Executive summary

Agriculture meaning
Agriculture is the science or occupation of cultivating land and rearing crops and
livestock; farming; husbandry.
What is agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms
for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinals and other products used to sustain and enhance
human life
The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. The history of
agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and
defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies. However, all
farming generally relies on techniques to expand and maintain the lands that are
suitable for raising domesticated species. For plants, this usually requires some
form of irrigation, although there are methods of dryland farming. Livestock are
raised in a combination of grassland-based and landless systems, in an industry that
covers almost one-third of the world's ice- and water-free area. In the developed
world, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture has become the
dominant system of modern farming, although there is growing support
for sustainable agriculture, including perma-culture and organic agriculture.
Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers,
and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation,
but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative
human health effects. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal
husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns

about animal welfare and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones,
and other chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production. Genetically
modified organisms are an increasing component of agriculture, although they are
banned in several countries. Agricultural food production and water management
are increasingly becoming global issues that are fostering debate on a number of
fronts.
The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels,
and raw

materials.

Specific

foods

include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, oils,meats and spices.

include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax.

Fibers

Raw

materials

include lumber and bamboo. Other useful materials are produced by plants, such
as resins, dyes, drugs, perfumes, biofuels and ornamental products such as cut
flowers and nursery plants. Over one third of the world's workers are employed in
agriculture
How agriculture is derived
The word agriculture is

an adaptation of Latin word agricultra, from ager,

"field", and cultra, "cultivation" or "growing".[2] Agriculture usually refers to

human

activities,

although

it

is

also

observed

in

certain

species

of ant, termite andambrosia beetle.[3] To practice agriculture means to use natural

resources to "produce commodities which maintain life,
History of agriculture
Although Indians taught the colonists to plant fish with their corn, fertilization of
other crops was not a common practice. The native fertility of the relatively acid
and nutrient-poor eastern soils was rapidly exhausted, and pioneering families
commonly abandoned their farms and moved on to homestead the still fertile virgin

lands to the west. By 1850 one traveller wrote, "Eastern Virginia appeared to have
suffered the ravages of a great war or an attack by another horseman of the
Apocalypse. I traveled for 50 miles on horseback and could find nothing but
abandoned farms and plantations with buildings in decay and fields overgrown
with nettles and brush. Mother Nature is reclaiming that which for 200 years has
been giving food and clothing to man."
Agricultural Revolution. The mid-1800s began an era of great change in American
agriculture, influenced by the British agricultural revolution, which brought
advances in cultivation methods, breeding of improved crop varieties, and use of
fertilizers and crop rotations to maintain soil productivity. Crop fertilization was
introduced to the American colonies in the 1850s when ships were used to import
guano, the droppings from seabirds living on islands off the coast of Peru. A
vigorous market soon developed for soil amendments such as guano, manure,
crushed bone, and lime; and by 1860 seven factories had been established in the
United States to manufacture mixed chemical fertilizers.
The use of pesticides also began in the mid 1800s, when it was discovered that
dusting of grape plants with sulfur provided a cure for powdery mildew. Soon
afterwards, an arsenic-containing compound called Paris green was introduced for
control of the Colorado potato beetle, an insect native to the eastern slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, which became a serious agricultural pest because of its appetite
for domestic potatoes grown by pioneers. Chemical control of agricultural pests
expanded rapidly after these initial discoveries, and by 1893 there were 42 patented
insecticides offered by several manufacturers.
The benefits of irrigation were discovered in the 1840s, when Mormons in Utah
softened their crusty soils by damming a creek, and prospectors in California

discovered that water diverted to gold mining sluices produced lush plant growth
in the desert. Congress passed several laws in the next few decades to assist
western states in developing extensive and costly irrigation systems.
http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-grw85.aspx

Establishment of modern agri-products/genetic engineering

Ever since, farmers have bred, crossed, and selected plant varieties that were
productive and useful. These age-old techniques can now be complemented,
supplemented, and perhaps supplanted by an assortment of molecular "tools" that
allow for the deletion or insertion of a particular gene or genes to produce plants
(animals and microorganisms) with novel traits, such as resistance to briny
conditions, longer "shelf-life," or enhanced nutrient content. A change in a plant's
genetic sequence changes the characteristics of the plant. Such manipulation of
genesgenetic engineeringresults in a genetically modified organism or GMO.
Genetic engineering has both sped up the process of developing crops with
"enhanced" or new characteristics and allowed for the transfer of genes from one
organism to another, even from great evolutionarily distances, such as the insertion
of a gene from an African frog into rhododendrons to confer enhanced resistance to
root rot. Moving genes between species creates transgenic plants and crops.

agriculture in india

The written history of agriculture in India dates back to the Rigveda, written
about

1100

BC.[1] Today,

India ranks second

worldwide

in

farm

output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and fisheries accounted for
13.7% of the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) in 2013,[2]about 50% of the total
workforce.
As Per the 2010 FAO world agriculture statistics, India is the world's largest
producer of many fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, majorspices, select fresh meats,
select fibrous crops such as jute, several staples such as millets and castor oil seed.
India is the second largest producer of wheat and rice, the world's major food
staples.[5] India is also the world's second or third largest producer of several dry
fruits,

agriculture-based textile raw

materials, roots and tuber crops, pulses,farmed fish, eggs, coconut, sugarcane and
numerous vegetables.
One report from 2008 claimed India's population is growing faster than its
ability to produce rice and wheat.[7] Other recent studies claim India can easily
feed its growing population, plus produce wheat and rice for global exports, if
it can reduce food staple spoilage, improve its infrastructure and raise its farm
productivity to those achieved by other developing countries such
as Brazil and China.[8][9]
In fiscal year ending June 2011, with a normal monsoon season, Indian agriculture
accomplished an all-time record production of 85.9 million tonnes of wheat, a
6.4% increase from a year earlier. Rice output in India also hit a new record at 95.3
million tonnes, a 7% increase from the year earlier.[10] Lentils and many other food
staples production also increased year over year. Indian farmers, thus produced

