Perceptions of Sustainable Agriculture: A Longitudinal Study of Young and Potential Producers

Abstract

The sustainable agriculture movement is an important one for educators because ofincreasing societal concern about the effects of agriculture on the environment. Three groups of young people were studied over a four-year period to determine what theyperceived to be the consequences of adoption of sustainable agriculture practices. The most likely consequences were greater management requirements and changes in equipment Potential producers were more likely than those somewhat older to expect positive consequences and to use dealers as a source of information.. Neighbors, family, and friends wereratedmost highly as a source of information for all groups. Adoption/diffusion tbeoryprovided the base for studying the attributes of sustainable practices affecting adoption, and the attribute of complexity had the most influence. Recommendations were: (a) include observations of conservation practices in under-graduate programs, (b) establish networks of graduates, and (c) target dealers who cooperate with Extension inproviding educational programs on sustainable agriculture.

The influence of perceptions of practice characteristics: An examination of agricultural best management practice adoption in two Indiana watersheds

“…Cary et al (2001) named Rogers' five attributes plus the attribute of risk "the forgotten focus" in the adoption of sustainable practices. These concepts have also separately appeared in other studies on BMP adoption (e.g., Alonge and Martin, 1995;Gamon et al, 1994;Gamon and Scofield, 1998;Guerin and Guerin, 1994;Marra et al, 2003;Sattler and Nagel, 2010). Adesina and Zinnah (1993) state that omission of technology-specific characteristics in adoption models may bias the results of studies seeking to understand the adoption decisions of agricultural producers.…”

Factors affecting the adoption of conservation tillage on clay soils in southwestern Ontario, Canada

“…For these types of innovations, researchers have frequently found a positive relationship between the quantity of information farmers were exposed to and rates of adoption (Diebel et al, 1993;Gamon and Scofield, 1998;Napier and Camboni, 1993;Warriner and Moul, 1992). Researchers have concentrated primarily on either applying the diffusion-of-innovations paradigm to environmental practices or mathematically modeling the economic factors involved in adoption.…”

Διερεύνηση Των Εκπαιδευτικών Αναγκών Παραγωγών Προϊόντων Βιολογικής Καλλιέργειας, Ολοκληρωμένης Διαχείρισης Και Συμβατικής Γεωργίας Στην Κεντρική Μακεδονία

“…Έρευνα των Gamon and Scofield (1998), έδειξε ότι οι εμπορικοί αντιπρόσωποι αποτελούν τη συχνότερη πηγή ενημέρωσης για την αειφορική γεωργία, ενώ οι Bruening et al (1992), παρατήρησαν ότι οι γεωργοί λαμβάνουν πληροφόρηση για περιβαλλοντικά θέματα κυρίως από εφημερίδες, ειδικά εγχειρίδια και περιοδικά.…”