Arable and Vegetable Crops

In 2008, the Potatoes and Vegetables Working Group merged with the Cereals Working Group to form the Arable and Vegetable Crops Working Group.

Cereals constitute staple food for a majority of countries and their people worldwide. According to FAO, cereals represent about 50% of total calories available for human consumption - almost 40% in developed countries and 60% in developing countries. Cereals production and consumption have expanded enormously in the past three decades, paralleling the growth in the world's population. Their world harvest almost doubled between 1968 and 1998, from 1161 to 2054 million ton. In 2004 the world production was over 2,2  billion ton. This increase was notably due to a combination of improved grain varieties as well as a greater fertiliser and pesticide use and irrigation.

Vegetable crops, including root and tuber crops, are the second most important group of crops produced worldwide. Their global production exceeds 1 billion ton every year. "Root and tuber crops" correspond to a wide cross-section of subterranean storage organs such as root, tuber, rhizome, corm and bulb crops. Root and vegetable production has quite kept pace with population growth in the last decades. Today more than ever, the production systems around the world raise a number of economic, social and environmental concerns.

SAI Platform's Working Group Arable and Vegetable Crops aims to contribute to meeting this challenge by developing sustainable agricultural practices that allow for the productive, competitive and efficient production of potatoes and vegetables while at the same time protecting and improving the natural environment and social/economic conditions of local communities. In 2009, the Working Group issued Principles and Practices for the Sustainable Production of Arable Crops. In 2010, it developed a stakeholder engagement model for regional implementation, which was first tried in Poland. The Working Group is now (2011) establishing a capacity building project in Poland together with other stakeholders like GlobalG.A.P. Furthermore the group explores the ‘financial aspects of sustainable farming’ and participates actively in the search for Sustainable Performance Assessment (SPA).

Agrarfrost, Agroterra, Aviko, CIO Parma, Farm Frites, General Mills, Heineken, Kraft, Kellogg, Lamb Weston Meijer, McCain, McDonald's,  Pepsico and Unilever are SAI Platform's active members of the Working Group. Richard Burkinshaw, Kellogg's and Ian Hope-Johnstone, Pepsi Co, are the Working Group's Co-Chairs.