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Mediterranean farmers’ understandings of ‘good soil management’ and ‘good farmer’ identity in the context of conservation agriculture

Topp, Emmeline; Stephan, Ana; Varela, Elsa; Cicek, Harun and Plieninger, Tobias (2024) Mediterranean farmers’ understandings of ‘good soil management’ and ‘good farmer’ identity in the context of conservation agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 22 (1), pp. 1-18.

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Document available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14735903.2024.2335083


Summary in the original language of the document

Mediterranean agriculture is increasingly threatened by soil degradation and climate change. Conservation agriculture (CA) is a farming approach characterized by reduced soil disturbance, soil cover, and crop rotation that provides agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits to farmers, but which is not yet widespread in the Mediterranean region. To investigate the sociocultural aspects of CA adoption, we examined farmers’ understandings of ‘good soil management’ and a ‘good farmer’ identity. We employed network analysis to visualize and compare farmers’ mental models of these concepts and how they differed according to farmers’ tillage practices. We found that crop rotation is a prominent concept cognitively tied to fertilizer application, bridging conventional and reduced tillage practices. CA farmers’ mental models of soil management are more complex than conventional farmers’. Demonstrating productivity and having experience and knowledge were the most prominent aspects of farmers’ understanding of a ‘good farmer’. For CA farmers, this was tied to environmental responsibility and innovation, whereas for conventional farmers, a set of best practices including tillage and the use of mineral fertilizers, was valued more highly. CA may compete with held understandings concerning soil management among conventional farmers. CA adoption programmes could be better tailored to align with their cultural values.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:No-tillage agriculture, mental models, network analysis, soil conservation, cultural capital, Abacus, FiBL6925, ConServeTerra
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
mediterranean zone
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_29563
English
climate change
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1666
English
conservation agriculture
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_264f7edd
English
tillage
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7771
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality
Crop husbandry > Soil tillage
Environmental aspects > Air and water emissions
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Tillage > Reduced Tillage
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Sustainability > Climate
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics > Mediterranean farming systems
Germany > University of Göttingen
Germany > University of Kassel > Department of Organic Farming and Cropping
DOI:10.1080/14735903.2024.2335083
Related Links:https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/1829
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:53050
Deposited On:28 Mar 2024 08:15
Last Modified:20 Jun 2024 07:51
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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