Rethinking agriculture

Recently, experts at a seminar on paradoxical agriculture claimed that ending the use of fertilisers and pesticides would reduce the cost of production and ensure larger crop yields. The seminar was held at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. The experts urged a return to the natural agriculture cropping system, which, unlike chemical agriculture, is sustainable and preserves biodiversity.

This was the prevalent system prior to 1958 and it produced abundant crop yields without the aid of pesticides and fertilisers. In view of the above, there is a strong need for conserving the biodiversity that ensures soil, crop and human health.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar