Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM
1
Received: 3 August 2015 Farm sustainability issues are diverse but interconnected and complex. Many organizations
Received in revised form: have begun to promote packaged sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). Some of these
28 December 2015 bundled SAPs (i.e. organic agriculture and integrated pest management) have long been
Accepted: 13 January 2016
employed by farmers, and studied by scientists seeking to understand their response to these
alternative agricultural approaches. This paper reviews and synthesizes recent research in this
Keywords area. It identifies key explanatory factors, which frequently lead to the adoption of bundled
SAPs. Vote count analysis reveals that variables implying economic motivation and facilitation
Bundled sustainable regularly explain farmers’ behaviour. In addition, a new finding emerged, in which factors
agricultural practices inferring higher learning and superior management capacity provided further indicators to
Adoption
adoption. In particular, the training that provided by non-governmental organizations and rural
Systematic review
institutions complements change agents (i.e. public extension services). While this finding is
novel, more research is required to generate better understanding of farmer reaction to bundled
SAPs, particularly dynamic ones (i.e. private standards) in which farm business sustainability
depends upon good agricultural practices being implemented.
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*Corresponding author.
Email: tyeong.sheng@gmail.com
2272 Rajendran et al./IFRJ 23(5): 2271-2279
2012; Läpple and Kelley, 2013; Lemeilleur, 2013; reduction, this bundle is regarded as a pillar of both
Chatzimichael et al., 2014; Ganpat et al., 2014). sustainable crop intensification and production.
To our best knowledge, the findings offered by the Consequently, IPM is being mainstreamed in many
adoptive literature of packages of SAPs have not countries.
been synthesized. We are, therefore, motivated to add Conservation agriculture is “a concept for
to the knowledge base in this particular area. resource-saving agricultural crop production that
In an attempt to bridge this knowledge gap, this strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high
paper aims to review the literature devoted to the and sustained production levels while concurrently
adoption of bundled SAPs. In so far as previous conserving the environment” (FAO, 2015b). In
review studies have entirely been focused on general, it is made up by three key principles: (1)
individual SAPs, this paper provides a fresh direction: minimum tillage, (2) mulching, and (3) crop rotation.
bundled SAPs, including organic farming, integrated Minimum tillage is essential to maintaining minerals,
pest management (IPM), soil conservation, and GAP, preventing water loss from occurring within the soil
are considered in this review exercise. Our findings and reducing erosion. Mulching achieves much the
will be relevant and provide important implications same outcomes as minimum tillage in so far as it
for various change agents, including policymakers, addresses soil protection by managing the topsoil
governmental bodies, sponsorship or funding and reducing soil erosion. However, additionally,
agencies, extension agents and non-governmental it adds an enrichment component to soil nutrition.
agencies. Crop rotation inhibits insect proliferation or weed
Through the identification of converged factors development patterns in specific crops and, in turn,
that consistently influence adoption, it is hoped that guards against yield loss and infestation.
this review study will serve as a significant knowledge From the two sample bundles above, it is clear
base. It is our hope that it will provide information that these are problem-specific bundled SAPs. They
which can be used in either predicting the reactions are limited in so far as they address a particular issue.
of potential adopters to bundled SAPs or to modify In fact, however, each farmer is faced with multiple
either the bundles themselves or the way in which farming dilemmas. Additional examples include
they are presented so as to be more congruent with production costs, food safety, and worker health
the motivational triggers of potential adaptors. and safety. These issues, in general, challenge both
the continuity of any farm enterprise and farmers
Bundled sustainable agricultural practices to produce sustainable crops efficiently. To help
In the seminal work of Rogers’ (1962) “Diffusion overcome such complexity, more SAPs are being
of Innovations”, a cluster of practices or technologies integrated into holistic packages.
is conceptualized as innovations that are interrelated Organic farming “is a holistic production
and designed to coexist. The option provided management system which promotes and enhances
to potential adopters is a package comprising agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity,
multiple recommendations. Applying such notion to biological cycles, and soil biological activity” (FAO,
agriculture, bundled SAPs are flexibly formed by two 2015c). Diminishing farm reliance on synthetic
or more individual SAPs. Each sustainable practice inputs, it emphasizes management practices of on-
should complement another sustainable practice, thus farm resources, which use, where possible and
addressing multiple pressing local farming issues. appropriate, agronomic, biological, and mechanical
Consequently, bundled SAPs function holistically methods, to maintain the health of crops, ecosystems,
and ameliorate agricultural sustainability. and consumers. Common SAPs being practiced
IPM is one of the earliest large-scale promoted in organic farming include minimum tillage,
SAPs. According to FAO (2015a), IPM “means the intercropping, crop rotation, IPM methods, composts,
careful consideration of all available pest control and organic fertilizers. Such SAPs are incorporated
techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate within organic certification programs.
measures that discourage the development of Another bundle of SAPs that is gaining
pest populations and keep pesticides and other international recognition is GAP certification. This
interventions to levels that are economically justified has arisen due to the globalized food economy and
and reduce or minimize risks to human health and consumers’ increasing concern in respect to food
the environment.” It is an ecosystem approach to production, safety and quality. Such programs
crop protection combining biological, mechanical, set standards of production (i.e. minimum tillage,
cultural, physical, and chemical controls without intercropping, crop rotation, IPM methods, composts,
relying solely on pesticides. Through pesticide risk mulches, cover crops, chemical storage, recording,
Rajendran et al./IFRJ 23(5): 2271-2279 2273
and worker safety and health) that optimally utilize was used in this review exercise.
farming inputs or resources in a sustainable manner.
When GAP principles are rigorously followed, Data collection
farmers enjoy environmental, monetary, and social Inputs in this study include past studies
benefits (Tilman et al., 2002). investigating a binary choice: whether bundled SAPs
As we have demonstrated, in order to become have or have not been adopted. These past studies
more sustainable, the adoptive decision-making were pooled through a comprehensive search of three
faced by farmers’ pivots on whether to holistically main platforms, namely Scopus, Google Scholar, and
adopt a particular bundled SAPs. This does not references listed in selected journals.
necessarily mean that farmers have to implement the Key words used in the search were (1) adoption/
recommended SAPs blindly. Rather, a mix and match uptake/affectation/application and (2) sustainable
of SAPs with congruence to local conditions and agricultural practices (integrated pest management/
issues is necessitated. In our minds, bundled SAPs organic farming/soil conservation measures/good
should be considered dynamic and farmers must agricultural practices). The search resulted in
accept the fact that agricultural sustainability can more than 100 published papers, including those
only be achieved in situe by addressing local issues categorized as original research articles, review
and improving local deficiencies. articles, proceedings, conference papers, and non-
peer reviewed articles. Since our target was peer
Methodology reviewed publications, it was necessary to filter
Vote counting offers a structured method to irrelevant results. A total of 24 papers qualified
systematically review a pool of literature. It involves through the subsequent review processes; the others
quantitative procedures for research synthesis. In were retained in another library for reading and
its simplest form, the findings of empirical studies reference.
are sorted into three categories: (1) those that report
significant results in the positive direction, (2) Review procedures
those that yield significant results in the negative The initial step was to generate a general
direction, and (3) those that generate non-significant background understanding of the 24 qualifying
results. Their frequency is counted and compared: publications. Their information were classified by
the number of positive studies with the number of (1) authors, (2) country of study, (3) type of bundled
negative studies and the number of non-significant SAPs (4) sample size, (5) theory (6) analytical
studies. method and (7) significance or goodness-of-fit.
