Environmental sustainability through agriculture: perspectives of extension agents on adoption of sustainable practices

Abstract

Agriculture is an integral part of the world's economy and global food security, but excessive use of fertilizer and improper use of pesticides are harmful to the environment. This creates the importance of encouraging farmers to practice sustainable agriculture to decrease environmental impacts and conserve natural resources. Increasing the rate of adoption requires an understanding of the farmer's process of transition from conventional to sustainable agriculture. Extension agents play an important role as they are trained to provide information towards the process of transition. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore barriers to the adoption of sustainable agriculture through the perspectives of extension agents that worked with farmers. This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 20 extension agents from the agricultural department in Johor, gathered through purposive sampling. Three stages of deductive content analysis were used, consisting of preparation, organizing, and reporting phases. The process of coding was carried out using Nvivo software. Findings from this study highlighted barriers such as lack of knowledge of sustainable practices and insufficient labor have mainly hindered adoption. Approaches such as providing a platform for farmers to connect, learn, and share techniques of sustainable agriculture could help alleviate the barriers identified in the study.