CHAPTER 6 : SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

DEFINITION :
maintaining their productivity to society, irreversible damage to ecosystem health.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Farming that make profit 

Characteristcs involved are:

– Net financial worth of the family increase consistently through profit

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

involves keeping the four ecosystem processes in good conditon:

1. ENERGY FLOW

2. WATER CYCLE

Effective water cycle:

– lible soil erosion

– fast water entry into the soil

3. MINERAL CYCLE

A Well Functioning Mineral Cycle:

–The movement of nutrients from the soil to soil

4. Ecosystem Dynamics

TOOLS

Intercropping I

Crop rotation 

Cover crops 

Multi-species grazing

Monocropping 

Tillage 

Herbicides 

Insecticides

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM)

• a pest control strategy

that uses an array of complementary methods

BENEFIT OF COMPOST

• Destroys weed seeds and pathogens.

National agrofood Policy.

National agrofood policy has been develop by the Ministry of Agriculture Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shaberi Cheek and Agro-based industry Malaysia which was approved by the Malaysian cabinet on 28 September 2011 to replace the NAP3 (Third National Agricultural Policy). This policy cover the period between 2011 and 2020. Mainly addresses the issue of food supply in Malaysia based on consumer’s need for quality, safety, nutirition, functionality and environmental sustainablity

Focus : Enhancing food security

 Complement & strengthening value chain

 Increasing competitiveness    

 Sustainable development

The main objectives of the National Agrofood Policy (2011-2020) are:

·         to address food security and safety to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility;

·         to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of the agro food industry; and

·         to increase the income level of agropreneurs.

Efforts taken to strengthen human capital and to ensure sufficient skilled labour force in the agriculture sector include:

• Encouraging the use of modern technology and mechanization to reduce the dependency on manpower;
• Strengthening the capacity of agriculture operators to adopt technology, mechanization and ICT through awareness campaigns and continuous trainings;

Among the initiatives taken to increase private investments in the agriculture sector include:

 Providing integrated infrastructure especially in the concentrated agriculture zone such as TKPM, ZIA and Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC);