ATESSA, Italy, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural technologies should be developed to help farmers produce more with existing land and reduce the footprint of greenhouse gases at the same time, agri-tech experts recently said.
Since recent droughts have hit many places across the world, regenerative agriculture is becoming increasingly important for the cultivation sector in response to climate change, said Corey Huck, global head the agri-tech company Syngenta Biologicals, in a media visit ended recently in Atessa in the Italian region of Abruzzo.
Regenerative agriculture is an outcome-oriented food production system that nurtures and restores climate, soil health, biodiversity and water while enhancing productivity and farmer profitability, according to Syngenta Biologicals.
Huck said that one of the objectives of regenerative agriculture is higher yields. "We have to produce more at the end. There's going to be more mouths to feed," he added.
The number of people affected by hunger rose to 828 million in 2021, an increase of 46 million from the previous year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report in July.
The three-day tour was held at the headquarters of Valagro, an Italian-based biologicals company which was acquired by Syngenta Biologicals in 2020. Syngenta Biologicals belongs to the Swiss-headquartered agri-tech giant Syngenta Group.
At the event, Huck told media that another objective of regenerative agriculture is reducing greenhouse gases.
Giuseppe Natale, chief executive of Valagro, also stressed the importance of environmental protection. "If we forget the impact on environment, I think that our planet will suffer a lot, and when the planet suffers we suffer," he said.
During the event, Huck introduced what he sees as key principles of regenerative agriculture, including minimized soil disturbance, plants in the ground year-round, diversified crops in time and space, precise application of biological and chemical inputs and integrated livestock when possible.
According to a market estimation provided by Syngenta, the market size of biostimulants and biocontrols, two of the classifications of biologicals, will reach 6.4 billion U.S. dollars and 4 billion dollars respectively by 2030.
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