Which factors influence farmers' intentions to adopt nutrient management planning?

Abstract

The adoption of nutrient management practices can lead to win-win outcomes in terms of both improving productivity and reducing the environmental impact of farming. However, adoption of key practices remains below expectations globally. Few studies specifically focus on the adoption of nutrient management practices and the majority overlook psychological factors in their analysis. This study examines the factors which influence Irish farmers' intention to apply fertiliser on the basis of soil test results. An expanded version of the theory of planned behaviour is used as a framework for analysis. The influence of policy is also accounted for by this study which requires certain farmers in Ireland to adopt soil testing on a mandatory basis. The results for the national sample (n = 1009) show that attitudes, subjective norms (social pressure), perceived behavioural control (ease/difficulty) and perceived resources are significant and positively associated with farmers' intentions. In terms of the voluntary sample (n = 587), only attitude, perceived behavioural control and perceived resources are significantly and positively associated with farmers' intentions. Whereas, for the mandatory sample (n = 422), subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and perceived resources are significantly and correlated in a positive direction with intentions. A number of farm and farmer characteristics are also significantly associated with intentions. Policy recommendations are made based on these results.

Stakeholders' willingness and motivations to support sustainable water resources management: Insights from a Ghanaian study

“…Consequently, efforts to address water pollution have increasingly focused on encouraging uptake of pro‐environmental behaviors (Blackstock, Ingram, Burton, Brown, & Slee, ; OECD, ). This has given rise to a substantial volume of research output that seeks to examine the drivers of behaviors in relation to land and water resources management (Barnes et al, ; Cobbinah, ; Daxini et al, ; Inman et al, ; Okumah et al, ; Okumah, Yeboah, et al, ; Yoder, Ward, Dalrymple, Spak, & Lave, ). Indeed, whether people adopt pro‐environmental behaviors or not, and the extent to which water policies succeed in improving water quality depends on stakeholders' willingness to support sustainable river management strategies (Bengston, ; Mcfarlane & Boxall, ), thus, highlighting the need to examine stakeholders' willingness and motivations to support water protection.…”

Catchment-Scale Analysis Reveals High Cost-Effectiveness of Wetland Buffer Zones as a Remedy to Non-Point Nutrient Pollution in North-Eastern Poland

“…These include microbial processes (nitrification and denitrification), chemical reactions (precipitation of insoluble phosphorous compounds), physical adsorption, sedimentation, and incorporation in plant biomass and food webs, though the quantitative importance of each of these processes needs further detailed consideration (for details see Supplementary S1). Despite numerous legal and practical attempts to reduce nutrient loads reaching rivers in agriculture-dominated catchments, influencing farmers to limit or optimize the use of fertilizers has not been as efficient as expected and time is required to change stakeholders' perceptions [12].…”

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

“…To address this, research has focused on farmers' decision-making behaviour using quantitative [23][24][25][26] or qualitative methods [27,28], which investigate how farm management decision-making processes are influenced by various factors, perceptions and attitudes. These studies consider farm management decisions related to specific interventions that address only some aspects of SIA.…”