28 pages., Via Science Direct., Precision agriculture (PA) constitutes a dynamic production method which is gaining attention in several parts of the world. Its environmental and economic sustainability has been examined in terms of its ability to reduce the adverse effects of agrochemical use—by regulating their application to the levels needed at the land parcel level—and of its contribution to higher incomes and profitability. At the social level, PA has been linked to collective action although little insight is available regarding the role of various actors and education. This study tackles PA through an assessment of the attitudes of farmers towards the elements of its sustainability and of their educational needs. The analysis of survey data of a sample of young farmers in Greece showed that the majority of respondents were not familiar with PA. Significant differences were found between the attitudes of knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable farmers, the former demonstrating better acknowledgement of the environmental, economic and social sustainability of PA. Important educational needs were also detected, with group and individual methods being the most preferred ones for education and information campaigns. The results of the analysis could be of use for the design of Common Agricultural Policy Pillar II measures for the promotion of PA targeting to specific audiences and actors.
20 pages, To achieve social sustainability, there is a need to incorporate social metrics of farmers’ well- being into agricultural monitoring systems. We contribute to the operationalisation of the measurement of farmers’ well- being by determining how farm- level factors influence farmers’ satisfaction with their work and quality of life. Using a data sample of 1099 farms that are part of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) in nine European countries, we tested a set of hypotheses related to work satisfaction and life quality perception based on a structural equation model. Satisfaction with on- farm work has a significant and substantial influence on satisfaction with quality of life. Farm- level aspects, such as working time, age of assets, financial situation of the farm and community engagement, significantly influenced farmers’ satisfaction with farming, but their joint effect explained less than one- fifth of the satisfaction. The results suggest that agricultural information systems intended to monitor and compare sustainability progress on farms would benefit from the integration of a metric measuring social concerns from the farmers’ point of view
11 pages, Sustainability has become a key term for linking environmental, economic and social issues, in both the sciences and politics. Conceptions and frameworks of sustainability have thus arisen to evaluate agricultural systems on their sustainability. Within these conceptions and in political and scientific discourses, what can be understood as the social pillar of sustainability in agriculture varies greatly, especially in regards to the scope and the sustainability standards applied. While rural inhabitants have been subject of various ‘sustainability studies’, the
consideration of the social dimension in agriculture is still rather underrepresented. Our conceptual framework can contribute to enhance the understanding of the social dimension of sustainability by utilizing a social science-based approach to comprehend the complexity of social interaction in agriculture: Based on Parsons' system approach, we capture the components of a social system that encompasses agriculture and its embeddedness in society. This includes all major actors, their interactions and institutions. Further, we develop Maslow's hierarchy of needs as well as the rights approach into a sustainability scale. We call the conceptual framework the sustainable agricultural social system. This general framework can later be adapted to local cultural and social settings, serving as a more comprehensive and flexible sustainability framework.
12 pages, Many environmental dilemmas such as water scarcity originate from human behavior. This study aimed to analyze Iranian farmers’ water conservation behavior using Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. To this end, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect the required data. The research instrument was a questionnaire. A sample of 380 farmers was selected using a multistage stratified random sampling method. The results indicated that variables of social-cognitive theory could predict about 73% of farmers’ water conservation behavior variance. Investigation of direct effects of factors on farmers’ water conservation behavior revealed that the major determinants are as follows: intention of water conservation, social-structural factors, perception of others’ behavior, outcome expectancy, self-efficacy, and water conservation co-regulation. Findings showed that factors that have been mentioned in social-cognitive theory could be considered for enhancing farmers’ water conservation behaviors since the theory provides a more realistic insight into farmers’ behaviors with an emphasis on farmers’ social and structural contexts
