By 2050 there will be an extra two billion people on the planet and there is no more agricultural land to meet the demand for food. Climate change presents added challenges to food production, with agriculture currently producing 30% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions With the need to develop climate-resilient crops, modern genetics offers a promising approach to addressing many of these complex issues. During this talk, Professor Dale Sanders will draw on his own research and that of colleagues at the John Innes Centre, with the focus on prospects for sustainable and eco-friendly crop production in the coming decades.