Precision technology can play a vital role in helping to feed a growing world population, which is why it was a focus at the World Food Prize symposium last week in Des Moines.

John Deere CEO Robert Lane participated in a panel conversation on “The Role of the Private Sector in Global Food Security and Development,” together with representatives from other major agribusiness companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bunge.

Lane says Deere has been in the business of bringing productivity tools to the best producers in the world for 170 years. “Precision agriculture is a huge step forward because there is now intelligent machinery that takes productivity to a much higher level,” Lane told me. “We have a limited amount of land and an even more limited amount of water and to make that work so we can double the amount of food production, precision agriculture is indispensable.”

Listen to a short comment from Mr. Lane after his presentation at the World Food Prize:

[audio:http://zimmcomm.biz/world-food/wfp-08-lane.mp3]