about 71 kilograms of wheat and 80 kilograms of rice for every member of Indian
population in 2011.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_India //agriculture in india
This is a very specious argument that is being made. Data from World Bank shows
that around 60.3 percent of India's land area is agricultural land. The bank defines
agricultural land as share of land area that is arable, under permanent crops, and
under permanent pastures.
In fact India has the second largest agricultural land in the world. As India Brand
Equity Foundation, a trust established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
points out: At 157.35 million hectares, India holds the second largest agricultural
land globally. Only, the United States has more agricultural land than India.
What this means is that India has enough land dedicated to agriculture and even if
some of it is taken away for other purposes there will still be enough land left for
agriculture. Nevertheless, there are bigger problems when it comes to Indian
agriculture.
As a report in The Wall Street Journal points out: India is the second largest
producer of rice and wheat after China, with China producing about 40 percent
more rice and wheat than India. India is also the second largest producer of fruits
and vegetables in the world after China, but Chinas fruit production is three times
Indias production.
What this tells us is that India's agricultural productivity is low compared to that of
China and many other countries in the world.

A report in Mint using 2013 data from the Food and Agricultural Organization
points out: India produces 106.19 million tonnes of rice a year from 44 million
hectares of land. Thats a yield rate of 2.4 tonnes per hectare, placing India at 27th
place out of 47 countries. China and Brazil have yield rates of 4.7 tonnes per
hectare and 3.6 tonnes per hectare, respectively.
In case of wheat the productivity is better than that of rice. With 93.51 million
tonnes of wheat from 29.65 million hectares, Indias yield rate of 3.15 tonnes per
hectare places it 19th out of 41 countries. Here, we do better than Brazils yield
rate of 2.73 tonnes per hectare, but lag behind South Africa (3.4 t/ha) and China
(4.9 t/ha), the report points out.

There are multiple reasons for this low productivity.

The average holding size of land has come down over the decades. The State of the
Indian Agricultural Report for 2012-2013 points out that: As per Agriculture
Census 2010-11, small and marginal holdings of less than 2 hectare account for 85
percent of the total operational holdings and 44 percent of the total operated area.
The average size of holdings for all operational classes (small & marginal, medium
and large) have declined over the years and for all classes put together it has come
down to 1.16 hectare in 2010-11 from 2.82 hectare in 1970-71.
The shrinking size of the average land holding of an Indian farmer has held back
agricultural productivity and there is not much that can be done about this.

Practices in agriculture

N
a
t
u
r
e
By-products and wastes from agriculture pollute water, soil, and air. The use of
pesticides and fertilizers in food production also produce a range of dangerous
pollutants. The waste from cattle, pigs, and other stock raise the level of nitrogen in
water supplies to unacceptable levels. Where the stubble of harvested crops are
burned high levels of air pollution result
Agricultural production and animal farms often produce significant amounts of
waste, which, when it's not effectively managed, can contribute to air and water
pollution. Many communities, especially those in developing countries, dump
sewage waste into the water system or directly on the streets. Without efficient
sanitation systems, this can pose direct health risks in a contaminated water supply
and ingested air particles
Environmental pollution
Nature
Human activities inevitably and increasingly introduce material and energy into the
environment; when that material or energy endangers or is liable to endanger man's
health, his well-being or his resources, indirectly or directly, it is called a pollutant.
A substance may be considered a pollutant simply because it is in the wrong place,
at the wrong time, and in the wrong quantity

Pollutants can affect man with direct effects such as: acute effects from exposure to
a toxic pollutant reaching man through air, water or food; long-term effects due to
prolonged exposure to a pollutant at levels lower than those giving rise to overt
toxic effects; synergistic interaction between pollutants or between a pollutant and
malnutrition or disease; genetic effects that are manifested in future generations.
Indirect effects on man may result from reduction of the food supply or
deterioration of the environment. Such effects include: damage to plants and
animals; disruption of ecological cycles such that a previously harmless species
becomes a pest; damage to the human habitat (air pollutants that destroy forests
and corrode buildings); water pollutants that destroy the recreational value of
inland waters; alteration of the global climate (this is considered to be a future
threat)
Air, water and food always contain, and always have contained, varying amounts
of 'foreign' matter, and in this sense the potential for pollution has always been
present. Furthermore, one of the most widespread and oldest forms of pollution is
that arising from contamination of the environment by pathogenic organisms. The
present world-wide concern about pollution arises from the realization that today's
problems originate essentially from human activity and are very much greater in
magnitude and far more widespread than ever before. For example, pesticides
sprayed in the tropics evaporate from the soil and turn up at hight concentrations in
the Arctic after condensing in the cold polar air
Incidence
The emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides and concentrations of atmospheric
ozone have increased, agricultural and industrial wastes have been accumulating,
lake acidification has taken place, forests and water quality have been declining.

The volume of garbage and waste is constantly increasing, due in particular to

increases in population, changes in living habits, increases in packaging material
and increases in consumption. The capacity of waste and garbage disposal
installations has long been left far behind. Water resources are to an increasing
extent being polluted by the constantly growing volume of waste water from
households and industry. The river Vistula, which flows through Warsaw, annually
disgorges into the Baltic Sea 5,000 tonnes of phosphorus, 90,000 tonnes of
nitrogen, 130 tonnes of oil, three tonnes of phenol and lead, as well as unknown
quantities of cadmium, mercury and zinc
Technical progress and mechanization has in recent decades led to a rapid increase
in noise. About every fifth worker in Germany is subjected to a noise level of 90
dB or over. The atmosphere is being polluted by dust, smoke and exhaust gases
from industry, motor vehicles and domestic heating. In the former Soviet Union
fifty million people live in areas where the air pollution levels are 10 times the
minimum health standard. In the Urals the city of Nizhny Tagil, for example,
industrial enterprises emit nearly 700,000 tons of poisonous substances into the air
every year
Developing countries Although air, water and noise pollution are not yet matters of
primary concern in urban areas of developing countries, such problems will grow
more severe as these countries move toward their goals of economic development.
Generally the devices and regulations presently in force to control pollution in
developed countries are not applied to industrial processes in developing countries
with equal efficiency or stringency. In an effort to provide increased economic
well-being, environmental safeguards are neglected. Water supplies are not only
contaminated with human wastes, but grow increasingly toxic as they receive the
effluent from expanding industries. Air pollution increases with the material well-

