Farm sustainability issues are diverse but interconnected and complex. Many organizations
have begun to promote packaged sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). Some of these
bundled SAPs (i.e. organic agriculture and integrated pest management) have long been
employed by farmers, and studied by scientists seeking to understand their response to these
alternative agricultural approaches. This paper reviews and synthesizes recent research in this
area. It identifies key explanatory factors, which frequently lead to the adoption of bundled
SAPs. Vote count analysis reveals that variables implying economic motivation and facilitation
regularly explain farmers’ behaviour. In addition, a new finding emerged, in which factors
inferring higher learning and superior management capacity provided further indicators to
adoption. In particular, the training that provided by non-governmental organizations and rural
institutions complements change agents (i.e. public extension services). While this finding is
novel, more research is required to generate better understanding of farmer reaction to bundled
SAPs, particularly dynamic ones (i.e. private standards) in which farm business sustainability
depends upon good agricultural practices being implemented.