A major conference on food security will hear how demand is beginning to outstrip supply in the world food markets, and that large companies are in the process of buying up land in order to sustain their commodity supplies.

CropWorld Global is a three-day conference being held at ExCeL, London from 31 October to 2 November, which will be examining how world food demand can be met by the latest developments in technology.

One of the speakers addressing the conference is Cyrille Filott, Global Head – Europe, Food and Agribusiness Research and Advisory, of Rabobank, who will be looking at the changing landscape in the competition for commodities.

"We have entered a new reality in food and agriculture, which is seeing us move from an era of abundance to an era of tightness," he said. "Witness for example Russia's export ban on wheat last year. We are currently experiencing bursts of scarcity which will become more frequent."

"We have seen companies acting on this by adjusting their sourcing strategies to gain access to commodities. There is a lot of rejigging going on at the moment. Some companies are buying land and planting their own food, and others are bypassing the supply and distribution networks in other ways," he said.

Mr Filott said companies who relied on the open market and failed to implement a strategy of creating a sustainable supply would become unstuck.

CropWorld will embrace all aspects of crop production, and will focus on how food producers will face the problems caused by a growing world population and the mounting pressures on its natural resources. One of the main challenges is how food production will have to increase by more than 50% over the next 19 years.

The Rt Hon Jim Paice, the UK's Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, will address the conference, and will be joined by speakers from around the world.

Clare King, CropWorld Event Director, said: "We are going to witness a great deal of change in the way our food is produced and marketed in the near future, if growing demand is to be met. This conference brings together some of the leading experts from around the world to discuss, debate and hopefully illuminate the way forward in this most important issue."