The ecological dynamics of low external input agriculture

This paper on Low External Input Agriculture (LEIA) has explored how indigenous hill farming systems in a developing country setting of rural Nepal are functioning and which ecological properties of such systems could contribute to the development of Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA). Three cases were studied using direct field observation, group discussion and interviews, and the important practices of LEIA were ranked into eight classes to analyse the ecological sustainability of the hill farming systems. The study shows that the hill farming system is complex, diverse, heavily reliant on local resources and focuses on the renewability of production resources within the farm. All this can greatly contribute to make the system ecologically sustainable. However, demands for increased production put considerable pressure on farmers to apply external inputs which, if in excess, may jeopardise the whole system. A prerequisite for guidance in careful soil management is the strengthening of supportive research aimed at teaching farmers how to use external inputs. This must agree with the principles of sustainable agriculture and take into account the site-specific variations which are characteristic of Nepalese hill farming systems. We defined the term Ecological Dynamics as 'the pattern of changes in structure and/or forces in processes which govern the development of natural and artificial ecosystems'. This definition assists in identification of trends in ecological sustainability. Understanding indigenous farming systems reveals important ecological clues essential for the development of sustainable agriculture. Keywords: LOW EXTERNAL INPUT AGRICULTURESUSTAINABLE AGRICULTUREECOLOGICAL DYNAMICSECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITYHILL FARMING SYSTEMNEPALPRODUCTION RESOURCES

Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Business · Ecological farming · Ecological systems theory · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Indigenous · Integrated farming · Mixed farming · Natural resource · Natural resource economics · Sustainability · Sustainable agriculture · Sustainable development · Agricultural Systems and Practices · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Ecology