Education as the Differentiating Factor in Applying Sustainable Development Principles on Farms

Abstract

The study is dedicated to the issue of implementing rules of sustainable development on farms. Research was conducted on 310 farms. The farm classification criterion was the education of the farm manager. Farms in four provinces were analyzed: Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Mazowieckie, Lubelskie, and Wielkopolskie. The aim was to determine the knowledge and scope of applying sustainable development in farming, depending on the farmer's education level. The research consisted of determining the importance attached by farmers, depending on their declared level of formal education, to features of a sustainable farm and advantages of this mode of management for the environment, the society, and agricultural producers themselves. It was assumed that the higher the farmer's education level, the better the familiarity with sustainable development principles and their practical application. It was found that depending on the agricultural producer's education, the importance attached to individual variables characterizing a sustainable farm varied. In terms of environmental advantages, the most important feature was water protection; among benefits for the society, safe food was considered to be of the highest significance, while for producers, the most important was a higher income. The research results did not make it possible to unambiguously state that university education determines farmers' familiarity and compliance with sustainability principles. In some cases, farmers, who had good knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices, failed to apply them in their operations.