being of the urban population and emanates from power plants, industry, space
heating and the growing number of motor vehicles
Claim
Three factors determine the magnitude and nature of the pollution problem,
whether at the local or global level: the size of the human population; the rate of
production and consumption; and the level and use of technology. But while the
total stress resulting from these factors is increasing, the capacity of the
environment to deal with their side effects is decreasing. It is for this reason that
pollutants must be controlled. Pollution of one sort or another occurs throughout
human societies and the effects of any given pollutant are frequently the same
wherever they are felt. The present situation results principally from the unbridled
application of technology in industrialized countries. Developing countries,
however, are already encountering the same problems and are increasingly having
to deal with the same pollutants. During this century both population growth and
rapid industrialization have combined to poison the atmosphere; contaminate lakes,
rivers and even oceans; erode the soil; and destroy many forms of life in the
developed countries. Pollution cannot be contained within national boundaries.
Wind and rain, ocean currents, migrating birds and fish carry pesticides, inorganic
nitrogen fertilizer, oil, and atomic wastes to the far reaches of our planet

Types of Agriculture in india

Agro-ecology
Broadly stated, it is the study of the role of agriculture in the world. It is the study
of the relation of agricultural crops and environment. 1 Agro-ecology provides an

interdisciplinary framework with which to study the activity of agriculture. In this

framework, agriculture does not exist as an isolated entity, but as part of an
ecology of contexts. Agro-ecology draws upon basic ecological principles for its
conceptual framework.
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely,
without causing severe or irreversible damage to ecosystem health.2 Two key
issues are biophysical (the long-term effects of various practices on soil properties
and processes essential for crop productivity) and socio-economic (the long-term
ability of farmers to obtain inputs and manage resources such as labor). SA
integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and
prosperous farming communities.
Urban agriculture/ Peri-urban agriculture
Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food
in, or around (peri-urban), a village, town or city3 . Urban farming is generally
practiced for income-earning or food-producing activities though in some
communities the main impetus is recreation and relaxation. Urban agriculture
contributes to food security and food safety in two ways: first, it increases the
amount of food available to people living in cities, and, second, it allows fresh
vegetables and fruits and meat products to be made available to urban consumers.
Organic Agriculture
Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils,
ecosystems and people4 . It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles
adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects.

Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the

shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all
involved.

Conservation Agriculture
Conservation Agriculture is a concept for resource-saving agricultural crop
production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and
sustained production levels while concurrently conserving the environment (FAO
2008)5 . The first key principle in CA is practicing minimum mechanical soil
disturbance which is essential to maintaining minerals within the soil, stopping
erosion, and preventing water loss from occurring within the soil. The second key
principle in CA is much like the first principle in dealing with protecting the soil.
The principle of managing the top soil to create a permanent organic soil cover can
allow for growth of organisms within the soil structure. This growth will break
down the mulch that is left on the soil surface. The breaking down of this mulch
will produce a high organic matter level which will act as a fertilizer for the soil
surface. The third and final principle that is exercised by the FAO is the practice of
crop rotation with more than two crop species. This process will not allow pests
such as insects and weeds to be set into a rotation with specific crops. Rotational
crops will act as a natural insecticide and herbicide against specific crops.
Precision agriculture
Precision Farming is a new technology that allows farmers to look at their fields
more site specifically than before and apply inputs in a manner more specific than

a blanket application. This technology saves money while holding or enhancing

yield output of the field. Environmental pollution is also be reduced using this
method6 . Precision agriculture uses ICT to cover the three aspects of production
namely for data collection of information input through options as Global
Positioning System (GPS) satellite data, grid soil sampling, yield monitoring,
remote sensing, etc; for data analysis or processing through Geographic
Information System (GIS) and decision technologies as process models, artificial
intelligence systems, and expert systems; and for application of information by
farmers.
Industrial agriculture
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized
production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops 7 . The methods of industrial
agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political. They include innovation
in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for
achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for
consumption, the application of patent protection to genetic information, and
global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations and increasingly
prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables available
in supermarkets are produced using these methods of industrial agriculture.
Bio-dynamic agriculture/ecological agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture, a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual
world-view (anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner), treats farms as
unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development
and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a closed, self-nourishing
system8 . Regarded by some proponents as the first modern ecological farming

system, biodynamic farming includes organic agriculture's emphasis on manures

and composts and exclusion of the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants.
Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include the use of fermented herbal
and mineral preparations as compost additives and field sprays and the use of an
astronomical sowing and planting calendar.
Community Supported Agriculture
Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a direct marketing alternative for
small-scale growers9 . In a CSA, the farmer grows food for a group of
shareholders (or subscribers) who pledge to buy a portion of the farm's crop that
season. This arrangement gives growers up-front cash to finance their operation
and higher prices for produce, since the middleman has been eliminated. Besides
receiving a weekly box or bag of fresh, high-quality produce, shareholders also
know that they're directly supporting a local farm.
Slash and Burn (swidden) agriculture
Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create
fields for agriculture or pasture for livestock, or for a variety of other purposes. It is
sometimes part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock
herding. Burning removes the vegetation and may release a pulse of nutrients to
fertilize the soil. Ash also increases the pH of the soil, a process which makes
certain nutrients (especially phosphorus) more available in the short term. Burning
also temporarily drives off soil microorganisms, pests, and established plants long
enough for crops to be planted in their ashes. Before artificial fertilizers were
available, fire was one of the most widespread methods of fertilization.
What are the Good agriculture practices:

