Lecture by Prof. Dr. Joseph-Alexander Verreet

The world population is increasing from 6 billion in 2000 to an anticipated 8 billion in 2025 and 9.2 billion in 2050. The demand for adequate food supply will be amongst the greatest challenges of the coming decades. In future, agriculture will not only be responsible for food supply, but will also have to satisfy demand for raw materials and energy. Plant protection primarily serves to secure the genetically fixed yield potential of crops against harmful organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, pests and weeds. Today, with the use of plant protection, the world population can be fed on a globally available cultivated area of 1.5 billion hectares – without plant protection, more than twice this total area would already be required. Research and innovation are the key to meeting the challenges of modern agriculture.