Sustainable agriculture : a review of concepts indicators and experience of Malaysia

Chamhuri Siwar, . and Md. Wahid Murad, . and Amzad Hossain, . (2002) Sustainable agriculture : a review of concepts indicators and experience of Malaysia. [Proceedings Paper]

Traditional agriculture can be understood as constrained response of producers to an evolving set of social and economic conditions. On the other hand sustainable agriculture as a new paradigm is a turn to a more open concept of the future. There has been a concerted effort since the Rio Earth Summit to construct indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development. This has included indicators of sustainable land management land quality indicators and indicators of sustainable agriculture. It is argued in this paper that the design and use of such indicators can be extremely useful in that they force those involved in the discussion of sustainability to identify the key aspects of sustainable agriculture and to assign weights to them. This Paper serves to highlight some of the conceptual issues of sustainable agriculture and compares these issues with conventional agricultural aystems. It also reviews selected papers on farmlevel sustainability indicators. An attempt ot assessing the status of Malaysian agricultural development in terms of its sustainability is also taken here. A review and assessment of policies and strategies towards sustainable agriculture have been undertaken. Agricultural development and trends in terms of land use deforestation fertiliser use irrigation food security and rural poverty issues are also discussed to assess any gaps toward achieving full sustainability in agricultural development. Finally some policy action toward achieving agricultural sustainability are forwarded.

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Abstract

Traditional agriculture can be understood as constrained response of producers to an evolving set of social and economic conditions. On the other hand sustainable agriculture as a new paradigm is a turn to a more open concept of the future. There has been a concerted effort since the Rio Earth Summit to construct indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development. This has included indicators of sustainable land management land quality indicators and indicators of sustainable agriculture. It is argued in this paper that the design and use of such indicators can be extremely useful in that they force those involved in the discussion of sustainability to identify the key aspects of sustainable agriculture and to assign weights to them. This Paper serves to highlight some of the conceptual issues of sustainable agriculture and compares these issues with conventional agricultural aystems. It also reviews selected papers on farmlevel sustainability indicators. An attempt ot assessing the status of Malaysian agricultural development in terms of its sustainability is also taken here. A review and assessment of policies and strategies towards sustainable agriculture have been undertaken. Agricultural development and trends in terms of land use deforestation fertiliser use irrigation food security and rural poverty issues are also discussed to assess any gaps toward achieving full sustainability in agricultural development. Finally some policy action toward achieving agricultural sustainability are forwarded.

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Item Type:	Proceedings Paper
Additional Information:	Available at Perpustakaan Sultan Abdul Samad Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor Malaysia. SB605.5 I61 2002 Call Number.
AGROVOC Term:	Organic agriculture
AGROVOC Term:	Sustainable agriculture
AGROVOC Term:	Sustainable development
AGROVOC Term:	Farming systems
AGROVOC Term:	Economic development
AGROVOC Term:	Malaysia
Geographical Term:	MALAYSIA
Depositing User:	Ms. Norfaezah Khomsan
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 05:27
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15970

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