" In Mexico, Jordan, Israel and Tunisia, sewage is specially treated
to
remove pathogens and make it safe for irrigation. But in India,
China
and Pakistan, the study found that treatment is rare. The sewage is
added to fields complete with disease-causing pathogens and toxic
waste from industry.
Sewage is probably the biggest source of water for urban farming,
which provides an estimated one fifth of the world's food, said
Scott. In Hyderabad, the Indian city where he works, "pretty much a
100 per
cent of the crops grown around the city rely on sewage," he said.
"There is no other water available."
Many consumers would not buy produce at markets if they knew it had
been grown in sewage, he agrees. "Often farmers take the produce to
distant markets, where customers don't know how it is produced." And
farmers themselves run the greatest risks of disease, he points
out."
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