Rapporteur's Report on Conservation Agriculture

The negative externalities of intensive agriculture to natural resources and environment are becoming increasingly apparent. Specifically, the intensive agriculture has given rise to problems like soil salinity, soil erosion, devastation of soil structure, water pollution, depletion of ground water resources, increasing pest resistance, loss of biodiversity, outbreak of secondary pests and secondary effects on human health. All these manifest in slowing down the yield growth and decline in profitability of agriculture, which not only have an adverse impact on farm incomes, but may also have adverse consequences for food security in the long run.