NGO hopes to bring sustainable farming practices to wider audience

GEORGE TOWN: A regional Penang-based NGO aims to bring sustainable farming practices to a wider audience with the launch of the International People’s Agroecology Multiversity (IPAM) website.
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PANAP) executive director VR Sarojeni (pix) said the platform was to link farmers, agro-ecology and food sovereignty advocates to share date and knowledge.
She said the site now has 10 “field learning sites” (FLS) comprising farms throughout Asia including Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Laos Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
She added farmers would be able to share their best practices on the web via videos or written tutorials while those interested can arrange for visits to those areas to get hands-on experience.
“We plan to increase the number of FLS to 40 by the end of this year and to also include Africa, Latin America and North America to make this global,” she told a press conference after launching IPAM today.
Sarojeni said moving to organic farming methods meant less pesticide entering the earth, water and food supply.
She said there were studies which linked pesticide ingestion to organ damage and negative impact on hormone production.
She stressed that good hormones were needed for health.
In his address earlier, PANAP vice-chairman Datuk Anwar Fazal urged global agriculture production to move away from being highly industrialised and towards more localised affairs.