Defining and Using the Concept of Sustainable Agriculture

ABSTRACT Sustainability has recently become a buzzword for agricultural programs in education, extension, research, and government policy. For effective communications among those teaching, studying, and practicing agriculture, it is essential that there be some agreement as to the definition of the term sustainable agriculture. The definition should be general enough to accommodate the wide range of agricultural situations in which it will be applied, yet specific enough to provide criteria by which the sustainability of alternative systems may be judged. To allow the greatest combination of utility and flexibility, the definition should be “ends oriented” rather than “means oriented.” This article presents one such definition, discusses several definitions proposed by others, and attempts to clarify some concepts such as “low‐input” often associated with the sustainability issue.