Reasons for converting to organic farming have been studied in a number of instances. However, the underlying rationale that motivates the behavior is not always made clear. This study aims to provide a detailed picture of farmers' decision-making and illustrate the choice between organic and conventional farm management. Based on 21 interviews with farmers, a decision-tree highlighting the reasons and constraints involved in the decision of farmers to use, or not to use, organic production techniques was formulated. The accuracy of the decision-tree was tested through a written survey of 65 randomly sampled farmers. The decision-tree permits the identification of decision criteria and examines the decision-making process of farmers in choosing their farming method. It also allows for the characterization of farmer strategies and values, identifying five types of farmers: the ''committed conventional;'' the ''pragmatic conventional;'' the ''environment-conscious but not organic;'' the ''pragmatic organic;'' and the ''committed organic.'' The importance of taking into account heterogeneity in farmers' attitudes, preferences, and goals and their impact on the choice of a farming method is emphasized.

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Green manure catch crops promote the sustainability of agricultural systems by reducing soil erodibility and by nutrient uptake and transfer to the following main crops. This effect efficiently reduces the risk of nitrate leaching. Biological nitrogen fixation by legume catch crops is an additional benefit, mainly in organic farming. Such crops may, however, reduce nitrogen uptake from the soil and increase nitrate leaching. Additionally, under drought conditions, their extra water consumption may outweigh the beneficial effects. To determine the best catch crop management in stockless organic farming under dry, Pannonian site conditions in eastern Austria, four treatments were compared in 2002 and 2004: (1) legumes: field pea, common vetch and chickling vetch, (2) non-legumes: phacelia, oil radish and turnip, (3) a legume and non-legume mixture (all mentioned components), and (4) a bare fallow control. Our results show that catch crop biomass and N yield, biological N fixation, and crop N uptake from the soil were about 4 times higher under moderately dry conditions in 2002 than under drought conditions in summer and autumn 2004. In 2002, the legume/non-legume mixture had the highest biomass and N yield and the highest biological N fixation. Both the legume/non-legume mixture and the non-legumes were more efficient than legumes in N uptake from the soil (+32 kg N ha −1 ); and in reducing both soil inorganic N contents by -45 kg N ha −1 and nitrate concentrations in soil solution by -20 mg N L −1 . These findings show that the legume/non-legume mixture combined the positive effects of non-legumes and legumes. In 2004, catch crop effects did not differ except for their above-mentioned effect on inorganic N contents. The only pre-crop effect was that of legumes compared with non-legumes on spring barley grain dry matter of +0.6 Mg DM ha −1 and grain N yield of +17 kg N ha −1 in 2005. The water consumption of catch crops never adversely affected the following crops. green manure / biological nitrogen fixation / nitrogen conservation / drought / legume catch crop

Participatory methods and visual tools are increasingly popular as qualitative approaches for enriching and complementing quantitative survey tools for understanding livelihoods and assessing and documenting impacts of development projects. However, the use of visual tools for analyzing and documenting social processes is still in its infancy. This article reports on an innovative attempt in adopting existing methods of using disposable cameras to stimulate interviews and focus group discussions with groups of smallholder farmers and to obtain new insights into farmer group dynamics and social capital of groups.

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