With rapid soil degradation, fast depletion of groundwater, excessive use of pesticides-fertilizers and extreme weather events all collectively putting stress on farming and forestry, it is time to recognise the fact that agriculture cannot remain the same, either in India or across the globe.

This was pointed out by Kundhavi Kadiresan, Assistant Director-General of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, while speaking to The Hindu on the FAO’s focus areas in the region and India’s role in it.