Modern Agriculture and Health Impacts

Modern and industrial agriculture, which replaces the traditional one, consumes huge quantities of fuel, right from growing the crops until the time of delivering the food to the consumers located miles away. In addition, modern agriculture makes use of high nitrogen contained manures, fertilizers resulting in an increase of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere.

This increases the green house gas composition in the atmosphere, further enhancing the global warming and ultimately global climate change. The rain fed rice farms emit less methane than the nitrogen rich fertilized rice farms. The cattle we raise are nowadays fed on rich protein diet, which emits more methane than the grass fed ones.

The Living Dead of Kasaragod

The pests over the time have got genetically adapted to the pesticides, so the only solution is to use more expensive and highly poisonous modern pesticides like Endosulfan, which has been banned in many countries. Prolonged usage of strong pesticides has affected human health, causing paralysis, physical deformities, cancers and even central nervous system disorders. Reports of the usage of killer Endosulfan in Kasaragod district of Kerala and its effects on the health of the villagers bear testimony to the fact that man kills not only humankind but also the entire eco-system just for some monetary gains.

The solution to this problem is by cultivating and encouraging the consumption of organic foods. Organic crops are grown without the addition of harmful pesticides, fertilizers, sewage sludge and human wastes. Encouraging the consumption of organic crops could reduce green house gas emissions to a considerable level, there by improving global health.