Sustainability Concerns in Asian Irrigation

Abstract

The term “sustainability” is now firmly entrenched in development rhetoric. Both international and national agricultural research institutes are under mounting pressure to develop technologies or formulate resource management strategies that are not only economically attractive to farmers but also minimize the depletion of the natural resource base and damages to the environment. Yet, the notion of sustainability has been subjected to such widely disparate interpretations and in a variety of contexts, which creates a potential for misunderstanding. Unless it is properly defined “sustainability” will merely become a rhetorical term which will lose its luster with time, rather than become an useful operational concept for policymakers, researchers and others attempting to formulate policies and strategies to foster economic development.