Irrigation Advisory Services (IAS) are powerful management instruments aiming to achieve the best efficiency in irrigation water use. So far the literature on farmers’ preferences for a specific scheme design of IAS’ characteristics and the related willingness to pay (WTP) is scant. This study provides evidence on farmers’ preference towards six attributes related to the IAS configuration by using a hypothetical choice experiment. Data were collected from an original survey among 108 farmers from Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Poland and South Africa. Moreover, we investigated the interplay between these preferences and the individual risk attitude (elicited through a lottery task) as a novel contribution. On average, the results suggest a clear farmers’ preference, especially for receiving weather forecasts from the service and for the feature related to water data recording; as the opposite, on average, crop water requirement seems irrelevant. Finally, we found that farmers’ WTP for the different IAS services varies across countries and, in some cases, also according to the individual risk attitude.
In recent years, the certification of environmental sustainability has been adopted by a large number of farms. A wide range of recent literature proved consumers’ preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for certification claiming for reduced environmental impact of food production, whereas the literature on farmers’ preference for a specific scheme design is scant. This study aims at investigating the possibilities of developing an environmental certification (EC) for agricultural products that is more tailored to farmers’ expectations. Data from an original survey among 116 producers from Italy, Croatia, and Greece were used to investigate the most preferred elements of a hypothetical EC for a general agricultural product, by means of a choice experiment. Although differences emerge in relation to the nationality of respondents, the results on average suggest a clear preference and a higher WTP by farmers for a certification that may guarantee an efficient use of water resources. Furthermore, farmers are found to be more inclined toward a public certifying body and the possibility to receive technical assistance for the scheme adoption.
In the current study, for the main crops cultivated in the Campania region (South of Italy), three indicators were proposed and analysed. The blue water footprint (WFb), which gives an indication of the impact of irrigation on the water resource; the gross margin WFb (GMWFb), describing the economic productivity of irrigation; and the job WFb (JWFb) that expresses the social value of blue water in terms of job opportunities. Results confirmed that water applied through irrigation is much higher compared with crop requirements. In terms of GMWFb, silage maize, maize and alfalfa had the highest values, while olive, potato and tomato had the lowest. Concerning JWFb, silage maize was the crop with the highest value. Even though a deeper analysis should be done in terms of added value in the entire supply chain, the results indicated a clear difference between the crops related to animal feeding (alfalfa, maize) and the other crops taken into consideration. In fact, for the former, both the GMWFb and the JWFb achieved their highest values. Results showed that for certain irrigation volumes and for certain crops, the economic and social impacts are very different and the choice of an irrigated crop rather than another has different repercussions in terms of environmental and socio-economic sustainability. The proposed indicators would allow water managers and farmers to assess and compare production systems in terms of the different benefits that their use of water can provide.
Small farms are gaining space and importance within the agricultural policies implemented by the European Union, mainly for the role that they play for the preservation of the territory and for the economic development of local rural areas. Small farms represent a new opportunity to guarantee the permanence of populations and agricultural workers in rural areas, contributing to the formation of the income of farming families. Therefore, in this study, after identifying small farms as those farms that have a Standard Output (SO) of less than EUR 25,000, their structural characteristics were defined, as well as their economic and financial situation. The analysis was performed using the Italian FADN data for the years 2018–2020 and using a set of structural and economic–financial indicators. Furthermore, the study analyzes the relationship between farm performance and agricultural resources and also with farmer demographics and farm size. The principal Component analysis was used to reduce the number of variables used in the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model which was applied to identify the factors contributing to the small farms’ profitability. The territorial distribution of small farms shows a polarization: 37% of them are in Southern Italy, and more than 34% of them are in Northern Italy. The analysis also reveals that about 67% of the Italian small farms are specialized, in particular, in arable land (37.6%) and herbivores (16.8%). They are mainly conducted by men with a high school education level and with an age that is between 40 and 65 years. The economic results also show a good performance, however, there is a wide district differentiation: while the Northern regions have the best results in terms of farm net income, those of Southern Italy are more dependent on the public support they receive. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis revealed which variables (e.g., land size, labor, public aid, etc.) had a direct relationship with the profitability of small farms. The research provides interesting insights to stakeholders on the public support (specific measures) that needs to be designed and implemented to favor the survival of small farms in rural areas.
Some major future global challenges are linked to more efficient use of water for irrigation to respond to the growing water scarcity coupled with the increasing food demand. Although irrigation advisory services (IASs) are considered effective instruments to increase water use efficiency in agriculture, their diffusion remains limited. This is due to several constraints mainly linked to their low accessibility and high costs. To overcome the bottlenecks associated with IASs’ adoption, this paper proposes a business model (BM) as a tool for scaling up IASs within a business perspective, with the aim of encouraging the diffusion of this technology while enhancing the associated environmental and social benefits. Drawn from the experience of the OPERA project, we structured the business model taking advantage of the opinion of relevant stakeholders and IASs’ potential users to identify specific limitations and understand their needs. It turned out that farmers are willing to adopt IASs but require that the service is easily accessible, with high-quality information that are delivered at an affordable cost. Indeed, here a BM with an innovative way to produce and deliver value is proposed. The value proposition is built upon key features namely, integration, customization, accessibility, and sustainability that reflect users’ needs and preferences. Our BM also provides a detailed revenues strategy that guarantees the financial sustainability of IASs. To design and represent our BM, the “Business Model Canvas ©” has been adopted. We concluded that an innovative and well-structured BM has the potential to leave the IASs profitable and capable to ensure environmental and social sustainability.
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