Robert T. Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Monsanto Co., St. Louis Food and water security. Energy demands. Climate change. Human nutrition and health. These are the looming issues for today’s global society, and agriculture is at the center of them all. Now, more than ever before, the continued growth and development of prosperous, urbanized societies depends upon advancements in sustainable agricultural technology. In order to meet the needs of a projected global population of nine billion, agriculture must produce more food worldwide in the next 50 years than has been produced in the past 10,000. Building upon advances already made in plant breeding and agricultural biotechnology, innovations in the coming decade such as drought tolerance, improved use of nutrients such as nitrogen, enhanced pest resistance, intrinsic yield increases and improved nutritional profiles will be available in crops such as maize and soybean as well as in vegetables. In maize, soybean and cotton, there is a clear path forward to increase yields while at the same time significantly decreasing the key resources (water, land and energy) required to produce each unit of output. Producing more while using less is a guiding philosophy of agricultural research today. Monsanto is a leader in this effort, and its research and development pipeline serves as an excellent illustrative example of what is possible.