October 20: Campaigners have underlined the importance of organic farming for revitalizing the food system. They made such remark during an interaction on the topic of ‘Organic Farming: Revitalizing the Food System’ organized on the occasion of the 42^nd World Food Day on Wednesday.

Representatives of the Food for Agriculture Campaign, National Farmers’ Group among others were present during the interaction.  Participants of the interaction programme concluded that the use of pesticides have not only affected human health but also caused adverse effects on soil, water and environment. They argued that the use of pesticides has also affected production growth.

Chairman of the National Inclusion Commission Dr Ram Krishna Timilsina expressed his views that the agriculture sector is facing problems because the universities of Nepal only focus on producing scholars but fail to realize the need of imparting technical skills.

He accused the government of displaying dual character. He said that the government has not been able to clearly state whether it is possible to set up chemical fertilizer plant in the country or not.

He argued that the production of food can be increased by providing grants to small and medium-scale farmers and concessional loans to big farmers.

“The government needs to encourage commercial farming in order to increase production. Small farmers need to be given  grants while corporate farmers must be availed concessional loans,” said Timalsina.

During the programme, Senior Scientist of the Nepal Agriculture Research Council Bal Krishna Joshi informed that the traditional food grains are comparatively more healthy than hybrid food.