EPA will organize an Agricultural Air Quality Task Force this week to study ways through which farm operations can decrease levels of air pollution and toxic emissions. This force will also see optimum utilization of a $10.9 million assistance package.

Ed Burton, State Conservationist of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California said that this is a pivotal time for agriculture and air quality. The focus on energy and climate is creating more challenges -- and more opportunities -- for agriculture than ever before.

The meeting was held in Fresno, which according to the American Lung Association's 2009 "State of the Air" report, is the second most polluted city in the U.S. for short-term particle pollution, and seventh most polluted nationwide for overall pollution.

Four out of five California cities in the list of most pullulated cities are farming-intensive cities located in the state's Central Valley farm region. 

The report also revealed a shocking fact that about 60 percent of Americans are living in areas with poor air quality which is capable of causing serious health problems and endanger lives.