Farmers’ Attitudes towards Irrigating Crops with Reclaimed Water in the Framework of a Circular Economy

Abstract

In a global situation where water constraints are a daily concern and expected to worsen in the upcoming years, finding new water alternatives to guarantee its supply is of critical importance. Against this background, reclaimed water has proved to be a sustainable alternative that recycles wastewater from a circular economy approach, thus enhancing water availability for key sectors such as agriculture. In such a context where public policies should encourage the implementation of this sustainable resource that helps reduce climate change by allowing wastewater reuse, there is too often a lack of knowledge of farmers’ perceptions, thus resulting in them being ineffective. In this sense, studying and analyzing agriculturalists’ perceptions is of interest for the development of appropriate policies that truly foster reclaimed water use in agriculture and enhance its shift from waste to resource. For this research 231 farmers, both long-time users of reclaimed water and non-users, were surveyed to find common and differing attitudes and perceptions. Results show how once farmers start irrigating their crops with this alternative resource there is a marked improvement in their opinion. The high price is the most widespread barrier, which can be tempered with public subsidies that absorb part of this cost. The insights obtained from this research may be of interest to other regions, especially for those in arid and semi-arid climates where water scarcity is a critical problem and sustainability a growing concern.

The Analysis of Present and Future Use of Non-Conventional Water Resources in Heilongjiang Province, China

“…Nonconventional water resources can serve as a sustainable alternative and enhance water supply in vital industries. In this scenario, public policy should support the implementation of such practices [57]. Improving the utilization of non-conventional water resources in Heilongjiang Province can alleviate the pressure on the region's water resources.…”

How to Identify Barriers to the Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture? A Study Based on a Multi-Criteria Model

“…If the government and farmers invest in training, sustainable agriculture could be implemented quickly, because this barrier seems to influence all the others. Moreover, other practices already discussed in the literature also encourage sustainable agriculture, such as water reuse [71], precision agriculture combined with access to the Internet [67], and the development of public policies to promote sustainable agriculture [72].…”

Farmers’ Transition to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the Decision-Making Factors Affecting Adoption

“…Furthermore, most studies highlight the importance of tailored advisory services that take into account individual farm characteristics and farmer needs [5,55,75,84,85]. Marketing and communication campaigns have been found to have a positive association with adoption since they play a critical role in raising awareness and educating not only farmers but also other agri-food value chain actors about the benefits of a transition to CSA [86,87]. On the other hand, a lack of research, education, and knowledge provided by universities and governments has been negatively associated with adoption, highlighting the need for accessible and relevant information as well as education to support adoption [44,88].…”