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0:00
Hello.
This is Robert Henry, professor
of innovation and agriculture
from the University of Queensland.
Today I'll be talking
about agricultural genetics
for food security.
In this lecture, I will
provide an overview
of the application of genetics to
the challenge of food security.
0:19
Food security can be
defined in several ways.
Food security can be defined
simply as providing sufficient food
to satisfy human demand.
However, ongoing food
security requires that food
be delivered in a sustainable way.
Food security also requires that
food production be protected
from the risks of crop
failure associated
with adverse climatic events.
0:46
We need more than just a
sufficient quantity of food,
but rather, food of
sufficient quality
required to support
healthy human populations.
This is more than just
the calories and protein
that will maintain human life.
We need food that
promotes human health
and enhances life expectancy.
1:10
Concern about food security stems
from growing population growth.
The world population has
passed seven billion recently
and will add billions more
over the next decades.
The graph presented
here projects world
population forward to mid-century.
1:33
The growth in demand
for food is compounded
by the growth in demand per person.
This factor is as significant,
if not more significant,
than population growth in driving
increased demand for food.
Growing affluence has resulted
in greater food consumption,
especially in Asian countries.
While almost one billion
people are still short of food,
almost two billion are
suffering from the effects
of eating too much food.
