Abstract

Last year, as my first function as president of NZSAP, I was privileged to attend the AAAP meeting held in conjunction with the 8th World Congress on Animal Production in Seoul Korea. The theme of this congress was “Sustainability of animal production in the 21st century and the quality of human life”. Information presented showed that the world population will increase to and plateau at 9.5-10 billion by the year 2050, an increase of 60-70% over the present population. I had known that the world population is experiencing a period of exponential growth but I had not fully comprehended the impact and immediacy of the problem. I, like so many others, have largely ignored such information as being too far away in both time and location to be of great concern. However, in 6 months time we enter the new millennium and 2050 does not now seem so far off. Whether we like it or not, we cannot remain blissfully ignorant of the world situation. Modern technologies ensure within hours we know about any major event that happens in any part of the world.

DG, Elvidge

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 60, Hamilton, 1-4, 2000