TOBA TEK SINGH: The peri-urban agriculture using untreated wastewater has resulted in food safety concerns that have huge public health cost, the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said on Sunday.

He was addressing the thirdday session of an international workshop on `Peri-urban landuse change and food security`at the UAF, held with the support of Pakistan Academy of Sciences and The Alliance of National and International Science Organisations for the Belt and Road Regions (ANSO).

He said the land-use change is one of the serious and least addressed issue in Pakistan that could have serious implications for national food security.

Dr Asif Kamran said that massive conversion of agriculture land into housing colonieswas a serious concern, posing a threat to food security.

Dr Andrew Burket from Germany talked about the rural-urban transformation and termed it a challenge for humanity.

Dr Asmat Ullah spoke about reuse of wastewater. Dr Ghafar Ali, Associate Professor, Schenzhen University, China, discussed peri-urban supply chain in the context of China and drew lessons for dealing with periurban land-use in Pakistan.