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Feeding Growing Global Population Will Require Science & Technology
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DuPont Leaders Outline Challenges and Opportunities to Address Food Needs and Demand
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 2, 2011 – Feeding a growing population with more and better food is a unique challenge, but collaborative innovation creates sustaining solutions, DuPont Nutrition & Health President Craig F. Binetti said at the 2011 Gulfood Exhibition and Conference.
“From farm to fork, DuPont has the opportunity to use science and technology to increase agricultural productivity, improve food quality and achieve long-term food security,” Binetti said.
The world’s population will reach 7 billion this year – increasing by 150,000 people per day for the next 40 years. This means the world will need to increase production of high nutritional value foods by 70 percent in that same period to meet the needs of its people.
“To increase nourishment for all requires solutions that are local. What works in Brazil may not work in Dubai,” Binetti said. “Increasing food production and providing more and better foods locally will be imperative to helping address the world’s food challenges.”
Binetti was joined by Eser Acarkan, DuPont food industry leader for Turkey, Middle East and Africa and Heike van de Kerkhof, director for DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
“DuPont is uniquely positioned to increase global food production across the value chain. The Middle East is a key developing market with increasing emphasis on the food industry,” Acarkan said.
DuPont looks at various levels of food production and provides solutions to address issues that might arise at stages within the process. For example, Pioneer Hi-Bred is a DuPont business that gives farmers the ability to increase their output through advance plant genetics. Pioneer® brand seeds are sold to farmers in more than 90 countries around the world. Pioneer uses a sophisticated toolkit to create greater yield, benefits to consumers and environmental sustainability. Among other things, Pioneer is developing seeds with drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency and new forms of insect and disease resistance. Pioneer’s products include Plenish™ high oleic soybeans – oil derived from these Pioneer® brand soybeans has an enhanced oil profile and increased oil stability for the food industry, with 0g trans fat and 20 percent less saturated fat than commodity soybean oil.
Another example of the company’s efforts to improve agricultural productivity can be found in the DuPont Crop Protection business, which provides herbicides, insecticides and fungicides that can help crop growers protect their crops. This includes a variety of science-powered innovations that can increase output and limit the impact that environmental factors might otherwise have on food production.
The DuPont joint venture, Solae, develops innovative soy-based technologies and ingredients for food, meat and nutritional products, creating healthy and more nutritious food options.
Food security is a growing concern, and DuPont Qualicon provides safety diagnostic technology that can detect the presence of pathogens and other unwanted organisms for food. In addition, DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers uses science and continuous innovation to protect and preserve foods, this business works with food manufacturers and retailers, improving packaging to protect foods from pathogens, lock in vital nutrients and keep food fresher longer so it can be transported with a minimum of spoilage and waste.
“Our partners in this endeavor are collaborating with us every day to develop science that creates new opportunities to improve the quantity, quality, accessibility and security of the food we eat,” Binetti said. “We all need to play a part in changing the future and utilize our collective ingenuity to deliver sufficient, healthy food for everyone.”
DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
03/02/11
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