As the new century unfolds, all hose involved in agriculture - including the agri-chemical industry - face the challenge of a revolution in farming methods based on new technologies. The crop-protection industry is, first and foremost, focused on helping farmers produce enough crops to feed a world population whose appetite is constantly growing both because there are more mouths to feed and because individuals are demanding value-adding foodstuffs. The world's population has just hit six billion and will continue to grow quickly well into this century. Using only current agricultural techniques to feed the two billion or so new people expected during the next 25 years could unleash unacceptable environmental and social consequences. Increasing demands for meat, dairy and other foodstuffs that require high levels of agricultural inputs compound the problem. Consider this: if every person in China ate one kilogram more meat a year, world cereal production would have to rise by 10 million tonnes. Many involved in agriculture are already realising that traditional production methods may not be sustainable in a world where people are increasingly calling for a more conscious approach to agriculture. World agricultural patterns are changing and nowhere is this being reflected more than in the global agricultural chemical industry.
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