The vote counting method has advantages over The descriptive information gleaned from the
other synthesis methods (i.e. meta-analysis and 24 studies is depicted in Table 1. There is a fair
narrative review). As discussed, it is a relatively distribution of studies across bundled SAPs, but the
straightforward method focusing on qualified balance of the papers dealing with developed, as
past studies. In contrast, narrative reviews “lump compared to developing countries is skewed.
together” too many studies. Such a process is messy Most studies employed utility maximization
and hazes the relevance of the selected past studies theory to explain farm decision-making. Although
to the objective (synthesis) (Cwikel et al., 2000). there are many branches to this economic theory,
Another advantage of the vote counting method is the unified assumption is that the choice of farming
its flexibility in accounting for unlimited sample practices relies upon the expected utility (i.e. profit)
sizes (published studies). This is especially so when of the subject under examination exceeds the next
compared to meta-analysis (Prokopy et al., 2008). best option. Such considerations were commonly
This enables researchers to analyse a larger pool of expressed as a binary response and analysed through
published studies. Logit and Probit models. Different attempts have also
Empirically, the vote counting method has been been made through psychosocial theories. Studies
applied in recent review studies. For example, this in this stream argued that behaviour is developed
method has been used to synthesize factors leading through a complex process involving normative and
to the adoption of conservation practices, best cognitive concerns. Using such a premise, analyses
management practices, and SAPs in Knowler and were necessarily incremental. Unanimously, all of
Bradshaw (2007), Baumart-Getz et al. (2012), and the reviewed papers concurred that the adoption of
Tey et al. (2015) respectively. As demonstrated a bundled SAPs is regarded as a rational course of
by these studies, the method works well in similar action.
subject areas. Therefore, the vote counting method Having understood the background of these
2274 Rajendran et al./IFRJ 23(5): 2271-2279
Notes: Sig represents significant; NS denotes non-significant; * indicates that the variable has a mixed
significance but always depicts the same sign when it is significant; ** indicates that the variable is
always significant and depicts same sign.
principle: older farmers who still practice or value practices (Thapa and Rattanasuteerakul, 2011).
indigenous farming methods are more receptive to They are often acquainted with farm sustainability
the idea of using SAPs as a package when compared since SAPs like soil conservation and composts
to others in their cohort. were practiced prior to the dominance of chemical
The provision of education is an important inputs. It must be relatively easy for them to revert,
adjunct towards comprehending the intricacies or otherwise they would have lost their indigenous
and functionality of many SAPs. Supporting this farming knowledge to modern agricultural practice
conviction, this factor was found to be of positive adoption. Such considerations help explain the mixed
significance. Education enables farmers to be more association between experience in farming and the
open to new ideas. Farmers who obtained higher adoption of bundled SAPs in empirical studies.
educational levels often display greater learning Sustainability outcomes resultant from the
ability and capacity. They are able to understand adoption of bundled SAPs are spatially separated
complex information and handle management- from cost inputs (which are current investments). Key
intensive SAPs. indicators which point to farmers’ financial capacity
Experienced farmers are generally skilled in are off-farm employment and assets. Farmers who
judging the associated risks and managing farming possess assets have a buffer against the potential
2276 Rajendran et al./IFRJ 23(5): 2271-2279
the high poverty and illiteracy rates, the various capacity of individual farmers. This trend became
complementary services that are provided by evident, not because it was examined as a set of
extension agents are both critical to motivating category but rather by the convergence of numerous
farmers towards innovation and in guiding them variables. Measures like assets, farm size, and size of
in their implementation. The delivery of quality cultivated land are indicative of a farmers’ ability to
services motivates farmers to adopt bundled SAPs. raise capital for farm investments and hedge against
Unfortunately, however, the foci of public extension risks and losses. Any investment decision depends on
services are generally pre-occupied with productivity how profitable (through cost saving and/or improved
rather than sustainability. productivity) bundled SAPs are perceived to be.
