Teagasc has defined sustainability as an approach to farming that we can sustain into the foreseeable future. – Environmental sustainability means careful and efficient use of natural resources such as water, soil and nutrients; thereby minimising the negative side-effects of farming on our own environment.

Sustainable agriculture practices

• Rotating crops and embracing diversity.
• Planting cover crops.
• Reducing or eliminating tillage.
• Applying integrated pest management (IPM).
• Integrating livestock and crops.
• Adopting agroforestry practices.
• Managing whole systems and landscapes.

Sustainable agriculture is far from mainstream in India, with only 5 (crop rotation; agroforestry; rainwater harvesting; mulching and precision) SAPSs scaling beyond 5 per cent of the net sown area.

7 steps to Improving Farm Sustainability and Profitability

1. Improved EBI and extended grazing.
2. Substitute clover for chemical fertiliser.
3. Changing to protected Urea.
4. Reducing ammonia and GHG emissions from slurry with Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS)
5. Improved energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.

Sustainable Agriculture

• Increase profitable farm income.
• Promote environmental stewardship.
• Enhance quality of life for farm families and communities.
• Increase production for human food and fiber needs.

But the sustainability of traditional American farming was mostly an illusion. Modern farming is better because it uses low-impact, “precision” techniques that require less land, less energy and fewer chemicals for every bushel produced.

The EPA has defined three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic.

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals; environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity (Feenstra, 2012) and is an alternative way of production in an ecological way.

The generation and spread of information, economic limits, social factors, farmers’ characteristics, attributes of sustainable practices, and infrastructure conditions are previously identified barriers to adoption.

One of the reported reasons for non adoption by Norman et al., (1997) is that sustainable agri- culture practices are management intensive and require a huge commitment to constant learning. Sovedi et al., (2010) state that one reason for farmers being unable to adopt is their inadequate managerial skills.

The prominent challenges include land and water issues; old cultivation techniques; lack of information on marketing; poverty; degradation of natural resources and environmental issues; population growth; inadequate support services; framework and institutional constraints; and lack of agricultural and rural …