8 pages., via online journal., The present study was conducted in Yadgir district of Karnataka to know about the perception of farmers on the ill effects of agro chemicals. One hundred and twenty farmers were interviewed personally with the help of pre-structured schedule. The results revealed that a large number of respondents had perceived delay in ripening (70.83%), less resistance to diseases (76.66 %), through emission of toxic gases (80.83%) and changes in soil organic matter decomposition (80.00%). Cent per cent respondents expressed resistance developed to pesticides by helicoverpa, spodoptera and parthenium and beneficial organisms like earth worms and predators were affected.
Killing of natural enemies by pesticides affect Trichograma (80.00%) and lady bird beetle (75.00%), while handling agro chemicals cent per cent perceived it is going poison human body. The correlation indicates attitude towards chemical fertilizers, extension participation and mass media had shown positive highly significant at 1% level. Regarding factors influencing on agro chemicals land holding and education observe 50.63 per cent of variation. On the other hand farmers were suggested to make the availability of pest resistance variety by majority (83.33%) of the respondents.
Sajdakowska, Marta (author), Jankowski, Paweł (author), Gutkowska, Krystyna (author), Guzek, Dominika (author), Żakowska‐Biemans, Sylwia (author), and Ozimek, Irena (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2018
Published:
Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 34 Document Number: D10686
15 pages., via online journal., The aim of the study was to examine the possible factors that might contribute to consumer acceptance of food innovations. Particular attention was paid to 3 main factors: (a) relationship between socio‐demographic determinants and level of consumer innovation, (b) evaluation of consumer innovation acceptance, particularly toward animal‐derived food products, and (c) consumer preferences for health‐promoting food innovation over time. Studies were conducted using quantitative research methods in 2004 and 2011. An organic method of production, least important in 2004, was top rated in 2011, and ease of preparation dropped to the bottom of the list in 2011, whereas food origin, low fat, and sugar content were ranked in the first group of the considered factors in 2011. Since 2004, consumers have become used to products with various innovations. The new generation of Poles is relatively more open to new food products, due to the wide range of food products available on the free market. Furthermore, the group of well‐educated consumers with a higher level of income has increased in size, and this includes people interested in knowledge of a product's nutritional value and its health impact. Our study extends existing research in the area of understanding consumer expectations toward food innovations. The results not only contribute to the field of consumer behavior but also have practical potential for food market applications, especially for companies operating on or planning to enter the Polish food market, and which could be used for developing communication strategies.
35pgs, The idea that citizens' support for environmental policies depends on their economic interest and the community that one lives in, has been debated extensively in the environmental attitudes literature. However, this literature has not differentiated between separate policy dimensions that concern measures that affect specific groups in different ways. This paper differentiates between a nature/agriculture dimension that divides those who prioritize the agrarian interest from those who prioritize the protection of nature and a climate/energy dimension that divides those who prioritize industrial interest from those who prioritize fighting climate change, using a new survey in the Netherlands (N = 11,327). This two-dimensional model meets three criteria: scalability, validity, and utility. Scalability is shown by factor analysis and Mokken scaling. Validity is shown by regression analyses that show that whether one lives in a rural or an urban community predicts one's position on the nature/agriculture dimension and that one's financial security predicts one's position on the climate/energy dimension. The utility is shown by regression analyses where the two dimensions are used to predict voting behavior. The Green Party voters favor nature and climate protection, the Liberal Party voters have the opposite views, the Christian-Democrats favor agricultural interests and the Freedom Party favor industrial interests.
13 pages., Via online journal., Blogs are a type of social media that present a unique opportunity to provide information to a large audience without the constraints of traditional media’s gatekeeping barriers. Within agriculture, several studies have examined agricultural blogs but not from the perspective of blog readers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the uses and gratifications of agricultural blog readers. This study used a descriptive survey research design and online questionnaire to assess agricultural blog readers’ demographics, Internet and blog use, attitudes toward agriculture, and motivations for reading blogs. Findings indicated most respondents had direct experience in agriculture and were supportive of the industry. The strongest motivations for accessing agricultural blogs were to find out what other people think about important issues or events and to find alternatives not covered by traditional news sources. Blogs proved to be a useful source of information, but more should be done to expand reach beyond those in the industry. Additional research is needed to more fully describe agricultural blog readers’ uses and gratifications.
17 pages., via online journal, Calls for improved targeting of conservation resources are increasingly common. However, arguments for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural conservation programs through proactive targeting are often tempered by questions regarding political feasibility. Such questions rest on an assumption that there will be resistance to these approaches, whether from farmers, farm groups, or elected officials, yet there is little research-based evidence supporting that assumption. Analysis of data on Iowa farmers’ attitudes toward targeted conservation indicates that most farmers support targeted approaches. Specific factors associated with endorsement of targeted approaches include awareness of agriculture's environmental impacts, belief that farmers should address water quality problems, having experienced significant soil erosion, belief that extreme weather will become more common, participation in the Conservation Reserve Program, and belief that farmers who have natural resource issues are less likely to seek conservation assistance. Concerns about government intrusion were negative predictors of support for targeted approaches.
12 pages., via online journal, Animal welfare and environmental impacts have been emphasized in the sustainable production of livestock. Labels are useful tools for clearly providing such attribute information to consumers. The aim of this study was to evaluate how human values influence consumer segments for beef with information on animal welfare and environmentally friendly production. Using a choice experiment, we examined whether animal welfare and environmentally friendly labels, country of origin and price impact consumer choice. As results, five heterogeneous consumer classes were identified using a latent class model: label conscious, domestic beef preferring, price conscious, animal welfare preferring and not interested in production method. Almost 90% of consumers were interested in and willing to pay for beef with animal welfare or environmentally friendly label. The classes with significant preferences for such labeled beef were affected by “openness to change”, “self-enhancement” and “security”. Improving consumer attitudes and strengthening consumer perception towards labeled beef by marketers and policy makers will be required.
7 pages., via online journal., The aim of this work is to explore the relation between morality and diet choice by investigating how animal and
human welfare attitudes and donation behaviors can predict a meat eating versus flexitarian versus vegetarian
diet. The results of a survey study (N=299) show that animal health concerns (measured by the Animal
Attitude Scale) can predict diet choice. Vegetarians are most concerned, while full-time meat eaters are least
concerned, and the contrast between flexitarians and vegetarians is greater than the contrast between
flexitarians and full-time meat eaters.
With regards to human welfare (measured by the Moral Foundations Questionnaire), results show that attitudes
towards human suffering set flexitarians apart from vegetarians and attitudes towards authority and respect
distinguish between flexitarians and meat eaters. To conclude, results show that vegetarians donate more
often to animal oriented charities than flexitarians and meat eaters, while no differences between the three
diet groups occur for donations to human oriented charities.
8 pages., Via online journal., Increasing concerns about farm animal welfare have led to an increase in the availability of welfare-friendly-products (WFP), but little is known about how much more consumers are willing-to-pay (WTP) for WFP or about their buying trends in Latin America. In this study, a survey was given to 843 meat consumers in the city of Toluca, Mexico. The results show that consumers were interested in farm animal welfare issues and their ethical, sociological and economic implications, as in Europe. The people surveyed also conveyed a high level of empathy with animal feelings and emotions, however they clearly demanded more information and regulations related to farm animal welfare. The majority of respondents expressed that they were WTP more for properly certified WFP, but mostly based on the benefits in terms of product quality and human health. If the demand for WFP begins to increase in Mexico, the supply chain should consider a certification system to guarantee product origin based on current conditions.
24 pages., Via online journal., We examined the relationship between attitudes toward urban ecological restoration and cognitive (perceived outcomes, value orientation, and objective knowledge), affective (emotional responses), and behavioral factors using residents of the Chicago Metropolitan Region. Positive and negative attitudes were both related to perceived outcomes of ecological restoration. In addition, positive attitudes were related to values while negative attitudes were related to emotions. Attitudes of high and low importance groups were connected to perceived outcomes of ecological restoration; however, attitudes of the high importance group were also related to values, emotions, and behavior. Positive and negative attitude groups differed on perceived outcomes, basic beliefs, knowledge, and behavior. Implications lie in understanding of complex attitudes toward natural resource issues and improved communication efforts to influence or educate the public.
11 pages., Via online journal article., As climate change is expected to significantly affect agricultural systems globally, agricultural farm advisors have been increasingly recognized as an important resource in helping farmers address these challenges. While there have been many studies exploring the climate change belief and risk perceptions as well as behaviors of both farmers and agricultural farm advisors, there are very few studies that have explored how these perceptions relate to actual climate impacts in agriculture. Here we couple survey data from United States Department of Agriculture farm service employees (n = 6, 514) with historical crop loss data across the United States to explore the relationship of actual climate-related crop losses on farm to farm advisor perceptions of climate change and future farmer needs. Using structural equation modelling we find that among farm advisors that work directly with farms on disaster and crop loss issues, there is a significant positive relationship between crop loss and perceived weather variability changes, while across all farm advisors crop loss is associated with reduced likelihood to believe in anthropogenic climate change. Further, we find that weather variability perceptions are the most consistently and highly correlated with farm advisors' perceptions about the need for farm adaptation and future farmer needs. These results suggest that seeing crop loss may not lead to climate change belief, but may drive weather variability perceptions, which in turn affect farm adaptation perceptions. This lends further evidence to the debate over terminology in climate change communication and outreach, suggesting that weather variability may be the most salient among agricultural advisors.
