For second time in three decades, mankind faces the challenge of producing an agricultural revolution. Demand for food will increase in the coming years due to population growth and improved income in a significant segment of the population of emerging countries.
It is expected that by 2020 the production levels of grains, meats and tubers should increase up to 40%.
In the past, humans has faced similar crises. The last agricultural revolution gave birth to the widespread use of pesticides, agrochemicals and fertilizers; resulting in improved crop yields. The next agricultural revolution will not be able to follow the same pattern to intensify production due to the effect that those products have had on soils and groundwater layers.
In order to intensify agricultural production in the future, the path undertaken in recent years should be deepened, based on the contributions of biotechnology, by genetically strengthening plant species to make them more resistant to pests and, perhaps, allowing them to grow with less water resources.
In addition, protecting the environment will be essential to prevent the loss of biodiversity adversely affecting the functioning of ecosystems and reduce yields. In the same way, it will be necessary to apply modern satellite techniques to develop precision agriculture (mapping the availability of nutrients in the fields, for example) and using modern agricultural machinery, highly technified.
That is to say, the new agricultural revolution will be possible thanks to the combination of elements of biotechnology, ecology, information technology and telecommunications.
The idea that we want to rescue here is that the technological innovation and cross-fertilization that takes place in several emblematic sectors of the New Economy are gradually changing the form of economic organization that has prevailed until now.
