Agricultural sustainability: Implications for extension systems

Extension could play a key role in fostering sustainability through its educational programs but there has been a growing realization that traditional extension models have not been sufficiently effective in promoting adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Since sustainable agriculture is a knowledge-intensive system, it requires a new kind of knowledge, which differs from other forms on the basis of conventional agricultural practices. In fact, conventional extension system cannot accomplish sustainability in agriculture; because today's agricultural extension must consider environmental implications, social issues, and overall economic growth within the agriculture sector. The purpose of this paper is to describe new extension model to achieve sustainable agriculture.