Food security is one of the defining challenges of our time, and the chemical industry is central to solving it. As the global population nears 10 billion by 2050, demand for food is rising fast. Yet the resources to meet that demand—arable land, labor and water—are shrinking. Since 1960, arable land per person has declined by over 50 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, due to urbanization, erosion and climate stress.
At the heart of this dilemma lies a simple question: How do we produce more food, using fewer resources, with less environmental impact? The answer increasingly lies in fertilizers, crop protection and chemistry-led innovation. Fertilizers alone account for roughly 50 percent of global food production, according to the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). Without them, crops would reach only a fraction of their potential.
“For decades, there was plenty of farmland available, and basic commodity fertilizers were sufficient. But as arable land becomes limited, efficiency is now the priority,” says Bruce Bodine, CEO of The Mosaic Company, highlighting the industry-wide shift enhancing yield per acre. However, innovation is crucial to mitigate their environmental footprint. For example, innovations at the ICL Group include AI-driven nutrient blending and biodegradable fertilizer coatings to reduce waste and runoff.
Compounding this is a worsening labor shortage. In the U.S., the average farmer is nearly 60, and younger generations inheriting the land are becoming less inclined to pick up the baton. “Labor shortages in rural areas are a growing problem, leading to increased demand for automation,” says Jeff Rowe, CEO of Syngenta Group. To address these challenges, the chemical industry is not only advancing crop protection products but also driving innovation in digital farming tools. Companies like Syngenta are using AI, not only in the lab, but in the field too: “AI is assisting farmers directly—providing digital agronomists that help them make real-time decisions,” Rowe adds. These tools are especially impactful for smallholder farmers in remote regions, where local agronomic support is often limited.
AI also plays a critical role upstream, helping chemical companies identify new active ingredients and optimize genetic combinations, advancing discovery processes in a similar way to pharmaceutical development. “We use AI to identify new active ingredients and genetic combinations. Machine learning helps us optimize our selection process, making research more efficient,” Rowe explains. He cites a recent launch of a crop protection product that helps farmers in high-risk regions prevent pest-related crop losses and avoid full-season wipeouts. Without such solutions, farmers in Brazil faced the possibility of losing their entire harvests. This highlights the critical role that science — and chemistry in particular — plays in supporting food security in vulnerable areas.
As the agricultural landscape evolves, the chemical industry is expanding beyond synthetic solutions. One area of rapid growth is biologicals—natural products derived from living organisms—that are increasingly integrated into modern crop protection strategies. These inputs are seen not as replacements but as complements to traditional agrochemicals, often providing more targeted and environmentally conscious modes of action. “Biological inputs, with their diverse modes of action, are critical tools to address this challenge,” says Eda Reinot, CEO of Certis Biologicals. Their product “tackles tough soil-borne fungal and bacterial diseases when applied in-furrow ... enhancing crop fertility, increasing nutrient uptake and root-shoot weight.”
As chemical companies expand into biological solutions, startups like Loam Bio are advancing microbial products that rebuild soil carbon, a resource often overlooked by traditional inputs. Guy Hudson, co-founder and CEO of Loam Bio, notes that 20 percent to 60 percent of carbon has been lost from farm soils, despite its essential role in soil health, water retention and nutrient availability. While nitrogen levels can be managed with existing tools, no comparable solution existed for soil carbon. In response, the startup is developing a biological treatment designed to increase and stabilize carbon levels in agricultural soils: “Research indicates that applying these fungi can increase soil carbon by up to 20 percent, with some studies showing a 9.4 percent rise in total organic carbon. This leads to better crop yields and more durable carbon storage.”
This evolution in inputs reflects a broader shift: from volume to value, from extraction to regeneration. Circular models are emerging across the industry. “We extract all the proteins that are not usable for ethanol out of the corn to make corn oil and distillers’ grain products. Both are used for animal feeds or biodiesel,” explains Stuart A. Rose, executive chair of REX American Resources.
Much of the growth potential lies in Latin America, which holds over one-third of the world’s potential arable land and 28 percent of its renewable water. “Argentina has the resources—fertile soil, skilled labor and strong agricultural expertise—to double food production. Stability and reduced export tariffs will accelerate this growth,” says Federico Alonso-Hidalgo, general manager of Gleba.
The path ahead is steep, but the tools are evolving. “With the right data, passion and resolve, the industry can rise to the challenges ahead,” says Raviv Zoller, CEO, ICL Group. That optimism, grounded in chemistry, rooted in the soil, is how we feed the future.