With ever more people to feed in the future, there is no alternative but to increase agricultural productivity in order to meet global food, feed and biofuel demands and to alleviate hunger and poverty. 

This scenario for agricultural intensification and mechanization, however, poses great challenges forAsiawhere land and water resources have reached their limits for agricultural and other outputs.

In addition, future crop production intensification must not only reduce the impact of climate change on crop production but must also mitigate the factors that cause climate change by reducing emissions and by contributing to carbon sequestration in soils.

In line with these developments, FAO is now advocating the concept of Save and grow which aims at future agricultural practices that should result in increased production while conserving the natural resource base.

Journalists and news organizations are invited to attend the opening ceremony of the FAO roundtable on developing environmentally sustainable agricultural mechanization strategies for countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

When?       Thursday 8 December 2011 from 0800 to 0900 hours

Where?     FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

                   Maliwan Mansion, Phra Atit Road, Banglampoo, Bangkok

Who?         Hiroyuki Konuma, assistant director-general

                   and FAO regional representative for Asia and the Pacific

                   Noeleen Heyser, UN under-secretary-general

                   and executive secretary of ESCAP

                   LeRoy Hollenbeck, head of the UN Asia-Pacific Centre for agricultural engineering and machinery