Oglio, a third generation farmer eschews modern farming techniques — chemicals, fertilizers, heavy machinery — in favor of a purely natural approach. It is not just ecological, he says, but profitable, and he believes his system can be replicated in starving regions of the globe.
Nearly 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away, in laboratories in St. Louis, Missouri, hundreds of scientists at the world’s biggest seed company, Monsanto, also want to feed the world, only their tools of choice are laser beams and petri dishes.
Reuters anticipates the World Summit on Food Security with the standard oppositional fare.