Apec countries must know type of crops to export, says expert

ECONOMIES in the 21 Apec economies must by now know what type of crops to grow to export, says a specialist.
Bruce Blakeman, vice-president corporate affairs of global agri-company Cargill, said during the Apec Business Advisory Council food security summit in Port Moresby yesterday that comparative advantage was important in the export of food.
“For instance, in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Indonesia, it makes all the sense in the world that they grow palm oil in a sustainable way, same way as we look at other crops.”
“Most of the soybean is grown in North and South America,” he said.
“The reason is that it is just very efficient: The weather, water, size of farms, land, you have crops that can grow in 10,000 hectares with four or five people that can manage these farms.
“China has explicitly decided that they are not going to be self-sufficient in soybeans. They made that decision many years ago.
“They said that they are going to be self-sufficient in rice, corn and so they utilise their rain and the crops that make sense to them.”
Blakeman said food import was not all about trying to feed the entire country.
He said 16 per cent of food globally moved across international borders.
Food import is all about filling the gaps in factors such as climate issues, disasters, pest issues or crop failure.
“As we look at where food is being produced and exported, essentially North and South America is feeding a big part of the world,” he said.