These qualifications may add clarity in some situations, but they generally add confusion. Low input conveys a negative impression in various agricultural circles. To some people, low-input farming means low management, low levels of production, and thus low economic return. Others believe it means abandoning the use of commercial fertilizers and pesticides. Because of the negative connotation of low input and the widespread confusion that the term generates, the emphasis should be on sustainability.
Sustainability is a concept with long-term implications.
When applied to agriculture, it refers to farming systems that are capable of maintaining their productivity while providing benefits to society indefinitely. The term sustainability has agronomic, environmental, social, economic, and political dimensions. It is not merely a set of best management practices or simply a profitable system of compatible enterprises. It is site specific, management intensive, and resource conserving. The need to sustain the natural resources on which agriculture depends is obvious.