Good agricultural practice (GAP) are specific methods which, when applied
to agriculture, create food for consumers or further processing that is safe and
wholesome. While there are numerous competing definitions of what methods
constitute good agricultural practice there are several broadly accepted schemes
that producers can adhere to.
Food and agriculture organization of the united nations GAP:
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) uses good
agricultural practice as a collection of principles to apply for on-farm production
and post-production processes, resulting in safe and healthy food and non-food
agricultural products, while taking into account economical, social and
environmental sustainability.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_agricultural_practice//Good

agricultural

practice

Ethics in agriculture
Ethics in our country are largely shaped by our culture. Society tells us what is
good and bad, right and wrong by facilitating, rewarding, or punishing certain
behavior. Although an individual ultimately has choice, the scope of that choice is
limited by our cultural boundaries.
Specifically, our recent agricultural ethics have been largely defined by consumer
demand for inexpensive food and the drive to maximize economic profit. The
resulting ethics encourage industrial farming practices. Practices that, among
other things, eliminate a soils ability to produce food without massive chemical
and oil inputs while simultaneously exacerbating issues of top soil loss (Cox, Hug,

& Bruzelius, 2011), toxin coated food (Pesticide Action Network, 2013), climate
change (Lin, 2011), water pollution (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, 1996), oceanic dead zones (Environmental Working Group, n.d.),
and farm worker health and safety (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2012).
We are also in a new, technology based era and agriculture has changed
dramatically. When the majority of farm work was done by hand, irrigated by
gravity systems, and planted with seeds saved from the previous year it was much
more difficult to do damage that nature could not quickly mend. Now that we have
surpassed those limitations with massive tractors, transgenic seeds, deep wells for
irrigation, and a plethora of highly toxic chemical sprays, an ecological,
agricultural ethic is even more imperative. We are capable of causing much greater
detrimental effect, and our culture has not yet evolved the necessary accompanying
ethics to manage these abilities responsibly. Thats where the new farming
movement comes in.
http://www.agrowingculture.org/2013/03/ethics-in-agriculture-the-necessaryfoundation-of-the-new-farming-movement-draft/

Case:01
New Fertilizer Method Uses Technology to Improve Efficiency, Lessen
Impacts
Across Asia, millions of rice farmers depend on urea fertilizer to meet the nitrogen
needs of the continents primary crop. Many farmers still spread urea into

floodwaters to fertilize rice. This is highly inefficient about two-thirds of the

fertilizer is lost as greenhouse gas or becomes a groundwater pollutant.
Urea deep placement (UDP) is a more efficient and environmentally responsible
method of fertilization. IFDC pioneered UDP research and helped introduce it in
Bangladesh in the 1980s. UDP technology has since been spread to other countries
in Asia, including Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam.
Farmers using UDP place urea briquettes into soil near the rice plants. UDP
increases nitrogen use efficiency because most of the urea nitrogen stays in the
soil, close to the plant roots where it is absorbed more effectively. The net result is
that crop yields are increased while pollution is lessened. Farmers using UDP are
increasing yields by more than 20 percent while using 40 percent less urea.
By 2008/09, the Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension (with IFDC
assistance) spread UDP technology to 500,000 hectares (ha) of rice fields,
increasing production by 268,000 metric tons (mt) annually. UDP farmers had
additional annual net returns of $188/ha.
UDP use reduced Bangladeshs urea imports in 2008 by 50,000 mt, saving $22
million in fertilizer imports and $14 million in government subsidies. UDP
generated an additional 9.5 days of labor per hectare almost 4.6 million
additional days of labor. More importantly, the additional rice has made 1.5 million
more Bangladeshis food-secure.
The Bangladesh Government began expanding UDP technology this year to 2.9
million more farm families on 1.5 million ha. By 2011, rice production is expected
to increase by almost 1 million mt, ensuring food security for an additional 4.2
million Bangladeshis.

The UDP technology not only improves farmers productivity and income, but the
need for urea also creates employment opportunities. IFDC engineers developed a
simple machine to mold urea into briquettes, and helped establish village-level
businesses to manufacture and distribute the machines. Nearly 2,500 urea briquette
machines are now in use across Bangladesh.
All farmers seek gains in efficiency and productivity, but nowhere is the need
greater than in Africa. Because farmers worldwide face many of the same
problems, a group of African farmers, scientists, policymakers, entrepreneurs and
extension workers visited Bangladesh to see UDP use first-hand. As a result, the
UDP technology is being introduced in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.
Visiting UDP rice fields in Niger, Chaibou Abdou, Secretary General to Nigers
Minister of Agriculture, said Spiraling food prices spurred the government
decision to boost rice production and reduce costly imports. Niger has 30,000
hectares of land with rice production potential. With UDP this land could supply 30
percent of our needs.
Posted

in: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Bangladesh, Case

Studies, Inputs

&

Tools, News, Principle 3: Build local access and capacity, Principle 6: Prioritise
research

imperatives, Regions, Subjects, Sustainable

Posted on: June 29, 2009

http://www.farmingfirst.org/2009/06/new-fertilizer-method/
unethical agriculture practices

agriculture

an agricultural practices are ethical until they did not cause any harm to the human
life or to the environment while these practices related to the agriculture used by
the farmers are used to produce more the produce only then these are unethical
practices that have a nagetive impact to the social environment as well as the
human health .these type of unethical practices can result in significant impacts to
lakes, streams and groundwater. Water flowing over agricultural land, whether
from rain, irrigation or flooding, carries pollutants to the nearest water body.
This water can also seep into the ground, leaching pollutants into ground water.
Sometimes the ground acts as a filter, taking pollutants out of the water as it travels
through. Eventually, though, many of the pollutants can reach a surface water body.
Agricultural pollutants that are carried to the water via runoff can include
sediment, pesticides, fertilizers, bacteria, oils, grease and solvents. The result can
be that elevated levels of suspended solids (that carry pollutants or clog valuable
gravel habitat), nitrogen and phosphorus, synthetic organic chemicals (often toxic
and bio-accumulative) and heavy metals are found in the receiving waters.
Poor agricultural practices that can contribute to impairment of water bodies
include removal of protective vegetative riparian buffers, excessive or detrimental
pesticide and fertilizer application, lack of soil conservation, wetland destruction,
excessive or wasteful irrigation and poor maintenance of farm equipment.
http://www.rivernetwork.org/poor-agricultural-practices-and-runoff
agriculture practices

