Aeroponics to Feed the World 9 billion people in the future?

                                               

Do we need to change our concepts of what people eat to meet the world’s nutrition demands? Insects, lab-made meat, algae and 3D-printed fortied food could be affordable and practical routes to reducing malnutrition. The challenge for the development sector is how these ideas can be put into practice and do we really want to eat them?

In the first half of this century, as the world’s population grows to around 9 billion, global demand for food, feed and fiber will nearly double while, increasingly, crops may also be used for bioenergy and other industrial purposes. New and traditional demand for agricultural produce will thus put growing pressure on already scarce agricultural resources. And while agriculture will be forced to compete for land and water with sprawling urban settlements, it will also be required to serve on other major fronts: adapting to and contributing to the mitigation of climate change, helping preserve natural habitats, protecting endangered species and maintaining a high level of biodiversity. As though this were not challenging enough, in most regions fewer people will be living in rural areas and even fewer will be farmers. They will need new technologies to grow more from less land, with fewer hands.

Then the problems to be resolved:
1.Will we be able to produce enough food at affordable prices or will rising food prices drive more of the world's population into poverty and hunger?

2.How much spare capacity in terms of land and water do we have to feed the world in 2050?

3.What are the new technologies that can help us use scarce resources more efficiently, increase and stabilize crop and livestock yields?

4.Are we investing enough in research and development for breakthroughs to be available in time?

5.Will new technologies be available to the people who will need them most - the farmers?

6.How much do we need to invest in order to help agriculture adapt to climate change, and how much can agriculture contribute to mitigating extreme weather events?

All the questions are leading to the answer of 21st century Aeroponics.
                                 

                                           Large scale integration of aeroponics

                                       

             Aeroponic Graduate Program:Hanoi Agricultural University, Hanoi, Vietnam

In 2006, the Institute of Biotechnology at Hanoi University of Agriculture in joint efforts with Stoner established the postgraduate doctoral program in aeroponics. The university's Agrobiotech Research Center, is using aeroponic laboratories to advance Vietnam's minituber potato production for certified seed potato production.

                                   

            Aeroponic potato explants on day 3 after insertion in the aeroponic system, Hanoi

The historical significance for aeroponics is that it is the first time a nation has specifically called out for aeroponics to further an agricultural sector, stimulate farm economic goals, meet increased demands, improve food quality and increase production."We have shown that aeroponics, more than any other form of agricultural technology, will significantly improve Vietnam's potato production. We have very little tillable land, aeroponics makes complete economic sense to us”, attested Thach.
Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2007. The impact of aeroponics in Vietnam will be felt at the farm level.

Aeroponic integration in Vietnam agriculture will begin by producing a low cost certified disease-free organic minitubers, which in turn will be supplied to local farmers for their field plantings of seed potatoes and commercial potatoes. Potato farmers will benefit from aeroponics because their seed potatoes will be disease-free and grown without pesticides. Most importantly for the Vietnamese farmer, it will lower their cost of operation and increase their yields, says Thach.