Author(s):

Majid Majeed Khanday

Abstract: The notion that agriculture, as a global practice, has been exploiting resources faster than they could be renewed has been a topic of discussion and debate for decades, perhaps centuries. Symptoms of imbalance have been seen in the form of soil erosion/loss, wildlife population decline/shifts, pollution and general alternation of a natural flora/fauna as a result of human intervention. Technology has enabled human civization to leave the hunter/gatherer paradigm of existence and concentrate labor and land to the sole purpose of food production on an ever increasing scale. The concept of “scientific agriculture” dates to publications by Liebig in 1840 and Johnston in 1842, which speculated about the role of chemistry in agriculture [Pesek, 1993]. The trend that with the increase in population pose a challenge to agriculture for producing more & better food. Increase in the productivity of agriculture by employing techniques of conventional (20th century) agriculture is posing a limitation. The threat to environment, due to dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides for increasing productivity and pest management respectively is major constraint affecting the global food production. These trends suggest that new innovations in agriculture are inevitably needed and these innovations should be integrated with the main stream agriculture.

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