HOW right Tony Kelly is in his comments (HAS, June 2) on farming methods in today's world situation.

It was also interesting to read the reply by MT Walton (HAS, June 7).

Together, these two correspondents have summed the situation up nicely. It is surely the stupidity of humanity that has resulted in the obvious dilemma - we can honour the land and starve, or we can continue to abuse and exploit it until it is no longer able to produce any food at all.

It seems obvious to me that the increase in population needs to be reversed, no matter how draconian the methods needed. Otherwise, the time will come when our planet will no longer be able to sustain humanity or any other form of life.

How sad it will be, if after eating all remaining food, and exhausting all other of the earth's resources, we are reduced to eating each other until there is no one left.

Maybe then, our tired and polluted planet will see a measure of replenishing and renewal. Surely this is a matter for all of us to consider as we rush blindly to extinction, while foolishly considering it progress.

GD Gargett, Peterlee, Co Durham.

I AGREE with MT Walton (HAS, June 7) that modern, industrialised farming produces far more food than traditional methods did.

The question is, though: is it food that is good for us?

Given that the production methods are often cruel, inhuman and an affront to nature, you have to wonder seriously about the safety, long-term anyway, of the product (the nature of such methods was, of course, highlighted quite recently by a major scare at a well-known intensive poultry unit specialising in turkeys).

Nor is such large-scale production necessary, since much of the product regularly goes to waste - a situation about which we now seem quite unconcerned. This fact hardly bears out MT Walton's predictions of impending world famine.

The long-term, sustainable answer surely lies with small, mixed farms, using a combination of traditional methods and such modern ones as are ethically acceptable. These would guarantee an indefinite supply of plentiful, high-quality food, the humane treatment of livestock and the health and wildlife of our countryside.

Tony Kelly, Crook, Co Durham.