Investment in both GM crops and organic farming could help to ensure a reliable food supply while reducing environmental impacts, according to a new report recently released by Deutsche Bank.

As the food challenge has come into sharp focus in recent times along with the rapid increase of global population - which is expected to reach nine billion by 2050 - the Deutsche Bank report, produced in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, suggests a number of ways in which the world can meet the projected 50 percent increase in calorie demand, driven by population growth, increased wealth, and more animal protein and biofuels demand.

"The solution is only going to come about by changing the way we use land, changing the things that we grow and changing the way that we grow them," said David Zaks, co-author of the report and a researcher at the Nelson Institute's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, foodanddrinkeurope.com reported.

This can be achieved in part through heavy investment in fertilizers, irrigation, mechanization and farmer education, says the report entitled "Investing in Agriculture: Far-Reaching Challenge, Significant Opportunity", as well as bringing more degraded, abandoned and pasture land into agricultural use. But meanwhile "it is necessary to explore further options, including alternative approaches to agricultural practices such as bio-organics, radical shifts in land use and the development of biotech crops.” Zaks explained.

Organic farming is singled out in the report as having the potential “to contribute substantially to the global food supply while reducing environmental impacts” by reducing land clearing, soil erosion and fertilization and becoming more reliant on renewable energies. However, it questions whether the organic methods currently in use can be used on a large enough scale to feed nine billion people.

Finally, the report acknowledges the potential of GM crops, despite the sensitiveness of the issue, and it added that there need to be “sound governmental policy proposals” to mandate significant testing to ensure safety before new GM crops are released.

The full report can be accessed online here.