Chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, irrigation and improved cultivars were important ingredients of the Green Revolution that helped increase food production in Asia.
Today, chemical input intensive system of crop husbandry are widely perceived as not sustainable in the long term. Total factor productivity of crops such as wheat is now declining. Indeed second-generation problems, fall-outs of the Green Revolution, have now surfaced. Ever increasing cost of production due to costly inputs and the resultant reduced profit is another important issue affecting farmers and commercial farms.
There is increasing evidence that yield similar to that of conventional agriculture is possible by using biological approaches of crop production that will not need expensive inputs, and may be more sustainable in development aid strategies
Experience from research and development programmes in organic/integrated crop production will be the focus of the workshop, leading to discussion on future strategies. Among them the perspective for organic agriculture as a rural development strategy or pathway for smallholders in developing countries would appear to be a valid starting point for subsequent discussion.