//poor

Modern Agricultural Practices: A dilemma of farmer and farm workers health

in cash crop zone in the Maharashtra State.
This study had been conducted in the four villages of cash crop area at Shirol
tehsil, Kolhapur district in Maharashtra State. Pesticides like Endosulfan,
Methoxychlor, Lindane and Dicofol from Organochlorine category are commonly
found in the study areas. Organochlorine group pesticide was used widely in the
U.S. from 1960s to 1970s; this impart acutely toxic and very persistent pollutants
in the environment. In this category many pesticides are proven to carcinogen,
reproductive toxicants or both3 . Some Organophosphates group pesticides were
found to be used in the study area, these are Malathion, Methyl parathion,
Chloropyrifos and Diazinon. The pesticides used in study area are Methyl
Carbamate which contains the chemical formulations Aldicarb and Carbaryl along
with this synthetic Pyrethroid is used in the study area very extensively. The
Pyrethroid includes Permethrin and Cypermethrin formulation. Herbicides are used
for the control of weeds this having the different chemicals such as Alachlor,
Atrazine and Simazine. Herbicides designed to kill the plants rather than animals
and they less acutely are toxic to humans than the insecticides. But many of them
are classified as probable or possible carcinogens by US and EPA4
CONCLUSION
Farmers and farm workers in the study region use not only toxic pesticides for
agriculture but also in suicide cases. The accidental poisoning has occurred in the

present investigation. The low level of education of pesticide users are coupled
with lack of formal training in handing and applying pesticide. The most important
fact is that some of these pesticides manufacturers do not give more adequate
pesticide handling and precautionary information on the label. This has led to the
toxic effect of the pesticides on farmers and farm workers. For more detail
investigation of pesticide hazards, the pesticide hazards not only related with user
but indirectly with, millions of buyers.
file:///C:/Users/NAPOLIAN/Downloads/Reprint_Pesticidefarmerhealth-libre
%20(1).pdf // Bhatter College Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1,
2010

case 2: Monsanto
Monsanto is an agricultural company.
We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world \produce
more while conserving more.
Producing more, Conserving more, Improving farmers lives.
These are the promises Monsanto Indias website makes, alongside pictures of
smiling, prosperous farmers from the state of Maharashtra. This is a desperate
attempt by Monsanto and its PR machinery to delink the epidemic of farmers
suicides in India from the companys growing control over cotton seed supply
95 per cent of Indias cotton seed is now controlled by Monsanto.

Control over seed is the first link in the food chain because seed is the source of
life. When a corporation controls seed, it controls life, especially the life of
farmers.
Monsantos concentrated control over the seed sector in India as well as across the
world is very worrying. This is what connects farmers suicides in India to
Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser in Canada, to Monsanto vs Bowman in the US, and
to farmers in Brazil suing Monsanto for $2.2 billion for unfair collection of royalty.
Through patents on seed, Monsanto has become the Life Lord of our planet,
collecting rents for lifes renewal from farmers, the original breeders.
Patents on seed are illegitimate because putting a toxic gene into a plant cell is not
creating or inventing a plant. These are seeds of deception the deception
that Monsanto is the creator of seeds and life; the deception that while Monsanto
sues farmers and traps them in debt, it pretends to be working for farmers welfare,
and the deception that GMOs feed the world. GMOs are failing to control pests and
weeds, and have instead led to the emergence of superpests and superweeds.
The entry of Monsanto in the Indian seed sector was made possible with a 1988
Seed Policy imposed by the World Bank, requiring the Government of India to
deregulate the seed sector. Five things changed with Monsantos entry: First,
Indian companies were locked into joint-ventures and licensing arrangements, and
concentration over the seed sector increased. Second, seed which had been the
farmers common resource became the intellectual property of Monsanto, for
which it started collecting royalties, thus raising the costs of seed. Third, open
pollinated cotton seeds were displaced by hybrids, including GMO hybrids. A
renewable resource became a non-renewable, patented commodity. Fourth, cotton

which had earlier been grown as a mixture with food crops now had to be grown as
a monoculture, with higher vulnerability to pests, disease, drought and crop failure.
Fifth, Monsanto started to subvert Indias regulatory processes and, in fact, started
to use public resources to push its non-renewable hybrids and GMOs through socalled public-private partnerships (PPP).
In 1995, Monsanto introduced its Bt technology in India through a joint-venture
with the Indian company Mahyco. In 1997-98, Monsanto started open field trials
of its GMO Bt cotton illegally and announced that it would be selling the seeds
commercially the following year. India has rules for regulating GMOs since 1989,
under the Environment Protection Act. It is mandatory to get approval from the
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the ministry of environment for
GMO trials. The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology sued
Monsanto in the Supreme Court of India and Monsanto could not start the
commercial sales of its Bt cotton seeds until 2002.And, after the damning report of
Indias parliamentary committee on Bt crops in August 2012, the panel of technical
experts appointed by the Supreme Court recommended a 10-year moratorium on
field trials of all GM food and termination of all ongoing trials of transgenic crops.
But it had changed Indian agriculture already.
Monsantos seed monopolies, the destruction of alternatives, the collection of
superprofits in the form of royalties, and the increasing vulnerability of
monocultures has created a context for debt, suicides and agrarian distress which is
driving the farmers suicide epidemic in India. This systemic control has been
intensified with Bt cotton. That is why most suicides are in the cotton belt.

