1. PRT 2008
Lecture 9

2. Sustainable Agriculture

3. Definition
Farming systems that are capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness indefinitely. Such systems must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive and environmentally sound.

4. Sustainable agriculture
Produce food without depleting the earth’s resources
Not polluting
Follows the principle of nature
Take industrial production as its model
Result in agri-business
Socially acceptable
Follow ecology-based approaches
Promote biodiversity, recycle plant nutrients, protect soil from erosion, conserve water and integrate crops and livestock
It is profitable

5. Objectives of sustainability
Economic sustainability
Social sustainability
Environmental sustainability

6. Economic sustainability
The family saving is going up
Debt is going down
The farm enterprise is consistently profitable
Purchase of fertilizer is decreasing
Reliance on government payment is decreasing

7. Social sustainability
The farm support businesses in the community
Money circulate within the economy
The number of rural family is going up
Young people take over their parent’s farms
University graduates return to the community after graduation

8. Environmental sustainability
There is no bare ground
Clean water
Wildlife is abundant
Fish in the stream
The farm landscape is diverse in vegetation

9. Farm as an ecosystem
On any farm, 4 ecosystems are at work. It will conserve soil and water resources, reduced cost.

10. Applying the principle of sustainability
Keep the soils covered throughout the year
Diversification

11. Diversification Crop rotation Use cover crops and green manures
Use compost and fertilizers
Weed management
Pest management
Disease management