M Saleemuddin

According to the United Nations, the global human population is over 8 billion and is expected to rise to 9.7 billion by the year 2050. Since we primarily depend on plants for the food we eat and the air we breathe, efforts are needed to increase the world’s agricultural production remarkably to meet the nutritional requirements of the burgeoning population. Considering that nearly all arable land of the earth is currently under cultivation, possibilities of boosting food output by other means like the development of high-yielding crops and those resilient to vagaries of nature are being probed. 
Additional food for human consumption can also be made available by protecting crops from various pests; according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), up to 40 per cent of food crops are lost annually to pests and diseases. Chemical pesticides have been the principal tools used for pest control worldwide, and presently, global pesticide consumption exceeds a…read more on NOPR