An internal advisory by the agricultural ministry of India in January 2012 had this
to say to the cotton-growing states in India Cotton farmers are in a deep crisis
since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011-12 has been
particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers.
The highest acreage of Bt cotton is in Maharashtra and this is also where the
highest farmer suicides are. Suicides increased after Bt cotton was introduced
Monsantos royalty extraction, and the high costs of seed and chemicals have
created a debt trap. According to Government of India data, nearly 75 per cent
rural debt is due to purchase inputs. As Monsantos profits grow, farmers debt
grows. It is in this systemic sense that Monsantos seeds are seeds of suicide.
The ultimate seeds of suicide is Monsantos patented technology to create sterile
seeds. (Called Terminator technology by the media, sterile seed technology is a
type of Gene Use Restriction Technology, GRUT, in which seed produced by a
crop will not grow crops will not produce viable offspring seeds or will produce
viable seeds with specific genes switched off.) The Convention on Biological
Diversity has banned its use, otherwise Monsanto would be collecting even higher
profits from seed.
Monsantos talk of technology tries to hide its real objectives of ownership and
control over seed where genetic engineering is just a means to control seed and the
food system through patents and intellectual property rights.
A Monsanto representative admitted that they were the patients diagnostician,
and physician all in one in writing the patents on life-forms, from microorganisms to plants, in the TRIPS agreement of WTO. Stopping farmers from
saving seeds and exercising their seed sovereignty was the main objective.

Monsanto is now extending its patents to conventionally bred seed, as in the case
of broccoli and capsicum, or the low gluten wheat it had pirated from India which
we challenged as a biopiracy case in the European Patent office.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-seeds-of-suicide-how-monsanto-destroysfarming/5329947

Case 3:
Coca cola bottelng plant at kala dera,rajasthan
Despite ban, farmers continue burning wheat, paddy straw

Kamaljit Singh Kamal, Hindustan Times, Gurdaspur

|

Updated: Oct 12, 2014 11:53 IST

Punjab, known for its sprawling agricultural fields, is equally famous for burning
of paddy and wheat straw by farmers after the harvesting season. The smoke
released from burning of paddy straw is extremely bad for health.
"Each year, the agriculture department spreads the same message highlighting the
ill-effects of straw burning in the fields, but farmers rarely pay heed to it. Burning
of straw causes severe harm to soil fertility and creates massive air pollution,
inviting health problems," said Dr Lakhwinder Singh Hundal, chief agriculture
officer, Gurdaspur.
It is estimated that about 40 million tonnes of cereal crop waste -- 23 million
tonnes from paddy and the remaining from wheat -- is generated in Punjab every
year.

While most of the wheat straw is used as dry fodder for cattle, only a small part of
paddy straw is utilised in generating power at biomass thermal plants. The
remaining is set on fire in the fields. Owing to high silica content, paddy straw
cannot be directly fed to animals, he adds.
The department is also creating awareness among farmers on how to manage
paddy straw without burning it.
It has been officially stated that the burning of paddy straw residue causes soil
nutrient loss -- 3.85 million tonne of organic carbon; 59,000 tonne nitrogen, 20,000
tonne phosphorus and 34,000 tonne of potassium -- besides severely affecting the
quality of ambient air.
A government report reads: "The nutrient content of the soil is adversely affected.
Straw carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are completely burnt and lost to the atmosphere
in the process of burning." These nutrients then have to be replenished through
organic or inorganic fertilisers, which come at a cost.
A study conducted by the National Remote Sensing Agency indicated that paddy
burning in Punjab contributed 261 giga gm (1 gg=1,000 tonne) of carbon mono
dioxide, 19.8 gg of nitrogen oxide, and other gases to the atmosphere.
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, has estimated that total crop
residue (paddy and wheat) contained 6 million tonnes of carbon, which on burning
could produce 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Open burning of residue in the
fields kills micro flora and fauna beneficial to soil and removes a large portion of
the organic material, thereby depleting the organic matter in the fields.
On the other hand, the suspended particulate matter in the air coming from the
smoke aggravated chronic heart diseases and lung ailments, besides causing
respiratory problems such as asthma.
Highlighting the measures suggested by the agriculture department to address the
issue, Dr Amrik Singh, agriculture development officer, said that farmers should
incorporate paddy straw in the soil with the help of mould bold plough or rotavator
or disc harrows which improve the soil health.
He also said that direct sowing of wheat without removing the paddy straw from
the fields by using a specially designed "happy seeder" and using straw to generate
power is also a best option for management of paddy straw.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/amritsar/despite-ban-farmers-continueburning-wheat-paddy-straw/article1-1274551.aspx
wheat straw burning in gurdaspur Punjab

what has gone wrong with green revolution

Some decades ago, Punjab was feted as the food bowl of the country, where wheat,
sugarcane and paddy grew in lush, fertilizer-rich farms. Today, the State stands as
an example of what has gone wrong with the Green Revolution. From a State of
five rivers, activists say it has become be-aab (without any rivers). The
groundwater levels have reached an alarming stage, says Kavitha Kuruganti,
convenor, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA).
When a house is in flames, you will use any water, even sewage, to douse the
flames. Thats how fertilisers came in when we faced food shortage. But, now we
have enough stock of grains. Why do we continue to poison our fields? asks
organic farmer Madhu Ramakrishnan.
You eat cornflakes thinking youre doing your body a lot of good. Have you
paused to wonder if the corn has been imported from the U.S. or Argentina? Most
of that corn is genetically modified, said R. Selvam, coordinator of the Tamil
Nadu Organic Farmers Federation speaking about Genetically-Modified (GM)
crops.
All three speakers, along with organic pioneer G. Nammalvar, president Vanagam,
were present at a recent symposium organised by the Department of Geography,
Nirmala College for Women, to commemorate the golden jubilee of Rachel
Carsons, Silent Spring . The book raised concerns about pesticides and
environmental pollution.
The Green Revolution, initiated by Dr. Norman Borlaug, introduced high-yielding
seeds and promoted fertiliser use to increase production. This resulted in farmers
moving away from multi-cropping where they raised millets, cereals, pulses and
vegetables to single-crop agriculture. Today, statistics show that the land suffered,
pesticides triggered health issues and many debt-ridden farmers committed suicide.
Enjoy Nature

