KELOWNA – With the world’s population forecast to grow by 1.5 billion people in the next 30 years, there are growing fears about the global supply of food.
The topic was front and centre at a first of its kind conference in Kelowna Tuesday.
“In B.C. we won’t solve the food supply issue for the world, “ says Minister of Agriculture and MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country Norm Letnick. “Our goal is to make sure we have good capacity here in B.C. so we can feed ourselves.”
Modern technology is key when it comes to food supply security say experts such as entrepreneurs and farmers from across the province.
They say technology is revolutionizing the farming industry.
“Exciting is an understatement,“ says Dave Smardon of BioEnterprise which assists technology-based farming companies. “This is very similar to what happened in high-tech in the 1980s and 90s when you had all these new technologies coming into the marketplace.”
The technology being used in the food-production industry includes remote sensors to test soil.
“Precision agriculture is putting it into the soil measuring nitrogen, calcium, phosphates and sending that information back to the farmer so that the farmer automatically knows when to put fertilizer down,“ says Smardon.
Other technological tools include drones which are used to analyze crops from the air.
“It is very, very precise so a farmer can know if there are watering issues, if there are pest issues or fertilizing issues. The farmer can then target those specific areas within the field.“ says Aerobotika’s Thomas Barter.
Technology is even being used to milk cows.
“Robotic milking machines,“ says Letnick. “I just visited one (farm) this weekend. We had 60 cows being milked robotically, it’s the first in the world. It’s amazing.”
With technology so appealing to the younger generation, it’s expected more millennials will enter the farming industry and help plant the seeds of the future.
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