Heavy investments need to be made in the fields of agricultural innovation and R&D, if rising demands for food are to be met, according to a recent report.

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2012-2021 report, produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), provides market projections for many agricultural sectors, including bio-fuels, cereals, oil-seeds, meat and sugar, for the period 2012-2021.

Over the next 40 years, the agricultural production must increase by 60 percent, equivalent to one billion additional tonnes of cereals and 200 million extra tonnes of meat per year, to meet global demands. The highest rates of growth are expected to occur in developing countries.  But, a lack of agricultural innovation policies will have to be rectified.

At a press briefing at the report's release last week, Merritt Cluff, an FAO senior economist, said that as an example of agricultural growth in the developing countries, "in 2021, Latin America will have almost double the production that it had in 2000".

Indonesia is considered to be one developing country which has good agricultural innovation policies, which links its private and public sectors to boost production.

The report also calls for "the need for better policy coherence for agricultural innovation, for a more demand-driven research system, for rejuvenated agricultural education and training programmes, and for greater private sector engagement".

An effective education system, training and access to modern technology have had a very positive impact in countries like Kenya and Uganda, asserts Ignacio Perez, an economic analyst at the OECD.

The report also highlighted the fact that the over-all investments in the fields of agricultural research and development have been very low. Usually local R&D sectors depend on foreign aid, which are usually only offered to projects with strict time limits. This is likely to hamper the growth of "national R&D institutions."