Sustainability issues are pursued with greater Household labour gives a cost advantage and eases
zeal by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the burden of labour intensive SAPs. The allocation
the African and Asian regions. Often, their mantra of these human resources is rationally driven and
is to ensure sustainable agricultural development. they are only applied when SAPs are seen to improve
They are resourceful and complement the limited yield or profitability of crops.
nature of the public extension services with regard to It is clear that economic sustainability is
sustainable agriculture. For example, NGOs are often fundamental to farm decision-making. Support for
able to reach remote areas in where local settings this conclusion is offered by various review studies
obstruct the delivery of public extension services. on individual SAPs (Pannell et al., 2006; Knowler
Having putting in such an extraordinary effort, NGOs and Bradshaw, 2007; Prokopy et al., 2008; Baumgart-
are well respected and trusted by farmers. As noted Getz et al., 2012; Tey & Brindal, 2012; Tey et al.,
by our review, when training has been given by their 2014). These works posit that profitability is the most
professional representatives who know how to farm deterministic factor. Typical policy prescription in
more sustainably, farmers consistently modified their this regard centres on incentivizing farmers. Popular
routines and farmed more sustainably. We believe measures like subsidies and incentives are provided
that this finding is new and has not been documented in the short-term to give farmers a kick-start. When
in previous review articles. they expire, there is a danger that farmers are likely
Although both general and technical information to withdraw and revert to previous practices unless
are delivered through training workshops, a common increased profitability has already been established.
weakness of such institutional support is said to be its Both the quantum and the duration of subsidies are
inability to factor into the workshops specific locality critical to the successful adoption of SAPs.
specific advice. This issue can be compensated for Therefore there needs to be a better economic
through subsequent group discussion in local farmer paradigm to motivate farmers and sustain them
association. Neighbouring farmers are well versed in using packages of SAPs. Policymakers and
with local peculiarities. Interaction with such local researchers should make greater efforts to link their
change agents enables one to share with and learn sustainable production to higher levels in the value
from other members. chain. Not only does that promise greater returns,
Through our review exercise, sponsorship farmers would subsequently play a more prominent
and public-private partnerships have emerged as role in recruiting both peers and consumers into
new factors leading specifically to GAP adoption the philosophy of sustainability. This value chain
(Kersting and Wollni, 2012). These external supports approach is just one option among the many that need
are invaluable in helping resource deficient and to be explored. Only when a successful methodology
financially constrained farmers. Easily available is developed will it be possible for sustainable
funding or sponsorship provides a critical facility for agriculture to be mainstreamed.
financing the preliminary investments, dealing with As a difference between our work and many
deferred benefits. Such buffers are crucial especially of the papers mentioned previously, we have
in the event of failures. Public-private partnerships synthesized the empirical findings of determinants
serve as a bridge linking local farmers to broader underlying the adoption of multiple SAPs grouped as
market opportunities and so to meet the global a bundle. Because of our unique perspective, learning
demand for sustainable produce. and management capacities (farmers’ education, age,
farming experience, extension services, training,
Discussion and Conclusions and information variables being indicators) were
unmasked as reliable signals of the predisposition to
Adoptive decision-making with regard to adopt SAPs.
bundled SAPs was significantly tied to economic Learning and management capacity are
2278 Rajendran et al./IFRJ 23(5): 2271-2279
interconnected to how well farmers can comprehend inconclusive. It seems likely that a pattern of
the functions and operation of either single or multiple knowledge will emerge in tandem with increasing
SAPs. Education was found to play a critical role in empirical research. Such research is particularly
their learning journey which generally involved mix critical for a new innovation: private standards
and match and trial and error processes. To undertake (i.e. GAP). Our analysis showed that this new area
such challenging processes, rapid and continuing is understudied although more and more nations,
learning, management and flexibility are essential. NGOs, trade regulators, and private companies are
For example, ageing farmers who have short career joining the forces to set SAPs as a main component of
horizons were shown to be resistant to new ideas. For private standards. They give rise to an obvious need
some other farmers, however, their learning capacity for more empirical knowledge to understand farmers’
is insufficiently developed due to a deficiency in their reaction to this kind of new setting, which impinges
formal education. both on farming practice and farm business.
The sustainability imperative has pressed
researchers and policymakers to actively seek Acknowledgement
effective learning experiences that will develop the
capability of individual farmers to devise and refine This study was funded by Universiti Putra
farm specific sustainable practices. The options Malaysia Grant (Putra Grant) under Vote 420000.
that were proved most efficacious in our review
were extension services, training, and engagement References
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