasm available in Pakistan and that each year, Bayer tests hundreds of hybrids and selects the best amongst them for further trials, which can take up to five years.

"The success of Pakistan's maize crop is an example of Bayer's contribution to the development of Pakistan's agriculture sector. We contributed to the significant growth of the maize crop by introducing high-yielding hybrid corn seeds," he added.

"As a result, over 95 percent of the corn cropping area in Punjab is hybridized today, with yields more than tripling in the past 20 years and national production reaching an all-time high - from 1.5 million tons in 1997 to 5.7 million tons in 2017. This extraordinary growth has also benefitted Pakistan's downstream industries, including the poultry industry, which accounts for over 70 percent of all maize grain produced and continues to grow at 10-12 percent per annum," said Hartmann.

"Our high-quality seeds are optimized to thrive in the local agronomic conditions. Moreover, as one of the leading crop protection companies in Pakistan, we provide farmers with a range of solutions to increase productivity and tackle the emergent pest pressures. The added productivity continues to add to the rural economy and favourably impacts farmer livelihood," he added.

"A range of programs have been developed to overcome the technological barriers and learning limitations through awareness and exposure. Farmer Expos and Learning Centres are organized to share knowledge with farmers on critical topics in a crop cycle (soil health, water management, crop protection etc.), introduce the latest technologies and promote their adoption," said Hartmann.

In closing, Hartmann said Bayer intended to continue to make a difference in this sector by introducing high quality seeds, crop protection and latest technologies, and that it was the company's hope that by embracing those tools and solutions, Pakistan's agriculture sector would continue to develop and advance.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019