Monsanto Company (Press Release)

In an open letter to the world community, commemorating the anniversary of World Food Day, which is Friday, October 16, these prominent world leaders called for continuing advances in biotechnology to meet the food and nourishment needs of the global population. Signatories included such notables as Nobel Prize winners Oscar Arias, the former president of Costa Rica, and Dr. Norman Borlaug, the world-renowned agronomist known as the "Father of the 'Green Revolution'."

Stating that the effort to meet global needs has an "ally in biotechnology," the letter urges creating global food self-sufficiency in ways that reduce reliance on pesticides, fossil fuels and other potentially harmful environmental practices. Citing numerous hurdles, such as poverty, food distribution, water supplies, erosion and crop disease, the leaders call for "new ways" to meet "the global need for food, while maintaining an ecological balance."

Specifically, the leaders write that while "biotechnology alone cannot address all of these hurdles... it is an important tool in our hands. We know advances in biotechnology must be tested and safe, but they should not be unduly delayed."

Meeting the food needs of burgeoning global populations will require developing nations to grow more food that is more affordable than currently available. However, with a continuing global decline in tillable land, the challenge will be to increase crop yields on the land that remains. "Agricultural biotechnology," the leaders insist, "can play a major role in realizing the hope we all share."