Sustainability indicators and data management for small-scale agricultural systems: the case of water resources

Abstract The management of non-industrial farming sites often lacks context-specific indicators that allow effective planning. Identifying reliable measures suited to small-scale agriculture (especially in settings with unique features such as suburban orchards) is therefore crucial for their viability. In this paper, we systematically review the indicators that can be applied in such contexts and compare them with those used in similar environments. Because the number of possible indices is as wide as the dimensions involved (social, economic, geographical, water, etc.), we narrow our scope to indicators related to sustainability and water resources. By analyzing several published time series, we show that many of these indices are strongly correlated, so tracking just one or two of them is normally sufficient, a simplification that greatly eases management in low-resource settings. We also point out that many variables can be obtained from open-data repositories or other easily accessible sources, so that producers with limited budgets can monitor the most relevant information without investing in costly data-collection systems. The literature suggests that this reduction could likewise apply to other sustainability factors.