FSC in Dialog: "Can Organic agriculture feed the world?"

On July 15th, 2014 Stephan Krall, Head of ‘Agricultural Production and Resource Use’ at GIZ, Eschborn, Germany, challenged many students with the provocative title “Organic Agriculture can(not) feed the world in 2050” at the “FSC in dialog” lecture series in Hohenheim.
The facts are well known: In 2050, the world population will be between 9 to 10 billion people. A considerable increase in agricultural production is needed to feed them, but this increase must be sustainable. An overuse of resources is not acceptable. Dr. Krall talked about organic agriculture and its prospects to fulfill this needs. He regarded the broad spectrum of agricultural practices from industrial to small scale, from conventional to organic. And the question was raised whether conventional agriculture with inputs like fertilizers, pesticides and hybrid seeds play a bad or an important part of the solution to feed the world in 2050. Facts were presented and discussed, but not all participants were happy about the rather pragmatic approach presented. But reflections are inevitable since organic agriculture holds a potential to improve the concept  of conventional agriculture.