Sustainable Soil Management Requires a Mixture of Support Measures
Photo: Gabriela Brändle,
Agroscope
An Agroscope study shows that Swiss farmers have different soil management priorities. Considering these may increase the effectiveness of information and policy measures to promote sustainable soil management.
Switzerland’s arable soils are essential for producing feed and food, and support the functioning of ecosystem services such as water regulation, carbon storage and nutrient cycling.However, agricultural use and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events (heavy precipitation, droughts) due to climate change are putting soils under increasing pressure. Sustainable soil management practices such as green manuring, cover-cropping or reduced tillage can mitigate negative impacts.
Highlighting different viewpoints
To promote the uptake of sustainable soil management practices, it is helpful to understand farmers’ motivations regarding soil management. A recent study therefore investigated the attitudes and priorities of farmers in the Swiss Central Plateau with regard to soil management. To highlight and explain the heterogeneity of the farmers, typical viewpoints concerning soil management were identified and described.
The priorities of the interviewed farmers can be summarised under three different viewpoints:
- Viewpoint 1, ‘Soil health for the future’, has a strong intrinsic motivation for soil protection and improvement with the aim of handing over the soil to future generations in the best possible state.
- Viewpoint 2, ‘Food production based on conviction’, places a focus on the production of foodstuffs, and thus tends to pursue traditional, production-oriented goals. In addition, those espousing this viewpoint primarily trust their own convictions and appear to be fairly unreceptive to changes initated from the outside.
- Viewpoint 3, ‘Labour efficiency for economic security’, is primarily driven by economic considerations when working with the soil, and focuses on avoiding economic and agronomic risks.
Common to all these viewpoints is that they represent a long-term perspective.
An opportunity for targeted information and policy measures
These different viewpoints can be addressed with tailor-made information and policy measures. For example, informational material can stress the wide-ranging benefits and features of sustainable soil management practices in order to address all groups equally. An example of this would be to highlight the benefits for soil life and ecology (appealing to viewpoint 1), the effects on yield stability and plant health (viewpoint 2) and possible cost savings (viewpoint 3). In addition, agricultural policy measures ranging from educational programmes (viewpoint 1) to legal minimum standards (viewpoint 2) all the way to new marketing channels and the cushioning of financial risks (viewpoints 1 and 3) are conceivable ways to support the spread of sustainable soil management practices.
Conclusions
- Looking at priorities and attitudes, we see that there is not just one sort of Swiss farmer, but rather a heterogeneous group of farmers. There are, however, typical viewpoints which emphasise different aspects.
- The typical viewpoints on the topic of soil management shared by Swiss farmers can be summarised under the headings ‘soil health’, ‘food production’ and ‘efficiency and risk avoidance’.
- Consequently, a combination of different measures would be ideal for addressing and reaching all farmers. These measures should address the different viewpoints in a targeted manner, emphasising key aspects (e.g. benefits for soil health or economic efficiency).
Bibliographical reference
Ansichten von Schweizer Landwirtinnen und Landwirten zum Thema Bodenbearbeitung.
