Exclusive | Doctor Aalt Talks about the Future of Food Industry

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Written by: Stella Chen, Angela Peng

Edited by: Anna Hu(Wechat ID: Nana-annahu)，Vicky Gan，Wilbur Zhu

On 19th April, FBIF 2017 was successfully held in Hilton, Shanghai Hongqiao. Doctor Aalt Dijkhuizen presented the Chief Talk about economic globalization.He is the president of Dutch Topsector Agri & Food and former president of Wageningen University. He is a world-famous opinion-leader. During the talk, he mentioned that the trend of globalization will go on in the long run. Popping up of the electronic commerce promotes global consumption. After the talk, FBIF had an exclusive interview with him.

1. “Golden Triangle”—Increase Agricultural Output

Angela Peng: Nice to meet you, Dr. Aalt. Dutch is the second biggest flower and grain exporting country which has asmall land area and a high population density. What agricultural model does Dutch applyto ensure sufficient food supply? Can China draw some lessons from it?

Aalt Dijkhuizen:First of all, we have really good climate and soil condition. However, our land and labor force are expensive. Hence, we need to be highly productive to survive. Due to the stress, out government bodies, scientific community, and private sector are connected closely, which is knownas “Golden Triangle”. With the development step by step, we have come to the second biggest flower and grain exporting country. I believe China can also make achievements! But it takes time, and the collaboration between the “Golden Triangle” I’ve just mentionedis necessary.

Angela Peng: Nowadays, people concern most about food safety. How can we increase the output on condition that food safety is ensured?

Aalt Dijkhuizen: Food safety is the foundation of any food companies if they want to develop. Take the Dioxin Affair in 1999 in Europe, it brought severe influence on those food companies. They need to meet with the standard twice as strict as the former one to prove their food safety to the whole world. Food safety is the most important thing for companies. They can never develop without meeting with standards. A little scandal can cause an irrevocable loss.

Angela Peng:At present, global environment is under great pressure, but it’s inevitable that agricultural production brings the emission of greenhouse gases. How to develop an environmental friendly and sustainable agriculture industry?

Aalt Dijkhuizen: As far as I’m concerned, only increasing the productivity can solve the problem. For example, you’ll need fewer cows if those cows can produce as much milk as possible. Now there are 330 million cows throughout the world. If people’s need doubles, there need to be 660 million cows. But what if we double the milk yield? We don’t need to raise more cows. Thus it’s necessary that we increase the productivity to save the input and to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution they bring about. How can we do this? There are many ways such as improving the breed, strengthening the control of pests and diseases, offering better feed and optimizing the way of processing.

2. Genetic Modification or Precision Agriculture? I Choose the Latter.

Angela Peng:The development of Internet technology has influenced thedevelopment of other industries, including the food industry. How to apply digital technology to precision agriculture in order to increase the output?

Aalt Dijkhuizen: Intelligent farm technology develops step by step, from mechanization in the past to a more intelligent one now. Nowadays, you can put a detector at any procedure at any place, for example, in the soil. You can get more information from big data. If we apply it to food processing, this can provide better ways of processing for the next procedure. I believe precision agriculture will be the biggest reform in production in the coming 10 or 15 years.

Angela Peng:Most people hold doubts or opposition to genetically modified food, what’s your opinion？

Aalt Dijkhuizen: I think information technology and precision agriculture and other technology applied to food processing can remarkably increase the output of agriculture, and can be more easily accepted by people. We can have more information to communicate with customers, and they can get more information as well. I would like to invest more on information technology and intelligent technology. Biotechnology is beneficial as well, if you need it, if not, it’s better to use information technology.

Angela Peng:Will genetically modified food become regular food in the future?

Aalt Dijkhuizen: Maybe. Those genetically modified food that can prevent themselves from pests and diseases are good. But it may be difficult forother aspects. Besides, genomics is a huge reform. It’s different from genetic modification. Through genomics, you can learn the function of certain gene. You will know which gene has changed and makes the tomato ripen and change color. Thus, when you know how temperature and humidity affect it, you can control the time for ripeningbetter. Similarly, if you know which gene is in control of diseases, you can prevent it from diseases. Hence, people need to learn more about genes rather than change them. Genetic modification is only one very little part in this innovative age.

In 2014, President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan paid a state visit to Dutch. The second on the left is King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The first on the right is the queen and the second is Aalt Dijkhuizen. Prof. Aalt introducingthe achievements Dutch had in agriculture and food industry and they had a discussion about the deeper collaboration between the two countries.

3. Building a Bridge for International Collaboration to Fight Against the Downgoing Economy

Angela Peng: At present, how can we promote the development of food industry under the pressure of the downgoing global economy?

Aalt Dijkhuizen:Sluggish economy doesn’t mean it won’t recover; it is only temporary. Secondly, despite the economy slowdown, it’s a good news for food industry, because the demand has increased. Good corporations can still prosper under this circumstance. In 2014, I had a meeting with president Xi and introducedtheagriculture in Dutchfor him. The two countries have a lot of collaborations, including education and training for the personnel, electronic commerce. We even have a flagship store on Tmall together with China.

In 2013, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlandspaid a state visit to China. Dr. Aalt and Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman ofAlibaba Group discussed about the development of business in China. The first one on the right is the king, and on the left is Dr. Aalt. Holland central B2C cross-border e-commerce project entered Tmall in August, 2015.