Assessment of farmers’ preferences for growing particular crops and the correlation with land suitability

From Firenze University Press Journal: Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID)

Risma Neswati, Department of Soil science, Hasanuddin University

Nurfadila Jamaluddin Suppe, Agricultural Science Study Program, Post Graduate School Hasanuddin University

Sumbangan Baja, Department of Soil science, Hasanuddin University

Didi Rukmana, Departments of Agriculture Socio-Economics, Hasanuddin University

When designing policies for sustainable agriculture, the preferences of farmers cannot be ignored, and they are ultimately the final decision makers. Sustainable farms can only be realized by considering the cropping priorities of farmers, and these are usually related to local knowledge and the culture of a regionHowever, it has been said that traditional farmers ignore environmental suitability when selecting suitable crops for cultivation (Example: Yusianto et al., 2020). Farmers are mainly concerned about resource productivity and profit, and they carefully consider resource use decisions to achieve both goals (Kahan, 2008). According to Antiwi et al. (2022) and Taghizadeh et al. (2020), an appropriate land type is necessary to achieve high crop production; therefore, crop selection by farmers is also inadvertently based on soil suitability. The study of Feizizadeh and Blaschke (2013) was based on the hypothesis it would be sensible and appropriate to incorporate farmers’ knowledge into the process. However, recent studies have shown that the assessment of sustainable agriculture focuses only on ecological and economic aspects while ignoring social aspects, such as farmer preferences. A systematic review by Gebre et al. (2021) presents a report comparing the percentage of publications from 2000 to 2018 that focus on four aspects of sustainability: economical, ecological, social, and technical. They explained that 40.6% of publications globally only consider environmental aspects, while the other 26% consider a combination of environmental and economic aspects. Only 13% of the publications consider social aspects, and even less considertechnical aspects. Many land allocation studies only aim to meet only ecological and economic dimensions, and the most commonly used pillars are the environmental, economic, and social pillars, which are equally crucial in decision-making.Farmers should be recognized as the most influential decision-makers in the implementation of agriculture. Farmers select crops with the highest value based on plant attributes or considering production volumes and market demands or prices. Their growing preferences are based on profit and are influenced by many factors, including socioeconomic and psychological conditions. Several studies have shown that different agents and drivers of regional development are successful factors in implementing agricultural development programs. In addition, accepting farmers’ preferences results in their acceptability and ability to grow crops properly.Identifying crop priority preferences allows various stakeholders, including governments and experts, to develop trade and communicationstrategies that maximize agricultural land development (Eitzinger et al., 2018).The aim of current sustainable agriculture is to ensure future sustainability. However, due to the influence of internal factors, the decisions made do not always correspond with the predictions of experts and the modeling process conducted. According to Acheampong et al. (2018), crops are grown to meet particular needs, which affect land allocation decisions, and crop utility is maximized by selecting the most useful crop to cultivate. Farmers select a product based on its characteristics, which influences decision-making.Farmers’ preferences for plantation crops can be analyzed using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach, and factors influencing farmers’ decisions can be identified, in addition to their preferences, which affect various considerations known as selection attributes. The DCE approach shows how the traits of individual cultivars are evaluated and selected from multiple alternative crops, and selecting sucha cultivar is based on multiple hypotheses(Hoyos, 2010). The study provides the opportunity to predict how farmers will evaluate development programs designed in agricultural areas. Finally, the DCE approach is a state-of-preferences approach in which the respondent expresses the choice or decision directly.Farmer preferences and the suitability of growing crops in a particular environment need to be addressed when developing strategies to develop sustainable agricultural land. Assessing soil suitabilityis one of the most critical aspects of designing sustainable agriculture, and assessing land suitability is necessary to ensure current and future food security through the efficient use of land resources. The suitability of a particular type of land for a particular purpose is determined by evaluating the climate, soil, and topographical components and understanding the biophysical constraints. It is thus crucial to assess the suitability of agricultural land to increase production and plan a sustainable agricultural system (Taghizadeh et al., 2020), and the suitability of land for certain agricultural activities promotes the production. Farmer income is closely linked to agricultural production, which influences the decision by farmers to support sustainable agriculture (Pieiro et al., 2020). Due to the large number of factors considered in the process, land suitability assessments are commonly referred to as multicriteria (MC) assessments. Conducting such an analysis needs to consider the climate, hydrology, topography, vegetation, and soil properties (Cartwright et al., 2020). Conducting a soil suitability assessment via an MC assessment is a decision-making aid for use in dealing with contradictory criteria. There are two things to consider when assessing soil suitability based on MC: the alignment of the assessment unit and assessing conflicts of interest between multiple attributes. The membership values and the weight of the indicators have a significant impact on the results of the MCDM land suitability assessment. To solve these two main problems, the using a combination of fuzzy and analytic hierarchy processes(AHP) could be an alternative solution.Physical factors, such as climate and soil fertility, cannot be separated from the preferences of farmers when designing sustainable agriculture. Conventional farming, which is based on the opinions of farmers, potentially causes environmental problems, whereas sustainable farming, which only considers environmental aspects and ignores farmers’ preferences, has the potential to affect the sustainability of a farm. Therefore, farmers’ preferences should be considered when adopting a proposed planning program. Land suitability is a critical issue that needs to be addressed with respect to current and future food security, and the efficient use of land resources is required to reduce the amount of environmental damage associated with inappropriate land use. These two aspects are equally important when designing sustainable agriculture solutions and they cannot be separated from each other.This study aims to determine the relationship between farmers’ preferences for growing a particular crop and land suitability.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jaeid-14182

Read Full Text: https://www.jaeid.it/index.php/jaeid/article/view/14182