Madhu, who has been an organic farmer for 15 years, said the time is ripe to look
at farming from a different perspective. Besides focussing only on harvest and
growth, we should also learn to enjoy what Nature gives us voluntarily, he said.
Sadly, many farmers today dont know farming.
R. Selvam spoke about farmer suicides, failing crops, dependence on MNCs and
the destruction of native seeds. Giving examples from the country and abroad, he
said farmers must unite and stay firm on their decision to reject GM seeds.
Did you know genes can jump crops? he asked. The GM seeds of one company
are tweaked to resist a group of weeds. But, if the genes from the crop jump to the
weed, the weed becomes resistant to the recommended herbicide. In such cases,
farmers have to use herbicide manufactured by a second company to tackle the
problem. Ironically, the first company gives them a subsidy for the same. Were
back where we began, he said.
Kavitha presented statistics to narrate the ill effects of the Green Revolution. She
also spoke of suicides (250,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1995), the
growing incidence of cancer among farmers and the average monthly income for
farmers in Punjab that is just Rs. 4,960. She said how tested blood samples
revealed the presence of six to 13 different pesticides.
She added, By viewing the farm as a factory with inputs and outputs, we have
done away with agriculture that was integrated with Nature. She explained how
gynaecologists found that in many villages of Punjab, an increasing number of
women have had spontaneous abortions in the past 10 years.
Sustainable farming
Kavitha said it is time we shifted to a more sustainable agriculture where millets
are cultivated, stored and distributed locally. It is vital to speak to the youth, she
said, because even if five per cent of them developed interest in this kind of
farming, it would make a world of difference, at least in the next generation.
We have produced more and perished, she said. In Punjab, in the Malwa belt,
kids have turned grey and girls reach menarche at the age of eight, she pointed
out.
What is agriculture?

Agriculture, she said, should serve many purposes, including issues such as
farmers income, protection of resources and diversity, quality and safety of food.
It should be farming, where the focus is not productivity. And, agriculture that
gives farmers a sense of confidence and social status.
By viewing the farm as a factory with inputs and outputs, we have done away
with agriculture that was integrated with Nature
Kavitha Kuruganti, ASHA
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/a-world-ofdifference/article3937036.ece
Agriculture (encompassing farming, grazing, and the tending of orchards,
vineyards and timberland) is the production of food, feed, fiber and other goods by
the systematic raising of domesticated plants and animals.
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of
exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and
understanding of agriculture.
The term Good Agricultural Practices can refer to any collective GAPs related to
animal production, health and welfare
* Respect of animal well-being (freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom
from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express
normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress)
* Avoid non therapeutic mutilations, surgical or invasive procedures, such as
tail docking and debeaking;
* Avoid negative impacts on landscape, environment and life: contamination of
land for grazing, food, water and air
* Check stocks and flows, maintain structure of systems
* Prevent chemical and medical residues from entering the food chain

* Minimize non-therapeutic use of antibiotics or hormones

* Avoid feeding animals with animal wastes or animal matter (reducing the
risk of alien viral or transgenic genes, or prions such as mad cow disease),
* Minimize transport of live animals (by foot, rail or road) (reducing the risk
of epidemics, e.g., foot and mouth disease)
* Prevent waste run-off (e.g. nitrate contamination of water tables from pigs),
nutrient loss and greenhouse gas emissions (methane from cows)
* Prefer safety measures standards in manipulation of equipment
* Apply traceability processes on the whole production chain (breeding, feed,
medical treatment...) for consumer security and feedback possibility in case of a
food crisis (e.g., dioxin).
on of specific methods, which when applied to agriculture, produce results that are
in harmony with the values of the proponents of those practices. There are
numerous competing definitions of what methods constitute "Good Agricultural
Practices", so whether a practice can be considered "good" will depend on the
standards you are applying.
Good Agricultural Practices related to soil
* Reducing erosion by wind and water through hedging and ditching
* Application of fertilizers at appropriate moments and in adequate doses (i.e.,
when the plant needs the fertilizer), to avoid run-off (see nitrogen balance
method).
* Maintaining or restoring soil organic content, by manure application, use of
grazing, crop rotation
* Reduce soil compaction issues (by avoiding using heavy mechanical devices)
* Maintain soil structure, by limiting heavy tillage practices
Good Agricultural Practices related to water

* Practice schedule irrigation, with monitoring of plant needs, and soil water
reserve status to avoid water loss by drainage
* Prevent soil salinization by limiting water input to needs, and recycling
water whenever possible
* Provide good water points for livestock
Avoid crops with high water requirements in a low availability region
* Avoid drainage and fertilizer run-off
* Maintain permanent soil covering, in particular in winter to avoid nitrogen runof
* Manage carefully water table, by limiting heavy output of water
* Restore or maintain wetlands
*

Genetic modified crops:

The Case for GMOs

According to the GMO industry, there are many good reasons
to use GMOs:

Reduced need for herbicides

Reduced need of pesticides

Reduced greenhouse emissions as GMOs require less

tillage or plowing, thus less use of fossil fuels

Ability to manipulate foods to increase desirable

components such as nutrients

Increased production of food for starving third world

countries.

These are certainly worthwhile goals, and humans have been

successfully modifying the genetics of their food supply for
centuries.
The supporters assert that over a trillion GMO meals have
been eaten, thus proving their safety. The problem, of course,
is that the new technology is far different from the
hybridization and selection methods used in the past.
The big question: Are GMOs safe?

The European Union ConsumerLed Revolt

The EU consumer-led revolt against GMOs was triggered in
February 1999 when media coverage exploded after top GMO
safety researcher, Dr. Arpad Pusztai was called to speak
before Parliament and went public with some very alarming
research results.
Dr. Pusztai, a highly respected leader in the field with 35
years employment at the Rowett Institute in Scotland, had
been given a UK government grant to design the long-term
testing protocols that were supposed to be part of the
European GM food safety assessment process. When Pusztai
fed rats genetically modified (GM) potatoes to produce a

supposedly safe insecticide called the GNA lectin, all the

animals showed pre-cancerous cell growths, smaller brains,
livers and testicles, partially atrophied livers, and damaged to
the immune systemwith most changes appearing after just
10 days.
Since other rats fed normal potatoes spiked with GNA lectin
even 700 times more GNA lectin than was present in the GM
potatoesdid not develop these problems, Pusztais results
indicated that the problem lay with genetic engineering
process itself. And that meant that all GM foods created from
the same process, including those already on the market,
might produce unintended ill effects.

