Sustainable Farming - A Model

To be sustainable, inputs must be less than outputs. Inputs include fuel and all forms of energy, labour and raw materials. Even treatment of wastes must not consume excessive energy. For a farmer to practice sustainable agriculture, he must derive a reasonable income from his efforts.

This is a model for sustainable agriculture we developed at our farm (click to enlarge):

The only purchased inputs are corn and other feed ingredients. From here, all 'wastes' are recycled. Dung, carcasses, etc are all composted and made into high quality humus. Using humus and compost tea and proper management, an acre of land can produce 30 tonnes of high protein napia grass. This is fed to goats and fish. Using humus and compost tea, and selecting low-nitrogen demanding heritage seeds such as bayam pasir, terung telunjuk, etc we can produce abundant market vegetables.

We calculated a net income of RM3000 to RM5000 per month is possible from such a farm.

This how an acre of land may look like (click to enlarge):

Source: http://dqfarm.blogspirit.com/ (2 Nov 2009)