This relates to the issues that relate to durability, as alluded to above. This may be due to there being high concentrations of residual pesticides in the drainage canals. We have at tempted to measure equity by indicators that relate to income ratios, education, 'health and house quality. The results of these assessments are generally rather low, in large part as a result of the uniformly limited levels of education throughout the entire area. Once again, the ancient area stands out as having a better record than was observed in each of the other agroecosystems.
Some conclusions Taken together, our study leads to some useful conclusions.
We think of these individual numbers as their name implies - as indicators of the sustainability of the agroecosystems in each area. As such, the actual values may be less important than what the values point to. This is not just by chance, as we observed in discussions with a number of highly knowledgeable, articulate farmers. There is much to be learned from these people. The very poor indicator value for the rainfed region more than anything underlines the need for policies that support research into better methods for dryland farming.