To celebrate Research Week 2018, UQ is proud to share how UQ research is creating change, right across the world, every day.
Find out how our researchers are collaborating with research partners both in Australia and abroad to protect our future food supply.
With most of Australia’s farmlands currently gripped by the worst drought in a century, and with scientists predicting agriculture will be one of the industries hardest hit by climate change, the issue of food security, and how the world will continue to grow enough food to feed its growing population in these changing conditions, has never been more important.
According to the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the world’s population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050, and food production will need to increase by 70 per cent in order to sustain the ever-growing number of humans on our planet.
However, research has shown that changes in our climate are already having a negative impact on crop yields on a global scale, and this is set to continue as global temperatures continue to rise.
On the flip side, the agriculture industry is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the main driver of global warming. So the challenge for scientists is to find new ways of producing food that cause less environmental harm, while also safeguarding the world’s future food supply through the development of more resilient crops.
In collaboration with global partners, UQ researchers are meeting this challenge and leading the way with discoveries and breakthrough technology that have the potential to bolster global food security.
