Farmer’s Knowledge in Land Suitability Evaluation and Farmers’ Awareness in Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study in Perlis

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is the heart of organic farming, and human resources are playing a vital role in directing the community toward sustainable development in agricultural practices. The research objective is to evaluate the Farmer’s Knowledge (FK) in land suitability variables for crop type’s suitability in Perlis. After that, the collected spatial information variables applied to allocate the spatial distribution for four main crop types in Perlis. Besides that, to investigate farmer’s awareness in organic farming in achieving sustainable agriculture and at the same time to identify young participants in the agriculture field. Participatory Geographical Information System (PGIS) practices and mixed-method approach has applied to collect spatial data information in the study area. Spatial data interpolated using the Kriging method in GIS software. It found that soil types and soil suitability are the most important variables that classed by farmers in land suitability evaluation. The spatial distribution map of crop suitability has the potential to indicate agreement or conflict with a land resource development for the study area. The results show the farmer’s awareness in applying organic farming still low, with the percentage of applying organic fertilizer is 18%. Besides, the results indicate that the young generation has a small contribution, with 30% involved in the agriculture sector. Nowadays, the participation of the young farmers is more realistic in applied new technology for instance Precision Agriculture (PA) practices.

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