'Fuel versus food' debate under spotlight at AGRA Middle East

The pressure on global corn supplies for animal feed, human food and bio-fuel fell under the spotlight on the opening day of AGRA Middle East, the region's premier exhibition for all aspects of the agribusiness industry, inaugurated by HE Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General, Dubai Municipality.

As major world economies such as the United States search for alternative fuels to crude oil for economic and environmental reasons, the knock-on effect is being felt in agriculture as the competition among the feed, food and energy industries for limited corn supplies heats up, delegates to an exhibition seminar were told.
The pressure for corn from the energy industry is because it's vital to the production of ethanol, which oxygenates oil when mixed with it, making it burn more efficiently.

'All three parties need to look at how to become more efficient with limited resources,' said Greg Bunge, regional sales manager for American animal feed supplier Alltech. 'There's a limited amount of corn in the world because there's a limited amount of space to grow it without deforestation.

'At the end of the day, agriculture is going to be the loser of the three. Hydrogen as an alternative to ethanol mixed with fuel is still some way off, so corn is needed for ethanol production; and people are always going to put food for themselves before animals.'

The price of corn has doubled in the last 12-18 months, up from US$2 per bushel (US$78 per tonne), at which it had remained fairly stable since 1980, to US$4.18 per bushel (US$162 per tonne) today. This in turn has led to price increases in consumer food items such as eggs and meat: for every US$0.25 per bushel increase in the price of corn, US$0.01 is added to the price of a dozen eggs and US$0.04 to a kilo of processed meat. Bunge added that increases of up to 48 per cent could not be ruled out.

Earlier, Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah met with representatives of the 100 exhibitors from 25 different countries participating at AGRA Middle East and hailed the exhibition as, 'An ideal platform for the agricultural sector, not only in the UAE, but also in the region.'

But officiating at the opening ceremony wasn't the only reason for his visit to the show - Eng. Lootah revealed he was also keen to discover how exhibitors could help Dubai Municipality in its plans for the greening of the city.

'AGRA Middle East has attracted the Muncipality's attention because the General Parks and Horticulture Parks Department is working on a number of large landscape projects, so we are considering the latest in products, fertilizers, irrigation, equipment and so on. The aim behind our greening strategy is to have eight per cent of Dubai green by the year 2012, including parks, roads and intersections,' he said.

Among the other VIP visitors to AGRA Middle East was Mr G. Sudhakaran, Minister for Coir Products in the Government of Kerala, India. 'I'm here to support the coir sector in Kerala and open up new markets,' he said. 'Coir is a tree that gives anything you ask - coconut meat and juice, coconut oil for food or industry use, kitchen and home tools, decorative products and carpets. It's an eco-friendly tree.'

Michael Hanlon, Exhibition Manager for AGRA Middle East at IIR, said the exhibition was a valuable forum for networking. 'Established for more than 10 years, AGRA Middle East is a proven networking platform that makes a significant contribution towards the region's economies by promoting and providing networking opportunities for the varied trade activities of the Pan Arab markets,' he said.

Running until Thursday, AGRA Middle East, showcases the latest advances in agriculture and irrigation, animal husbandry and poultry farming, floriculture and horticulture, as well as fisheries and aquaculture - has gained key support from local, regional and international organisations such as the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID), the Malaysian Fisheries Department, the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI).