Permaculture on highways, roadsides a new dimension to food security

Permaculture -- sustainable land use that consists of intensive cropping without disturbing or damaging the natural habitat and biodiversity -- should be practised in the country's arable lands and by the highways and roadsides for the benefit of our livelihoods and food security, according to an accomplished agriculturist, reports UNB. Dr Mohammad Ataur Rahman of the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) said permaculture is widely practised in the modern world for growing crops with little or no disturbance of the soil and landscape, and using little or no tillage practice. Dr Rahman said that roadside plantations were cultivated during the period of the great Emperor Sher Shah Suri, along the Grand Sonargaon-Delhi-Peshawar Trunk Road. Under permaculture, every home is considered as an eco-niche that provides shelter for family members and domestics, vegetation for food, fodder, shade, fuel, fence, medicine, beautification, etc. and also shelterbelts to protect the storms and winds.