What happens when researchers

step forward with their findings?
According to Pusztai, when he expressed his concerns about
GMO foods, he was fired and threatened with a lawsuit if he
discussed his research. His 20-member research team was
disbanded; the testing protocols were dropped, and a
campaign was begun by pro-GM forces to discredit the study.
Then an invitation to testify before Parliament allowed Pusztai
to tell his story, and all hell broke loose. By April 1999, the
protests of informed consumers had convinced
manufacturers that GMOs would not sell in the EU, and all
agreed to keep GMOs out of their European products, in spite
of official approvals by a pro-GM European Commission.

Americans Ill-Informed about

GMOs
In the U.S., the Pusztai story got virtually no press, and the
U.S. mainstream media has failed to discuss other data
suggesting GM foods may pose enormous health risks,
including:

A preliminary study from the Russian National Academy

of Sciences finding that more than half the offspring of
mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks (compared
to 9% from mothers fed natural soy).

The estimated 10,000 sheep that died in India within 5-7

days of grazing on GM cotton plants engineered to produce
their own Bt-toxin pesticide.

The only human GM feeding study ever published, which

shows that the foreign genes inserted into GM food crops
can transfer into the DNA of our gut bacteria. This study
gives new meaning to the adage, You are what you eat.
Long after those GM corn chips you munched are history,
your intestinal flora may still be churning out the Bt
pesticide GM corn plants have been engineered to
produce.

How are GMOs created?

The way GMOs are created disrupts the plants DNA in
unintended, potentially harmful ways. In genetic

engineering, a single gene is removed from one

organism and forcibly inserted into another. First,
scientists identify the gene they want and analyze its
sequence. (If the source gene is to be taken from
bacteria, some of its sequence has to be
rearranged because bacteria produce certain amino
acids using a code different from the one used by
plants).

Other methods of GMO

insertion

One method employs a bacterium (Agrobacterium

tumefaciens), which normally infects a plant by inserting
a portion of its own DNA into the plants DNA and then
causing the plant to produce tumors. Genetic engineers
remove the tumor-creating section of this bacteriums
DNA and replace it with the desired gene cassette, so
the bacterium infects the plants with the foreign genes
instead.
The second method uses a gene gun. Scientists coat
millions of particles of tungsten or gold with gene
cassettes and blast them into millions of plant cells, only
a few of which incorporate the foreign gene cassette.
In either of the two delivery forms, the next step is the
application of the antibiotic to which the gene cassette
confers resistance. Most of the plant cells die, but a few
the ones in which the transgene has inserted survive.
These are developed into plants that researchers can

duplicate by making clones through tissue culture or

harvesting the seeds.
Each plant grown from a gene insertion is unique
because where the transgene ends up integrating itself
into the host DNA is uncontrolled and cannot be
reproduced. For this reason, the possible consequences
to the plants DNA are different with each insertion, so
all plants developed from a specific insertion are
collectively referred to as an event.
In sum, genetic engineering artificially combines genes
from different species and forcibly inserts them into
unknown and random locations on the host genome. The
procedure, which disrupts the precise orchestration of
thousands of genes that has evolved over millennia in
the normal plants genome, is highly mutagenic. We now
know that genes, like nutrients, do not work singularly,
but as part of highly integrated networks. Plus it
introduces bacterial genes for drug resistance along with
strong promoters to express the foreign proteins at high
levels in all parts of the plant.

How to Go Non-GMO

Organic foods are not allowed to contain GM ingredients.

Even the small percentage of non-organic ingredients
allowed in foods labeled organic is not allowed to contain
GMOs.

If you are traveling to Europe, no worries, GMOs are

banned in EU foods. In the United States and Canada,

however, GM foods are not only legal, but are unlabeled, so

avoiding them can be challenging.

Carefully read the label if purchasing prepared or

processed foods, vitamins, prepared or processed foods to
make sure the main food additives are not included, such
as soy, corn and their derivatives.

Most generic vegetable oils and margarines used in

restaurants and in processed foods in North America are
made from soy, corn, canola, or cottonseedthe four
major genetically engineered crops. Avoid these oils,
unless they are organic or labeled non-GMO. Choose any
other oil, e.g., olive, sunflower, or safflower.

Check the list of ingredients for GM enzymes, additives,

sweeteners, soy and/or corn derivatives. Genetically
modified bacteria and fungi are used in the production of
enzymes, vitamins, food additives, flavorings and
processing agents in thousands of foods on the grocery
shelves as well as health supplements.

Flavorings such as vanillin and hydrolyzed vegetable

protein, which is derived from corn and soy, can also come
from GM sources. Xanthan gum is another product that
may be derived from a GM process.

Aspartame, the diet sweetener, is a product of genetic

engineering.

Honey can be produced from GM crops. For example,

some Canadian honey comes from bees collecting nectar

from canola. This has shut down exports of Canadian

honey to Europe.

Conclusion
What the production of GMO crops and foods points to is
a product that has zero accountability, zero safety
testing by the very agencies that are supposed to keep
the public from harm, and the immeasurable unintended
negative consequences that GMO possess.
Except for organic foods, the entire American food
supply has been systematically hijacked by chemical
companies, not bent on trying to feed the world; not
providing healthy alternatives, but rather for profits that
they reap from the chemicals that are used by thousands
of farmers that grow GMO crops.
These chemical companies have essentially created a
destructive product, from the degradation of
microorganisms in the soil, to the food we buy and eat.
Perhaps only in decades to come will we ever be able to
reverse the damage that GMOs have caused. In fact,
unless GMOs and this technology isnt kept in check, the
very existence of all species of living beings and our
planet may be in jeopardy for many future generations
to come.

Contents

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