Review and assessment of available indicators for evaluating sustainable land management

Abstract

The need to determine whether current land management practices and agricultural systems are environmentally and economically sustainable has led to the development of a framework for assessment of sustainable land management (SLM). Indicators of SLM can be grouped into four categories: physical, agronomic, economic and social. In this report, some indicators for SLM are reviewed, and selected indicators are assessed using 1991 Census of Agriculture data. Indicators were selected on the basis of criteria from the literature, and availability of data. Indicators that appear useful in assessing sustainable land management include: historical trend of cropping intensity, nutrient budgets, physical land flexibility, yield variability, windbreak density, crop influence on soil quality, conservation tillage, historical trend of area in summerfallow, gross margin with and without government subsidies, and debt load.