According to a report published January 23rd by Keith Campbell in Mining Weekly:

""Global population continues to grow by more than 200 000 people per day, meaning more people need food," said Doyle. "Added to this, stronger economies in China and India are giving more people the opportunity to eat nutritious food, especially protein from meat sources."

The world's population was 6,5-billion in 2005, and it is expected to continue to grow until at least 2050, when it could exceed 9-billion - in other words, 40% more people to be fed than today.

"Feeding more people and producing more animals takes more grain. Increasing production on a shrinking per-capita agricultural land base can only be achieved by protecting the soil and replenishing its nutrients through proper fertilization," pointed out Doyle.

China is already the largest consumer of potash in the world, while India ranks third. (Second place is taken by low-population-density but major agricultural exporter Brazil.)

Over the 20 years from 1983 to 2003, Chinese protein consumption increased by some 40%, from 59 g per person per day to 82 g.

Over the past 40 years, meat consumption has increased by an annual average of about 2% in developed countries but by 5% to 6% in developing countries. Worldwide, more than 170-million tons a year of additional meat has been consumed as a result. And it takes several kilogram's of grain to produce one kilogram of meat.

Even though scientists are already working on technologies to manufacture meat in biotechnology factories, using tissue engineering (growing the meat from cells taken from animals), which would eliminate the need to maintain large herds of animals, this will only become a viable alternative in the long term. And the Earth's billions will still need to consume huge quantities of grain themselves.

Back to the short-term, and, as a result of rising global protein consumption, at present the world's grain stocks-to-use levels have fallen well below the 30-year average.

"It is estimated that current global grain stocks would feed the world for only nine weeks," warned Doyle. Add the current low crop prices, and it "is a very dangerous situation."

e.rporAll of which suggests the future for Potash One could brighten sooner rather than latert violio recommend