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