Rao, D.P.
system of technologies and/planning that aims to integrate ecological with
socioeconomic and political principles in the management of land for agricultural
le | and other purposes to achieve intra- and intergenerational equity (Dumanski,
jh 1994; Hurni, 1996). SLM is thus, comprises of three development components,
of namely technology, policyt and land use planning. Following the sustainability
- paradigm, ‘appropriate’ would require that a technology follow five pillars of
s. sustainability, namely be (i) ecologically protective (ii) socially acceptable (iii)
to economically productive (iv) economically viable, and (v) reduce the risk.
an
ad 3.0 SUSTAINABNILITY
le
S- Sustainability refers to qualitative and quantitative continuity in the use of a
at resource. It implies a state of equilibrium between human activities as influenced
1e by social behavior, acquired knowledge and applied technology, on one hand,
ad and the food production on the other (Farshad and Zinck, 1993). Sustainability
ut could be defined in elementary terms by (Gallopin, 1996) :
e
nt V(Ot+1) > v (Oy)
je
to Where v is a value function of the outputs of the system. There are several
nt perspectives of sustainability, namely economic, ecological, social and an
, optimum mix of ecological and economic perspective Sustainability attempts not
lly only to address global issues, such as resource degradation, deforestation and
ozone layer depletion, but also local issues, such as maintenance of eco- and
socio-eco-systems or a combination of these. Sustainability of natural resources
he depends on their resilience and carrying capacity. Resilience refers to how easily
cal a soil can recover lost functions or restore the balance among functions
to (Warkentin, 1995). Further, resilience of land when under stress due to
0. inadequate management is, in fact, central to sustainability. In agro-ecosystems
he resilience has been defined as “The ability of a disturbed system to return after
ed new disturbance to a new equilibrium (Blum and Santelises, 1994). Central to the
Or concept of resilience in agricultural system is the soil architecture and its
nd recovery after damage. Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of a
ng population that can continue to live at a pre-defined level of well-being and in a
ar, limited area without causing irreversible changes in the environment, so that its
eir living conditions deteriorates and its growth declines (Farshad and Zinck, 1993).
There are several perspectives of sustainability, namely economic, ecological,
an social and an optimum mix of ecological and economic perspective. From
he ecological view point, sustainability may be defined as "an increasing trend in
nd production over time per unit consumption of the non-renewable or limiting
rk resources or per unit degradation of soil and environmental characteristic. The
of dominantly economically oriented perspective puts more emphasis on economic
"a aspects. Natural resources are either disregarded or only marginally taken into
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 1235