Many of the world’s leading agriculture companies will be gathering in Brussels soon for the World Agricultural Forum 2011 Congress.

The congress will bring together key figures from industry, government and NGO’s to discuss the way forward for an industry with a central role to play in a number of global challenges – the economy, energy, climate change and hunger. “The focus on agriculture and food production is unprecedented,” said 2011 Congress Chairman, Jim Bolger. “Prices are rising, shortages are feared and the hungry are not getting any less hungry. And concurrently, the responsibilities placed on agriculture are increasing – as a source of energy, industrial raw materials and pharmaceuticals while all the while using less water and reducing its environmental impact.”

Among the agricultural company representatives who will be taking part in the Congress are Novus International president and CEO Thad Simons and Dr. Jürgen Oldeweme, Senior Vice President of BASF Agricultural Products Division in Germany. Other big company names with representatives on the program include Bayer Crop Science, Novozymes, Syngenta, and Monsanto.