Cow urine mixed with neem leaves can be a better insecticide than the chemical ones, according to a BJP MP.

Nand Kumar Sai said in the Rajya Sabha that farmers were well-off earlier and happy with the yield using manure for cultivation and they should go back to that practice.

During a discussion on the country's agrigarian crisis, he said with the rise in the use of chemical fertilisers, they are committing suicide while the quality of the produce has come down.

"Why can't we use gomutra and mix it with neem leaves in place of insecticides now? ... Farmers would not commit suicide earlier even if there was famine, but they are doing it now," he said.

Sai suggested encouraging rearing of bovine creatures for both milk and cowdung, saying it would stop production and sales of artificial and adultrated milk-related products, now rampant in various states of the country.

Members, cutting across the party-line, suggested various solutions for the welfare of the country's farming community, which constitute a large chunk of the total population.

Some members also suggested that farmers above the age of 60 should get pension. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien endorsed, saying," That is a very genuine demand.