Veterinary & Animal Research: Feeding the World in the 21st Century

By 2050, the population of the world will surpass 9.6 billion people [1]. Such increase in the global population will be accompanied by increase in income and changes in diet. Global need for crop is expected to increase by 100 to 110% and the demand for food by 60% [2,3]. One of the challenges with a growing population is environmental pressures especially habitat change, climate change, water use and toxic emission. Rising demand for food increases greenhouse gases from agricultural use of fossil fuels, fertilizer and intensive animal production [4]. It is well known that the agriculture business is cost sensitive and any new discovery which could have a positive impact on costs should be shared in a timely fashion.