Maize, rice farming must become more sustainable, says Food and Agriculture Organisation

Cereal-based farming systems must join the transition to sustainable agriculture if they are to meet unprecedented demand for maize, rice and wheat.

That was one of the key messages that emerged from a meeting by the Food and Agriculture Organisation last month and attended by leading crop production specialists.

FAO estimates that over the next 35 years farmers will need to increase the annual production of maize, rice and wheat to three billion tonnes, or half a billion tonnes over 2013's combined harvests.

They will need to do that with less water, fossil fuel and agrochemicals, on farmland that has been widely degraded by decades of intensive crop production, and in the face of droughts, new pest and disease threats, and extreme weather events provoked by climate change.

The experts said the challenge could only be met with eco-friendly agriculture that achieves higher productivity while conserving natural resources, adapting to climate change and delivering economic benefits to world's 500 million small-scale family farms.

The meeting focused on maize, rice and wheat because the three are fundamental to world food security, providing 50 per cent of humanity's dietary energy supply.